What is more important than life? ETERNAL LIFE

God defends the eternal life of all who, in true faith, stand for Him. This raises the question: If God defends them, why do they die? Which begs an answer to this question: What does it mean to be defended by God?

The story of Stephen in Acts 7 gives insight. When Stephen stood firm for Christ in the face of Jewish persecution in Jerusalem, he was stoned. But just before the stones began to fly, Stephen had a vision of Jesus in heaven standing at the right hand of God, waiting to receive Stephen’s spirit. Normally, Jesus is pictured seated at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 8:1). But Jesus stood in honour of Stephen’s courage and commitment. It also says, “Then he (Stephen) knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this he fell asleep. Acts 7:60

picture of Stephen being stoned
There is something more important than life, and that is eternal life. God defends the eternal life of all who, in true faith, stand for Him.

LUIS’S TESTIMONY WILL TRANSFORM YOUNG PEOPLE’S LIVES

Make sure you get your sons and daughters, or in my case, my grandsons and granddaughters, to watch this testimony by Luis West, a young indigenous Australian. We all need to be as sure of who you are in Jesus as he is.

Celebrities-talk-about-God-and-their-faith-in-Jesus

Without God life is absurd. This video demonstrates that we are made to love GOD and don’t feel complete without HIM, but the world needs to know JESUS is the only way to reconnect with God our Father.

Roman Catholic Ireland has just voted to legalize Gay Marriage.

Did gay deviant priests bring this debacle upon the Irish people?

Supporters celebrate outside Dublin Castle following the announcement of the result of the same-sex marriage referendum in Dublin on Saturday.

Supporters celebrate outside Dublin Castle following the announcement of the result of the same-sex marriage referendum in Dublin on Saturday. Photo: AFP
NEWS BRIEF: “Church unnerved by Ireland’s huge ‘Yes’ ” Sky News, Australia, 25 May 2015

“The once-dominant Catholic Church in Ireland is trying to come to terms with an overwhelming vote in favour of gay marriage … the faithful attended mass to hear their priests reflect on the new social landscape. ‘The Church has to find a new language which will be understood and heard by people,’ Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin told reporters after mass at the city’s St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral.

” ‘We have to see how is it that the Church’s teaching on marriage and family is not being received even within its own flock.’ ”

My wife exclaimed to me when she heard that Ireland had just voted to legalize gay marriage, “how could this happen in Catholic Ireland”?

The answer is both simple and profound. Ireland has lost so many tens of thousands of Catholic adherents for the same reason the Catholic Church the world over has lost so many — the scandal of gay deviant priests preying upon innocent children within the church has gotten so deep and so dreadful that families have been leaving in droves for years.

The pressure for Tony Abbott to legalize gay marriage is now increasing exponentially. After the Ireland announcement, listen to what the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who is in favour of marriage equality, said, “Mr Abbott now needs explain why the Government is unwilling to pursue the change. If the Irish people can vote in favour of marriage equality, the question has to be asked, what is Tony Abbott’s problem with it?” he said. “Most places in the world are dealing with marriage equality, why is Tony Abbott stopping Australia becoming a more modern nation?”

The world is quickly shedding God’s moral standards and sadly so much of the church no longer holds to God’s Word as TRUTH and it is infallible/inerrant. As a result, many church denominations have accepted gay marriage, gay priests along with other heresies.

Those nations, such as the U.S.A, that legalized abortion and have progressively taken God out its life, which now includes embracing gay marriage, are already under God’s judgment but don’t recognize it, and that judgment is set to escalate – see my posts on Jonathan Cahn, God’s prophet to America.

Prophesied last days events are unfolding rapidly, people who don’t know God and His Word will be shattered as it becomes obvious that governments are no longer in control and anarchy abounds.

I believe, it will be opportunity time for Christians as we understand what is happening. If we stay close to God, and allow the Holy Spirit to direct our activities, His church will bear much fruit in these last days.

JESUS CHRIST believed the Bible (Scripture) infallible.

picture of open bible

There is considerable debate these days concerning the inerrancy (infallibility) of Scripture. The authority of God’s Word is the main issue. But, if one yields to the authority of Jesus Christ, he must, in turn, yield to Christ’s view of the Scripture itself. Anyone and everyone who claims to be a Christian (a believer under the authority of Christ) must hold to the same view He did! What was it?

  1. He knew the Scriptures thoroughly, even to words and verb tenses. He obviously had either memorized vast portions or knew it instinctively: John 7:15.
  2. He believed every word of Scripture. All the prophecies concerning Himself were fulfilled, and He believed beforehand they would be.
  3. He believed the Old Testament was historical fact. This is very clear, even though from the Creation (cf. Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:4, 5) onward, much of what He believed has long been under fire by critics, as being mere fiction. Some examples of historical facts:
  4. He believed the books were written by the men whose names they bear:
    • Moses wrote the Pentateuch (Torah): Matthew 19:7, 8; Mark 7:10, 12:26 (‘Book of Moses’—the Torah); Luke 5:14; 16:29,31; 24:27, 44 (‘Christ’s Canon’); John 1:17; 5:45, 46; 7:19; (‘The Law [Torah] was given by Moses; Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ.’)
    • Isaiah wrote ‘both’ Isaiah’s: Mark 7:6–13; John 12:37–41 [Ed. note: Liberals claim that Isaiah 40-66 was composed after the fall of Jerusalem by another writer they call ‘Deutero-Isaiah’. The only real ‘reason’ for their claim is that a straightforward dating would mean that predictive prophecy was possible, and liberals have decreeda priori that knowledge of the future is impossible (like miracles in general). Thus these portions must have been written after the events. However, there is nothing in the text itself to hint of a different author. See The Unity of Isaiah. In fact, even the Dead Sea Isaiah Scroll was a seamless unity. But as Dr Livingston said, since Jesus affirmed the unity of Isaiah, the deutero-Isaiah theory is just not an option for anyone calling himself a follower of Christ.]
    • Jonah wrote Jonah: Matthew 12:39–41
    • Daniel wrote Daniel: Matthew 24:15
  5. He believed the Old Testament was spoken by God Himself, or written by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, even though the pen was held by men: Matthew 19:4, 5; 22:31, 32, 43; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37.
  6. He believed Scripture was more powerful than His miracles: Luke 16:29, 31.
  7. He actually quoted it in overthrowing Satan! The O.T. Scriptures were the arbiter in every dispute: Matthew 4; Luke 16:29, 31.
  8. He quoted Scripture as the basis for his own teaching. His ethics were the same as what we find already written in Scripture: Matthew 7:12; 19:18, 19; 22:40; Mark 7:9, 13;10:19; 12:24, 29–31; Luke 18:20.
  9. He warned against replacing it with something else, or adding or subtracting from it. The Jewish leaders in His day had added to it with their Oral Traditions: Matthew 5:17;15:1–9; 22:29; (cf. 5:43, 44); Mark. 7:1–12.

    Destroying faith in the Bible as God’s Word has opened the door today to a ‘new’ Tradition.

  10. He will judge all men in the last day, as Messiah and King, on the basis of His infallible Word committed to writing by fallible men, guided by the infallible Holy Spirit:Matthew 25:31; John 5:22, 27; 12:48; Romans 2:16.
  11. He made provision for the New Testament (B’rit Hadashah) by sending the Holy Spirit. We must note that He Himself never wrote one word of Scripture although He is the Word of God Himself (the living Torah in flesh and blood, see John, chapter 1). He committed the task of all writing of the Word of God to fallible men—guided by the infallible Holy Spirit. The apostles’ words had the same authority as Christ’s: Matthew 10:14, 15; Luke 10:16; John 13:20; 14:22; 15:26, 27;16:12–14.
  12. He not only was not jealous of the attention men paid to the Bible (denounced as ‘bibliolatry’ by some), He reviled them for their ignorance of it: Matthew 22:29; Mark 12:24.
  13. Nor did Jesus worship Scripture. He honored it—even though written by men.

The above leaves no room but to conclude that our Lord Jesus Christ considered the canon of Scripture as God’s Word, written by the hand of men.

Although some religious leaders profess to accept Scripture as ‘God’s Word,’ their low view of ‘inspiration’ belies the fact. They believe and teach that Scripture is, to a very significant degree, man’s word. Many of their statements are in essential disagreement with those of Jesus Christ. From the evidence of their books, we conclude that some Christian leaders are opposite to Christ in His regard for the authority, the inspiration, and the inerrancy of Scripture.

And now, the most important point.

Jesus Christ was subject to Scripture

Jesus obeyed the Word of God, not man. He was subject to it.

In all the details of His acts of redemption, Jesus was subject to Scripture as God’s Word. He obeyed it. It was His authority, the rule by which He lived. He came to do God’s will, not His own, and not man’s. Note how all of His life He did things because they were written—as if God had directly commanded. He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies (300) about Himself. The passages are found all over the Old Testament. We cite here only a very few quoted in the New Testament: Matthew 11:10; 26:24, 53–56;Mark 9:12, 13; Luke 4:17–21; 18:31–33; 22:37; 24:44–47.

He Himself is the Word of God. All the words from His lips were the Word of God. (John 3:34). If He had desired, He could have written a new set of rules and they would have been the Word of God. But, He did not. He followed without question the Bible already penned by men.

We need to do the same. May all who read this adopt Jesus’ attitude and become subject both to Him as Living Word (living Torah) and to the Bible as the infallible, written Word of God.

http://www.creation.com: article by Dr David Livingston – Jesus Christ on the infallibility of Scripture

Award winning rapper Lecrae: I am here to hold up the banner of TRUTH.

lecrae

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IpDGu87dm0

Grammy-Award winning rapper Lecrae recently appeared on the New York City radio station “Hot 97 The Morning Show” where he discussed being censored due to his lyrical content being informed by his Christian faith.

“I’m more censored than the most drugged out violent rapper,” Lecrae told host Ebro who asked if he runs into barriers due to being a Christian rapper. “They censor me more than anybody. I’m marginalized, put in a box, so it’s kind of weird. I’m sitting here trying to put substance in music and people are like, ‘nah nah.'”

Lecrae also enjoyed other mainstream exposure performing on the “Late Show with Jimmy Fallon” last month and knocking Nicki Minaj’s sex driven “Anaconda” out of the No. 1 slot on iTunes back in August with his single “All I Need is You.” He shared an exclusive quote with The Christian Post to celebrate that feat.

“I don’t look at it that way,” the rapper told Christian Post. “I think it’s phenomenal to make music that challenges people to think on morality, spirituality and the betterment of society. Many people do that. Some sing country or jazz — I rap.

At the end of the day I’m not here to hold up the banner of a genre. I am here to hold up the banner of Truth. It’s way bigger than genres and charts. I’m fighting to be a voice in culture. A voice in a dark world.”