Now that Same-Sex Unions Have Been Legalized by Melvin Otey, J.D., M.Div.

https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=5177

Now that Same-Sex Unions Have Been Legalized

by	Melvin Otey, J.D., M.Div.

[NOTE: Auxiliary staff writer Melvin Otey served in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, D.C. as a Trial Attorney in the Review and Policy Unit of the Organized Crime and Gang Section, responsible for reviewing all RICO and VICAR prosecutions nationwide. He also taught at the University of the District of Columbia Law School. In addition to writing for Apologetics Press, Otey now serves as an Associate Professor of Law at the Faulkner University Jones School of Law in Montgomery and as an adjunct professor at Amridge University.]

There are watershed moments in the history of any nation, and America is no different in this regard. Critical turning points have included armed conflicts like the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. They have included speeches like Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” address to Virginia’s delegates in 1775 and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington in 1963. The course of affairs in America has also been decisively impacted by court rulings like Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court reached a decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that will surely qualify as yet another watershed moment in American history.

WHAT THE COURT HAS DONE

With the Supreme Court’s mandate that all 50 states recognize homosexual “marriages,” American authorities have once again declined to restrain evil and decided instead to sanction what Jehovah clearly condemns (but see Romans 13:3-5). Make no mistake: whatever popular opinions may be in society today, whatever novel theories are bandied about in the halls of academia to explain homosexual conduct, and whatever laws are passed by men, this is sinful behavior. It is one of several behaviors for which unrepentant sinners will be eternally lost (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Jehovah, the Creator of mankind and marriage, is as clear on this matter as He is on any subject. “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22, ESV). “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them” (Leviticus 20:13). While many today seemingly accept the notion that people are “born homosexual” (without any scientific support), homoerotic behavior is really a consequence of people turning away from Jehovah to worship themselves and lower aspects of His creation. In Romans 1, the apostle Paul explained:

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committingshameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty fortheir error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done (emp. added).

Of course, in the first century when Paul wrote, homosexuality was common and accepted in the Roman Empire, just as it is becoming more common and more accepted in America and Western Civilization at-large. Remember, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34; cf. Ezekiel 16:49-50).
The Court’s decision is merely the latest in a line of critical markers for the accelerated and abysmal moral decline of the United States. It follows on the heels of the introduction of the theory of evolution into school curricula, the legalization of abortion on demand, and the proliferation of no-fault divorce. Our society is at war with our God, and the Court’s decision once again crystallizes the stark contrast between God’s law and man’s law. This decline in our national morality does not bode well for our national future: “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!” (Isaiah 5:20).

WHAT CHRISTIANS MUST DO

More than ever before, it is absolutely vital that Christians in America grasp the reality of our circumstances. Whatever ideals one may hold about what America used to be, and whatever dreams one may have about what it will become, we must walk circumspectly in these evil and decadent days (Ephesians 5:15-16). We live in Sodom and Gomorrah. This is Babylon and Rome, and we must develop realistic expectations in order to prepare for what is forthcoming. All those who resist this latest ordinance of the State and speak against homosexuality as the Bible does should anticipate mounting aggression and increasingly overt hostility from his neighbors and the authorities. “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).
Of course, aggression and hostility and persecution have been evident for some time now (albeit at a relatively lower level). Those who have dared to voice concern with their employers’ “diversity” campaigns, designed largely to compel acceptance of homoerotic behavior, have been sent to “sensitivity training” or fired. Business owners who have declined to sell flowers or cakes for homosexual wedding ceremonies specifically because of their religious convictions have been sued, fined and driven out of business. People from all walks of life are publicly excoriated and harassed if they even suggest that this particular sin is unnatural and unhealthy for individuals, families, and society-at-large. Increasingly, everyone is thought to have freedom of speech in America except those who disagree with homosexuality, and the tide is unlikely to change in the near future.
There is room to lament and decry what is occurring, but Christians cannot expend inordinate energy in this regard because we cannot afford to be inert any longer. We must move forward. In light of what is occurring in American society, in general, and the Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding same-sex unions, in particular, Christians must consider how the church should proceed in the days to come.

Preach the Truth

We must preach and teach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It will make us unpopular, but we must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29) and bear the consequences for preaching and teaching Christ (Acts 5:40-42). Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that Biblical speech opposing homosexual behavior is a “hate crime” in February 2013. It is seemingly only a matter of time before American courts do the same, and well-funded advocates of the homosexual agenda are aggressively marshaling their resources to ensure that they do.
Following their latest victory in the Supreme Court, these advocates will ramp up their focus on policing speech in the workplace, schools, businesses, and public squares across America. Consequently, the costs for teaching “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) on matters of marriage and sexuality will increase dramatically. People are going to be sued and convicted as criminals for merely saying what the Bible says; they will be fined and ultimately jailed. Still, we must not waver or compromise; rather, we must “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).

Protect the Church

Of course, being committed to speaking and living the truth does not mean Christians should be ignorant of or unprepared for the consequences. We are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). Those promoting acceptance of homoeroticism are doing it largely through the courts, and this means they will continue suing people. Consequently, church sermons and Web sites will be scoured for statements disapproving of homosexuality. Also, preachers and churches will increasingly receive inquiries from litigious individuals concerning their willingness to perform same-sex weddings, and they must take proper precautions.
In anticipation of inquiries like this, preachers should strongly consider adopting an announced policy of refusing to officiate wedding ceremonies where he has not personally provided pre-marital, Bible-based, spiritual counseling to those wanting to exchange vows. This is advisable for several reasons, but a consistent practice in this regard will require those seeking the preacher’s assistance for a homosexual union to submit to several sessions of counseling on what the Bible teaches about marriage. Those who are not interested in entering a union guided by the Scriptures are unlikely to participate in such a series. However, even if two men or two women participated in the series (which would be great), a preacher could still decline to officiate the ceremony if the parties are unwilling to repent of their sin, just as he would decline to officiate if he discovered that the union would be adulterous (e.g., Matthew 5:31-32, 19:9). The basis for refusal, then, would be the parties’ express intention of entering into a union that does not conform to the teachings of Scripture, which he is duty-bound to uphold.
Congregations should also be proactive and adopt insulating language and policies before trouble of this kind darkens its doors. For instance, every church’s bylaws should include a statement of faith regarding marriage, gender, and sexuality and clearly identify the Bible as the final authority for all matters of faith and practice. A church might also adopt a policy limiting the use of its facilities and grounds to the religious purposes expressed in its bylaws. If its buildings and grounds are to be used for weddings, the church should amend its bylaws to expressly state that weddings conducted by church staff or on church grounds are “religious ceremonies” (because they involve acts of prayer, singing hymns, reading Scripture, and an exchange of vows in which a man and woman enter into a covenant with God and one another; see Matthew 19:6 and Malachi 2:14-15) and limit the use of church facilities to ceremonies involving “members in good standing” (and perhaps “their children” or “immediate family members”). As long as the limitation is not based on sexual orientation and is consistently applied, the congregation is likely to either avoid a lawsuit or successfully withstand a legal challenge if it comes.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

The Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges will certainly lead to increased pressure on the church. Those who support the homosexual agenda will target conservative preachers and churches (they have already been targeted in other countries), and the ones saying “no gay marriages” are surely going to end up in litigation, whether civil or criminal. Of course, this does not change our responsibilities one iota; we must stand with the Lord in speaking and teaching the truth. Along the way, we must be prudent and wise in protecting the church because, even if churches successfully defend against lawsuits of this kind, the drain on resources that comes with being swept up in litigation would distract its members and significantly undermine its work.

From Jim McGuiggan... Pathetic little churches--Mighty empires

Pathetic little churches--Mighty empires

Revelation 1:12-20 describes the glorified Christ from numerous angles but it makes full use of the prophets and Daniel 7:9 and the description of God. This divine and priestly figure is the conqueror of death and reigns over the kings of the earth but what is especially significant in light of the whole book of Revelation is that he dwells in the church and holds the heart of the church in his hand.
Maybe it’s that that irritates and pleases us most about the sovereign Lord. He identifies not with the powerful empires, the successful governments, the solid economies or the military might of the Roman legions but with seven pathetic little churches. There are times when we know very well what Peter felt in John 13 and Matthew 16. Messiahs don’t wash feet and Lords don’t get crucified. Nowadays we are moved at the thought of him washing feet—"Ah, look, isn’t he so sweet and humble." Nowadays we praise him for being crucified. "Look, see how he loves us." But we still have a hard time accepting that he identifies with pathetic little congregations, numerically weak and with no social or political clout whatever.
But in Revelation when he finally speaks (chapters 2 and 3) he zeros in on seven little congregations in Asia. He dismisses the huge throne of Zeus as satanic; he disowns the vast worship of the Roman Empire and sets himself against the powers that set themselves against the vulnerable assemblies. It doesn’t seem to matter to him that the world can make no sense of how he goes about things. So there they are, for all their weaknesses and for all the wrongs they need to correct he still comes knocking on the heart’s door of each of those congregations.
And what do they stand for? What on earth do they reflect? What do we see as we watch them going about their lives, with their ordinances, liturgy and shared central convictions? As crazy as it might appear both to non-believer and some depressed believers these little churches bear witness on earth to the reality that chapters 4 and 5 proclaim. For those two chapters are one word: "You believe in God, believe also in me." The invisible truth that the throne that rules the world is in heaven and not in Rome, London or Washington or any other center of earthly power is proclaimed in chapter 4. But what is perhaps more difficult to believe is that at the center of the throne that rules the world is a Lamb that has been slain and is alive and well (chapter 5). At the heart of the throne that rules creation in that invisible realm is the Lamb that is making himself visible in the seven churches of Asia.
Yes, but that’s just the problem. Are we to keep on waiting before that Lord of life and death and the kings of the world—are we to wait forever before he makes a real difference in the world. Will he forever identify with the pathetic and the weak? Is evil always to be on top and goodness always barely hanging on? Hardly! But the question was raised in 6:10 and given a cryptic answer in 6:11.
The book as a whole proclaims the war between the mighty Roman Empire with its satanic power and agenda and the vulnerable little flock to whom it has pleased God to give the kingdom. As Revelation pictures it, Rome’s clash with the church comes to its head in the battle of Armageddon (16 and 19) and when the smoke clears the seven little representative churches are a holy City with walls fifteen hundred miles high and wide. When the smoke has cleared the seven little representative churches are a bride dressed in her finery with her triumphant husband by her side. The little churches outlived and out-suffered and outlived again the mighty Empire.
Setting aside the imagery in which this truth is presented, the reality is that the might of the Emperors is long gone and the "seven" little churches are still going about their business, still called to go about their business of resisting the world in the name of the Lamb of God until 6:11 finds its complete fulfillment in the obliteration of all that is evil.
We're not to forget that modern empires are to get the message that what is true of Rome is true of them. 21st century Christians are not to forget that their mission and their assurance is proclaimed in the book of Revelation—no peace or compromise with the world empires is possible!

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

From Gary.... Bible Reading July 8

Bible Reading  

July 8

The World English Bible

July 8

2 Kings 10-12

2Ki 10:1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and to those who brought up the sons of Ahab, saying,

2Ki 10:2 Now as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and armor.

2Ki 10:3 Select the best and fittest of your master's sons, set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

2Ki 10:4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings didn't stand before him: how then shall we stand?

2Ki 10:5 He who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and those who brought up the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants, and will do all that you shall bid us; we will not make any man king: you do that which is good in your eyes.

2Ki 10:6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If you be on my side, and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

2Ki 10:7 It happened, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and killed them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel.

2Ki 10:8 There came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. He said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.

2Ki 10:9 It happened in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, You are righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and killed him; but who struck all these?

2Ki 10:10 Know now that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of Yahweh, which Yahweh spoke concerning the house of Ahab: for Yahweh has done that which he spoke by his servant Elijah.

2Ki 10:11 So Jehu struck all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

2Ki 10:12 He arose and departed, and went to Samaria. As he was at the shearing house of the shepherds in the way,

2Ki 10:13 Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are you? They answered, We are the brothers of Ahaziah: and we go down to Greet the children of the king and the children of the queen.

2Ki 10:14 He said, Take them alive. They took them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.

2Ki 10:15 When he was departed there, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; and he greeted him, and said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart? Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me your hand. He gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.

2Ki 10:16 He said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Yahweh. So they made him ride in his chariot.

2Ki 10:17 When he came to Samaria, he struck all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke to Elijah.

2Ki 10:18 Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.

2Ki 10:19 Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

2Ki 10:20 Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. They proclaimed it.

2Ki 10:21 Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that didn't come. They came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another.

2Ki 10:22 He said to him who was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. He brought them forth vestments.

2Ki 10:23 Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal; and he said to the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there are here with you none of the servants of Yahweh, but the worshippers of Baal only.

2Ki 10:24 They went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had appointed him eighty men outside, and said, If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, he who lets him go, his life shall be for the life of him.

2Ki 10:25 It happened, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and kill them; let none come forth. They struck them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.

2Ki 10:26 They brought forth the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them.

2Ki 10:27 They broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a latrine, to this day.

2Ki 10:28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

2Ki 10:29 However from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin, Jehu didn't depart from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.

2Ki 10:30 Yahweh said to Jehu, Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

2Ki 10:31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Yahweh, the God of Israel, with all his heart: he didn't depart from the sins of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin.

2Ki 10:32 In those days Yahweh began to cut off from Israel: and Hazael struck them in all the borders of Israel;

2Ki 10:33 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

2Ki 10:34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

2Ki 10:35 Jehu slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place.

2Ki 10:36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

2Ki 11:1 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.

2Ki 11:2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were slain, even him and his nurse, and put them in the bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain;

2Ki 11:3 He was with her hid in the house of Yahweh six years. Athaliah reigned over the land.

2Ki 11:4 In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains over hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him into the house of Yahweh; and he made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Yahweh, and showed them the king's son.

2Ki 11:5 He commanded them, saying, This is the thing that you shall do: a third part of you, who come in on the Sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king's house;

2Ki 11:6 A third part shall be at the gate Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so you shall keep the watch of the house, and be a barrier.

2Ki 11:7 The two companies of you, even all who go forth on the Sabbath, shall keep the watch of the house of Yahweh about the king.

2Ki 11:8 You shall surround the king, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he who comes within the ranks, let him be slain: and be with the king when he goes out, and when he comes in.

2Ki 11:9 The captains over hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those who were to come in on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

2Ki 11:10 The priest delivered to the captains over hundreds the spears and shields that had been king David's, which were in the house of Yahweh.

2Ki 11:11 The guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, along by the altar and the house, around the king.

2Ki 11:12 Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king.

2Ki 11:13 When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the house of Yahweh:

2Ki 11:14 and she looked, and behold, the king stood by the pillar, as the manner was, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes, and cried, Treason! treason!

2Ki 11:15 Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, Have her forth between the ranks; and him who follows her kill with the sword. For the priest said, Don't let her be slain in the house of Yahweh.

2Ki 11:16 So they made way for her; and she went by the way of the horses' entry to the king's house: and there was she slain.

2Ki 11:17 Jehoiada made a covenant between Yahweh and the king and the people, that they should be Yahweh's people; between the king also and the people.

2Ki 11:18 All the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down; his altars and his images broke they in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. The priest appointed officers over the house of Yahweh.

2Ki 11:19 He took the captains over hundreds, and the Carites, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of Yahweh, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's house. He sat on the throne of the kings.

2Ki 11:20 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. Athaliah they had slain with the sword at the king's house.

2Ki 11:21 Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.

2Ki 12:1 In the seventh year of Jehu began Jehoash to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

2Ki 12:2 Jehoash did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

2Ki 12:3 However the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

2Ki 12:4 Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of Yahweh, in current money, the money of the persons for whom each man is rated, and all the money that it comes into any man's heart to bring into the house of Yahweh,

2Ki 12:5 let the priests take it to them, every man from his acquaintance; and they shall repair the breaches of the house, wherever any breach shall be found.

2Ki 12:6 But it was so, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.

2Ki 12:7 Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and for the other priests, and said to them, Why don't you repair the breaches of the house? now therefore take no more money from your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.

2Ki 12:8 The priests consented that they should take no more money from the people, neither repair the breaches of the house.

2Ki 12:9 But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of Yahweh: and the priests who kept the threshold put therein all the money that was brought into the house of Yahweh.

2Ki 12:10 It was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of Yahweh.

2Ki 12:11 They gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of Yahweh: and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders, who worked on the house of Yahweh,

2Ki 12:12 and to the masons and the stone cutters, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the breaches of the house of Yahweh, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it.

2Ki 12:13 But there were not made for the house of Yahweh cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money that was brought into the house of Yahweh;

2Ki 12:14 for they gave that to those who did the work, and repaired therewith the house of Yahweh.

2Ki 12:15 Moreover they didn't demand an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to give to those who did the work; for they dealt faithfully.

2Ki 12:16 The money for the trespass offerings, and the money for the sin offerings, was not brought into the house of Yahweh: it was the priests'.

2Ki 12:17 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it; and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.

2Ki 12:18 Jehoash king of Judah took all the holy things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own holy things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and of the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.

2Ki 12:19 Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

2Ki 12:20 His servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and struck Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla.

2Ki 12:21 For Jozacar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

Jul. 8, 9

Acts 7

Act 7:1 The high priest said, "Are these things so?"

Act 7:2 He said, "Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

Act 7:3 and said to him, 'Get out of your land, and from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.'

Act 7:4 Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land, where you are now living.

Act 7:5 He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he still had no child.

Act 7:6 God spoke in this way: that his seed would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

Act 7:7 'I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,' said God, 'and after that will they come out, and serve me in this place.'

Act 7:8 He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Act 7:9 "The patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt. God was with him,

Act 7:10 and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

Act 7:11 Now a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction. Our fathers found no food.

Act 7:12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers the first time.

Act 7:13 On the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's race was revealed to Pharaoh.

Act 7:14 Joseph sent, and summoned Jacob, his father, and all his relatives, seventy-five souls.

Act 7:15 Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, himself and our fathers,

Act 7:16 and they were brought back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver from the children of Hamor of Shechem.

Act 7:17 "But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

Act 7:18 until there arose a different king, who didn't know Joseph.

Act 7:19 The same took advantage of our race, and mistreated our fathers, and forced them to throw out their babies, so that they wouldn't stay alive.

Act 7:20 At that time Moses was born, and was exceedingly handsome. He was nourished three months in his father's house.

Act 7:21 When he was thrown out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and reared him as her own son.

Act 7:22 Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was mighty in his words and works.

Act 7:23 But when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

Act 7:24 Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him who was oppressed, striking the Egyptian.

Act 7:25 He supposed that his brothers understood that God, by his hand, was giving them deliverance; but they didn't understand.

Act 7:26 "The day following, he appeared to them as they fought, and urged them to be at peace again, saying, 'Sirs, you are brothers. Why do you wrong one another?'

Act 7:27 But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?

Act 7:28 Do you want to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'

Act 7:29 Moses fled at this saying, and became a stranger in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

Act 7:30 "When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.

Act 7:31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, a voice of the Lord came to him,

Act 7:32 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' Moses trembled, and dared not look.

Act 7:33 The Lord said to him, 'Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

Act 7:34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.'

Act 7:35 "This Moses, whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?'-God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

Act 7:36 This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

Act 7:37 This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, 'The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.'

Act 7:38 This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living oracles to give to us,

Act 7:39 to whom our fathers wouldn't be obedient, but rejected him, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,

Act 7:40 saying to Aaron, 'Make us gods that will go before us, for as for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him.'

Act 7:41 They made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.

Act 7:42 But God turned, and gave them up to serve the army of the sky, as it is written in the book of the prophets, 'Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

Act 7:43 You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship. I will carry you away beyond Babylon.'

Act 7:44 "Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen;

Act 7:45 which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, to the days of David,

Act 7:46 who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.

Act 7:47 But Solomon built him a house.

Act 7:48 However, the Most High doesn't dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says,

Act 7:49 'heaven is my throne, and the earth a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?' says the Lord; 'or what is the place of my rest?

Act 7:50 Didn't my hand make all these things?'

Act 7:51 "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do.

Act 7:52 Which of the prophets didn't your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.

Act 7:53 You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn't keep it!"

Act 7:54 Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.

Act 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

Act 7:56 and said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

Act 7:57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord.

Act 7:58 They threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Act 7:59 They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

Act 7:60 He kneeled down, and cried wStudy Questionsith a loud voice, "Lord, don't hold this sin against them!" When he had said this, he fell asleep.

From Gary... Math, methods and God's Word

Today, I read on the net about a junior senator who actually believes that the first amendment of the constitution only applies to institutions. I was a little surprised, but only a little.  Then, I realized it was the next logical step toward a dictatorship.

Satan has a plan as well; and this picture shows how he works. When you depart from the Word of God in any of the above methods, you give the Devil an open door to destroy you.

The Devil uses many methods of attack; to me the most noteworthy of the these are found in his confrontation with Jesus...

Matthew, Chapter 4 (WEB)

 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  2 When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.  3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 

  4  But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”

  5  Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple,  6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and, 
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”

  7  Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”

  8  Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.  9 He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.” 

  10  Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”

  11  Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

Satan will attack when you are the most vulnerable, will test you with matters of health, safety and power. We should respond with what God has said in the Holy Bible; that is all we need to win. Check out verse eleven.

Or, should I say- DO THE MATH!!!