Are You Experiencing God’s Peace and Joy?

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

These verses introduce a section that contains some difficult concepts. To understand the next four chapters in the book of Romans, it helps to keep in mind the two-sided reality of the Christian life. On the one hand, we are complete in Christ (our acceptance with Him is secured). On the other hand, we are growing in Christ (we are becoming more and more like Him). At one and the same time we have the status of kings and the duties of slaves. We feel both the presence of Christ and the pressure of sin. We enjoy the peace that comes from being made right with God; but we still face daily problems that often help us grow. If we remember these two sides of the Christian life, we will not grow discouraged as we face temptations and problems. In stead, we will learn to depend on the power available to us from Christ, who lives in us by the Holy Spirit.

So, why is incest wrong?

by Albert Mohler

December 21, 2010 (AlbertMohler.com) - There are certain questions now pressed upon us that previous generations would never believe could be asked. One of these is thrust upon us by events in New York City, where a well-known Ivy League professor has been arrested for the crime of incest. What makes the question urgent is not so much the arrest, but the controversy surrounding it.

David Epstein is a professor of political science at Columbia University, where his wife also teaches. He previously taught on the faculties of Harvard and Stanford. Last week, he was arraigned before a judge in Manhattan, charged with a single count of felony incest. According to authorities, Professor Epstein was for several years involved in a sexual relationship with his adult daughter, now age 24. Click "here" to read the full article.

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I found this to be a very interesting article writen by Albert Mohler who is the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I am just waiting, like many other Christians, for the cry of "discrimination" against incestuous acts ...as well as "discrimination" against bestiality, polygamy, and pedophilia to come to the forefront of our socially elite, liberal court system.

How Is Your Conduct In The Midst Of Suffering?

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:11-12)

As believers, we are “aliens and strangers” in this world, because our real home is with God. Heaven is not the pink-cloud-and-harp existence popular in cartoons. Heaven is where God lives. Life in heaven operates according to God’s principles and values, and it is eternal and unshakable. Heaven came to earth in the symbolism of the Jewish sanctuary (the tabernacle and temple) where God’s presence dwelt. It came in a fuller way in the person of Jesus Christ, “God with us.” It permeated the entire world as the Holy Spirit came to live in every believer.

Playing The Hate Card!

One Way to Shut Down Debate

By: Chuck Colson

What’s the easiest way to shut down a debate? Well these days, just label your opponent a hate-filled bigot. No doubt at Thanksgiving dinner, many of you shared what you are thankful for. Foremost on my list was the freedom we as Americans still enjoy to practice our religion. This includes the right to promote laws and leaders who uphold our values. But in the week before Thanksgiving, an influential civil rights group that claims to fight “hate and bigotry,” was making a list of its own.

In its newly-released Winter Intelligence Report, the Southern Poverty Law Center labels eighteen Christian organizations as “anti-gay groups.” The charges? “Pumping out demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities.” Click here to read the full story.

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After reading this article by Chuck Colson regarding the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) attack on "anti-gay groups" it sounds like the end times are getting closer folks! It makes me wonder just how long it will be before your church will be added to the SPLC's "hate groups list" along with the Neo Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan!

Related Story: 'Hate group' designation angers same-sex marriage opponents.

I Am Not Ashamed of The Gospel!

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

The New Testament speaks of salvation in the past tense (Ephesians 2:8), the present tense (2 Corinthians 2:15), and the future tense (Romans 13:11). In the past, the believer has been saved from the penalty of sin. In the present, the believer is being saved from the power of sin. In the future, the believer will be saved from the very presence of sin (Matthew 5:10–12; 8:17; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Timothy 2:11–13; Revelation 22:12).

The Dark Side of Biotech

Expert details grisly fate of fetal body parts.

by Kathleen Gilbert

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Every day in America, countless packages are carefully transferred for use by government, university, pharmaceutical and other biotechnology laboratories. Some of these end up advancing development of products such as cosmetics and food additives; others are used directly as a form of therapy.

The material in those packages are human body parts - eyes, ears, limbs, brain, skin - now an indispensable commodity for many U.S. researchers and scientists, and a lucrative export of America’s abortion clinics. Click here for the full story.

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I came across this news story about where a lot of the "remains" are shipped after leaving some U.S. abortion clinics. I really was not aware that this was going on in our country. I guess I am sort of naive about certain things that are happening in our country. I know this is probably something that we do not want to hear, let alone think about, this time of year....but to tell you the truth, it just literally makes me ill just thinking about it.

The sad part about this whole "Supply and Demand" issue, as far as it goes to the need for human body parts, is that the "Supply" will always grow with the "Demand", which means more SUPPORT for abortions.

Marriage – The Biblical Concept

Wife:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5: 22-24)

Just as Christ is not inferior to the Father, but is the second Person in the Trinity, so wives are equal to their own husbands. Yet in a marriage relationship, a husband and wife have different roles to the Lord: A wife’s voluntary submission arises out of her own submission to Christ.

What Happens To Babies Or Infants Who Die?

Do they go to heaven or hell? By way of background, we have to remember that everyone is guilty before God because of the sin we inherited from Adam (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). In fact, there is not a single righteous person (Romans 3:10-11). We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Therefore, everyone is guilty before our Holy and Righteous God no matter how young or how old they may be. Furthermore, belief is a necessary requirement for salvation (John 3:18-19; Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9).