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Redemption— Creating the Need it Satisfies " The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him… —1 Corinthians 2:14 " The gospel of God creates the sense of need for the gospel. Is the gospel hidden to those who are servants already? No, Paul said, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe…” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The majority of people think of themselves as being completely moral, and have...

...mdfxdb Senior Member Posted 16 October 2014... I posted because I had never even heard of it until I moved into my new ward about a year and a half ago. It turns out it is a real thing and there are active members with callings and stuff that celebrate it. They do a cake and everything... Backroads...Posted 20 October 2014 You celebrate the birthday of someone present. Celebrating the birthday of ssomeone not present takes on a different tone that, yes, does cross into "worship" territory for me. I'm trying to understand why people would celebrate this, but in...

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes in the sanctity of human life... The Church allows for possible exceptions for its members when: Pregnancy results from rape or incest, or A competent physician determines that the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy, or A competent physician determines that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth. The Church teaches its members that even these rare exceptions do not justify abortion automatically. Abortion is a most serious matter and should be considered only after the persons involved have...

Wrestling Before God " Take up the whole armor of God…praying always… —Ephesians 6:13,18 " You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see...

Sorry, senator -- it's not happening. To the surprise of approximately nobody, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is proceeding full steam ahead with plans to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. The Tea Party icon has already settled on a location for his campaign headquarters (Houston), made the requisite appeals to GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson, and decided on a campaign strategy. That strategy, National Review’s Eliana Johnson reports, centers on energizing the GOP base, not wooing moderates and independents to the Republican fold. Of course, the hard demographic truth is that a Republican can’t win the presidency by relying on...

Your prerequisite in all things is to first acquire My Presence for in My courts there are libraries of scrolls providing the wisdom and knowledge in first acquiring the understanding to decipher and illuminate My Word in Spirit and Truth and it is in the interpretation of your heavenly languages, "that exist even now in the alcoves of your wellspring" but these can only rise up into reality and understanding as you manifest and operate totally in the Menorah of light " The Manifold Wisdom of God " My very fullness indwelling you as "an eternal light of My Kingdom...

“Approved to God” " Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. —2 Timothy 2:15 " If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else. But you must be willing to go through...

On December 25, Christians around the world will gather to celebrate Jesus' birth. Joyful carols, special liturgies, brightly wrapped gifts, festive foods - these all characterize the feast today, at least in the northern hemisphere. But just how did the Christmas festival originate? How did December 25 become associated with Jesus' birthday? The Bible offers few clues: Celebrations of Jesus' nativity are not mentioned in the Gospels or Acts; the date is not given, not even the time of year. The biblical reference to shepherds tending their flocks at night when the hear the news of Jesus' birth (Luke 2:8)...

Greeting warmly a delegation led by General André Cox, the Pope said Catholics and Salvationists, together with other Christians, recognise that those in need have a special place in God’s heart – so much so, that the Lord himself became poor for our sake. As a result, the Pope said, Catholics and Salvationists often meet at the same peripheries of society. I pray, he concluded, that all of Christ’s disciples can contribute with the same conviction and dynamism that the Salvation Army demonstrates in its devoted and highly appreciated service. Founded by former Methodist minister William Booth in 1865 as...

The Great Life " Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled… —John 14:27 " Whenever we experience something difficult in our personal life, we are tempted to blame God. But we are the ones in the wrong, not God. Blaming God is evidence that we are refusing to let go of some disobedience somewhere in our lives. But as soon as we let go, everything becomes as clear as daylight to us. As long as we try to serve...

I need to begin with a confession: I’m one of those people who gets his Christmas cards done way ahead of time. This year I started a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, which is more or less what I always do. Why so early? Because this is how people with a compulsive streak do everything. Granted, our obsession with punctuality makes us pains in the neck, but remember – we compulsives are the ones who arrive on time for appointments, meet our deadlines, and make the trains run on time. Time. That was what I was thinking about during one...

Intercessory Prayer " …men always ought to pray and not lose heart. —Luke 18:1 " You cannot truly intercede through prayer if you do not believe in the reality of redemption. Instead, you will simply be turning intercession into useless sympathy for others, which will serve only to increase the contentment they have for remaining out of touch with God. True intercession involves bringing the person, or the circumstance that seems to be crashing in on you, before God, until you are changed by His attitude toward that person or circumstance. Intercession means to “fill up…[with] what is lacking...

Personality " …that they may be one just as We are one… —John 17:22 " Personality is the unique, limitless part of our life that makes us distinct from everyone else. It is too vast for us even to comprehend. An island in the sea may be just the top of a large mountain, and our personality is like that island. We don’t know the great depths of our being, therefore we cannot measure ourselves. We start out thinking we can, but soon realize that there is really only one Being who fully understands us, and that is our...

Individuality " Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…" —Matthew 16:24 " Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with...

One of the leading theologians of the Orthodox world has said that he sees prosecpts for “quick progress” toward full Christian unity under Pope Francis. Metropolitan Ioannis of Pergamon, the co-chairman of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue, told the Vatican Insider that Pope Francis has brought new excitement to ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox world. “The way in which he is carrying out his ministry removes the many apprehensions and fears of the past.” Metropolitan Ioannis pointed particularly to the Pope’s statement, during his recent visit to Constantinople, that the Catholic Church “does not intend to impose any...

The Offering of the Natural " It is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. —Galatians 4:22 " Paul was not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of the natural to the spiritual. The natural can be turned into the spiritual only through sacrifice. Without this a person will lead a divided life. Why did God demand that the natural must be sacrificed? God did not demand it. It is not God’s perfect will, but His permissive will. God’s perfect will was for the...

"Christian unity" is one of those terms that stir up a whole spectrum of—sometimes emotional—opinions. On the one hand, we know that Jesus prayed to the Father concerning future believers "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you" (John 17:21a, NIV). On the other hand, charismatics know it is almost pointless to discuss the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12, 14) with Baptists or most anyone else from a mainline denomination. And Protestants of just about any stripe get riled up when they hear Catholics talking about...

The Opposition of the Natural " Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. —Galatians 5:24 " The natural life itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God, belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This is where the battle has to be fought. The things that...

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is a false religion created by and for members of the most rich, catered, defensive, politically-correct, over-protected, over-nurtured, over-fed society the world has ever known, and the fact that it uses the name Jesus and various select Christian buzzwords allows it to be passed off as Christianity.

The Impartial Power of God " By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. —Hebrews 10:14 " We trample the blood of the Son of God underfoot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only reason for the forgiveness of our sins by God, and the infinite depth of His promise to forget them, is the death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the result of our personal realization of the atonement by the Cross of Christ, which He has provided for us. “…Christ Jesus…became for us...