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"Christian converts cease to be Indians"
("PTI," September 3, 2007)

Durban, South Africa - A Hindu religious leader in South Africa has caused a storm within the Indian community by saying that those who convert to Christianity will "lose their right to be Indian".

"Uganda church anoints US bishop"
("BBC News," September 2, 2007)

Kampala, Uganda - Uganda's Anglican Church has appointed a bishop to serve in the US, against the wishes of the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church's US arm.

"Iraq judge convicts 400 over cult clashes in Najaf"
by Khaled Farhan (Reuters, September 3, 2007)

Najaf, Iraq - An Iraqi judge sentenced 10 people to death and 390 others to between 15 years and life in jail over clashes near the city of Najaf early this year that killed hundreds, local officials and a lawyer said on Monday.

"Iran builds new cultural center for Jews"
(AFP, September 2, 2007)

Tehran, Iran - Iran started building a huge new cultural and sports complex for its Jewish minority in central Tehran Sunday, billing the project as proof of the freedoms enjoyed by its religious minorities.

"Apostasy: ex-religious teacher's case to be heard on Oct21"
("The Star," September 2, 2007)

Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia - The Syariah High Court here set Oct 21 to decide on the case of Kamariah Ali, an ex-religious teacher and follower of defunct religious sect Sky Kingdom, who was charged with declaring herself an apostate.

"Tibetans opposes China on reincarnations"
by Ashwini Bhatia (AP, September 2, 2007)

Dharmsala, India - A Chinese order claiming Beijing must approve all of Tibet's spiritual leaders is an attempt to further repress and undermine the religious culture of the Himalayan region, the Tibetan government-in-exile said Sunday.

"S.Korea church fights critics after hostage ordeal"
by Cheon Jong-woo (Reuters, September 2, 2007)

Bundang, South Korea - A pastor at the Seoul suburban church whose volunteers were taken hostage by the Taliban told parishioners on Sunday to brace for a spiritual fight against those who see its missions abroad as ill-conceived.

"MUP: Cult murders premeditated"
("B92," September 2, 2007)

Belgrade, Serbia - Police believes Danijel Jakupek, suspected of committing a double murder in Novi Banovci, had planned the crime.

"Religion causes harm, says poll"
by Richard Brooks ("Times," September 2, 2007)

London, England - NEARLY half the British think that religion is harmful, according to a poll carried out by YouGov. Yet more than half also believe in God "or something".

"No apology for Mohammed cartoon, Swedish newspaper says"
(AFP, September 2, 2007)

Stockholm, Sweden - A leading Swedish newspaper on Saturday said the country would not apologize for the recent publication of a Prophet Mohammed cartoon which has inflamed devout Muslims around the world.

"Pope leads Church's first eco-friendly rally"
by Philip Pullella (Reuters, September 1, 2007)

Loreto, Italy - Pope Benedict on Saturday led the Catholic Church's first eco-friendly youth rally -- where nearly everything used was biodegradable or recyclable -- and urged his young listeners to shun "disposable love".

"Christian sect with shadowy past has 'evolved over the years'"
by Tim Shufelt ("Globe and Mail," August 31, 2007)

Boston, USA - The Community of Jesus, a small, communal Christian sect in Massachusetts that stresses discipline and rejects homosexuality has made an effort in recent years to leave behind its shadowy past and accusations of psychological abuse.

"A year in jail makes Jeffs no less loved"
by Brooke Adams ("Salt Lake Tribune," September 2, 2007)

Salt Lake City, USA - Within hours of the arrest of Warren S. Jeffs last August, authorities in Utah and Arizona predicted loyalty to the polygamous sect leader would crumble.

"Psychiatrists least religious of U.S. doctors: study"
by Will Dunham (Reuters, September 3, 2007)

Washington, USA - U.S. psychiatrists generally are less likely to be Protestant or Roman Catholic than other types of doctors, according to a study released on Monday.

"ACLU sues judge over alleged bias"
by David Koenig (AP, August 31, 2007)

Dallas, USA - A justice of the peace was sued Friday for allegedly ordering a man from his courtroom for refusing to remove his turban while defending himself in a traffic citation case.

"Miami killer says evil spirit made him murder"
by Kelli Kennedy (AP, September 1, 2007)

Miami, USA - As a child, Lazaro Galindo cut open the family puppies "to see all the pretty colors inside." As a teenager, he kept a black cauldron filled with hatchets and knives, all tools he used to sacrifice animals for his religion. He once told a detective he had an insatiable desire to eat human flesh.

"Father of dead Jehovah's Witness girl can sue church: court"
(CP, September 1, 2007)

Calgary, Canada - The father of a teenaged Jehovah's Witness who refused blood transfusions can proceed with legal action on behalf of her estate against the church, the Alberta Court of Appeal has ruled.

"Jewish leader urges U.S. Muslims to condemn violence"
(Reuters, August 31, 2007)

Chicago, USA - A major Jewish religious leader urged North America's Muslims on Friday to keep condemning violence committed in the name of Islam until the message sinks in.

"Hispanics fuel growth in Pentecostal churches"
by Stephanie Innes ("Arizona Daily Star," September 2, 2007)

Tucson, USA - It is noon on a hot Tucson Sunday in August. Though the lights and air-conditioning have just gone out in the New Life Ministry/Ministerios Vida Nueva, hundreds of people continue to pour into its worship space.

"Justices counter Legislature on theology schools"
by Lisa Sandberg ("Houston Chronicle," September 1, 2007)

Austin, USA - The Texas Supreme Court sided with unaccredited schools of theology Friday, ruling that the state had no authority to intervene in their religious curriculum or prohibit them from conferring degrees.

"In New Prayer Book, Signs of Broad Change"
by Laurie Goodstein ("NY Times," September 3, 2007)

New York, USA - Religious denominations have learned that rewriting their prayer books can result in rebellions from their worshipers, both those wedded to tradition and those hoping for dramatic change.

"Former Byelorussian parliamentary speaker denies being member of banned sect"
("Interfax," September 3, 2007)

Minsk, Belarus - Former Byelorussian Parliamentary Speaker Stanislav Shushkevich has said that he has nothing to do with the Church of Unification of Sun Myung Moon, but that he does agree with some of its principles.

Grace, Faith and Spiritual Gifts

by Ken Brown

The subject of spiritual gifts has come up in several other papers in the past, but I need to address this subject in a little more detail, so, here we go.  I remember from my past involvement in traditional religion the strange (and wrong) emphasis put on this aspect of the Holy Spirit's ministry.  And I think it best to repeat at this point some of the things I've said in other papers about spiritual gifts as they relate to traditional religion to sort of set the stage for what I have to say.

Spiritual gifts cannot be taught.  You do not learn from men (or women) how to function in these gifts that come from the Spirit, for that very reason.  They come from the Spirit.  They are never a result of the whim or imagination of men.  They are spiritual, which means they have their source in God and they are spiritually discerned.  Yes, you can learn about them, to a degree, but certainly not to the extent that religion proposes.  As a matter of fact, you will hopefully realize from this presentation that spiritual gifts are one of the ways God teaches us his character and nature (Who He is and what He does). They are God's method of spontaneous, on the job training in the exercise and demonstration of His love.  

Also, spiritual gifts are not a result of our fleshly desire to "minister to the body".  It's not our responsibility to go around trying to decide what people need and whether or not they could benefit from "our giftings", simply because we've worked so hard to develop them.  Neither can it be "our ministry" to equip the saints for the fleshly exercise of these gifts.  True spiritual gifts come as a result of our submission and subsequent obedience to God as we struggle to learn how to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  And when we're submitted to Him, He decides the when, the how and the who, in regards to the timing, the manifestation of the specific gift and the person or persons to be on the receiving end of what He has planned.

The prevailing concept in religion is that spiritual gifts can be identified through an evaluation or test and enhanced by training.  Wrong!  The most common result of such foolishness is that people manipulate the evaluation and it results in confirming what they think they already know, what they want to be, how they see themselves or how others see them.  In this way, their so-called giftings either line up with their natural abilities or what they've determined to be the most prestigious or attention-getting gifts.  For those in the traditional church that tend to be somewhat ambitious or competitive in nature, this is their opportunity to shine.  They now have an acceptable opportunity to publicly exhibit their supposed spiritual superiority over those with less ambition.  Of course, this is all done for the sake of strengthening the Body and meeting the needs of others.  It's really nothing more than the exercise of their flesh.  But then again, as I've said before, religion is specifically calculated to appeal to the flesh and give it opportunity to manifest itself in the name of God.

Religion attempts to separate spiritual gifts into several categories. According to the religion experts, there are ministry gifts, power gifts and gifts that are reserved for the pseudo-spiritual elite, those who have the education, the training and the talent, the ones who have chosen religion as a career.  Then, depending on their particular bent, different religious groups can emphasize certain gifts and ignore others.  They can justify their leadership roles and manipulate those under their supposed authority.  If it's possible to read this paper void of any religious bias, you'll see that God doesn't make those distinctions.

In our consideration of spiritual gifts, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course, is our expert.  There are three major passages, all in Paul's epistles (I Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4).  And since I Corinthians was probably the first one written, we'll start there.  The following is a paraphrase of verses 1 through 13.

1. And now, brothers, let's talk about spiritual gifts.  I don't want there to be any misunderstandings.

2. You remember that when you were still heathen, you followed after false gods that couldn't speak and you thought nothing of it.

3. But now you have to understand that no one following the promptings of the Holy Spirit is ever going to say, Jesus is damned!  And no one can really say, Jesus is Lord, except by that same Holy Spirit.

4. Now, there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit.

5. And there are different ways of serving, but it is the same Lord Who is served.

6. And God's workings in our lives may be revealed in many different ways, but it's still His work, regardless of how or in whom it is manifested.

7. Just remember that each manifestation of the Spirit is given for the good of all.

8. To one is given by the Spirit the ability to speak a message of wisdom, to another the ability to express profound spiritual understanding through the same Spirit.

9. To another the ability to trust God without reservation, again, given by the same Spirit, and to another the extraordinary ability to heal others, by the same Spirit.

10. To another the very real ability to overrule the laws of nature, to another the ability to clearly interpret God's will and purpose, to another the ability to discern the difference between the true spirits that come from God and the false ones, to another the ability to speak in other languages, and to yet another the ability to interpret these languages.

11. And all of these wonderful gifts come through the revelation and inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, Who gives them to each one individually as He chooses.

12. For just as a human body is one body, but with many parts, so it is with those who are in the Body of Christ.  It, too, has many parts, but is only one Body.

13. And it is only through the personal and individual ministry of the Holy Spirit to each one of us that we have all, whether Jew or Gentile, been identified with this one Body and have all been made partakers of this same Holy Spirit.

OK, let's look at this pretty much verse by verse.  I'll try to be brief.  Paul didn't want there to be any misunderstandings with regards to spiritual gifts, so he reminds those in the church at Corinth that things are different now that they're following the real God who speaks through the ministry of His Spirit, instead of the pagan gods they had known before.  He tells them that all true spiritual gifts have the same source – the one and only Holy Spirit of God. They all serve that same God.  And they all represent His working in our lives.  In other words, He determines, not us, what it's going to be, how it's going to be carried out and who is going to be involved.

Then Paul moves on to identify the different kinds of gifts the Holy Spirit can give.  There are nine listed in this passage.  Let's define them in some detail, so we can understand them (but not so we can set out to develop them on our own).  We must always remember that spiritual gifts tend to be fragmentary and temporary in nature.  So, just because the Holy Spirit may impart, for instance, the gift of wisdom to someone does not mean that they "have" the gift of wisdom from that point on to use as they wish or as they believe the need arises.  Traditional religion, depending on their particular agendas, tend to either make these gifts out to be something they're not or ignore them altogether.

The first gift in this list is the word of wisdom.  Here, "wisdom" is sophia, commonly translated "prudence".  This is a word that has specific meaning, namely, the knowledge of how to regulate one's relationship with God.  In other words, wisdom is the ability to understand how to correctly relate to God according to His will and purpose.  So, then, a word of wisdom is revelation from the Spirit that brings understanding regarding the divine will and purpose.  This insight into the mind and heart of God reveals His plans and intentions. (Acts 27:21-25)

The next is the word of knowledge.  The word translated "knowledge" is gnosis and is a word used to designate partial or fragmentary knowledge as opposed to epignosis, used to indicate full or complete knowledge.  This is a revelation gift as well and gives one the ability to understand either divine or human intention in a particular circumstance.  It is also a good example of demonic activity in some segments of traditional religion where the word of knowledge is presented by the spiritually ignorant as full and detailed information about individuals in areas of their lives that have nothing whatsoever to do with God's intentions towards them.  Of course, the purpose of counterfeit gifts is to deceive.  Peter experienced both a word of knowledge and discerning of spirits in the episode with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11.  When you read these verses, you'll see that the Holy Spirit revealed to Peter only partial knowledge of what Ananias and Sapphira were up to.  This then prompted Peter to ask them questions to get to the full truth.

Then comes the gift of faith.  This is the ability to trust God in the absence of human doubt, fear, unbelief or reasoning.  When you read the scriptures, you find great examples of this in the lives of those who experienced extraordinary things with God.  Abraham is one that immediately comes to mind (Romans 4:17-21).  I've mentioned Hebrews 11 several times in the past.  It's probably the most concentrated passage in scripture that illustrates this point.  By the way, I purposely use Old Testament characters here to remind you that these same spiritual gifts we're talking about in the New Testament existed then and were in operation through the same Spirit.  This is an illustration of the fact that the eternal, invisible God didn't change from the Old Testament to the New Testament, and that He hasn't changed from New Testament times to today.

The fourth is the gifts of healing.  This is straightforward in meaning and needs no explanation as far as the gift is concerned.  However, the counterfeit in traditional religion needs to be exposed for what it is, a fraud.  Over the years I attended countless so-called healing services and never witnessed one legitimate healing.  I've had people tell me they were healed, but then days, weeks or months later, they still had the same problem.  I listened to the outrageous claims made by those who were purported to have the gift of healing, but never once saw them heal anyone.  I saw seriously ill people leave meetings disappointed and people turned away because the "healers" prayed only for those who were willing to give an offering first (and the ones who did give weren't healed either).

So, let's put this gift in context, expose the charlatans and move on.  (And if I sound angry here, I am. What religious manipulators do in the name of God is criminal.  People get disappointed and angry with God, not because of what God does, but because of what men do in the name of God.)  God can and does heal, at His discretion, in His timing, those He chooses.  And He uses the gifts of healing sometimes to accomplish this.  What he doesn't do is give certain men or women the permanent ability to heal whomever they choose, whenever they choose.  You don't find it in scripture, either by example or by teaching and you'll never see it in reality, except as it is demonically inspired in counterfeit form.  There were times Paul sought healing for others to no avail.  Then there were times when the gifts of healing were evident in his life to fulfill a specific purpose (Acts 28:8-10). Again, it's important to remember, in religion men are in control, and God appears to be in subjection to them to do their bidding.  But in spiritual reality, God is in control, and men are in subjection to Him and serve Him.

The claims of some in traditional religion that God wants to heal everyone are false and misleading.  It has never been God's purpose to heal everyone who is sick.  He, in fact, has always used sickness to humble us and strip us of our strength and anything else that makes us self-sufficient and unwilling to seek Him.  The insistence of those who want to believe that God wants everyone healthy and wealthy in this life only shows how far they are from understanding His will and purpose.  The claims of Christian fakirs aside, Christ did not die on the cross so we could be healthy and wealthy; He did it so we could be delivered from our sin.

Next is the gift of miracles.  Here, "miracles" is dunamis, and is used to illustrate the ability to demonstrate the power of God over the laws of nature.  For most circumstances in this world there is an expected cause and result due to the natural laws that God put into operation to govern it.  This gift of the Spirit allows one to intervene or contradict the natural laws that normally affect us all.  I used Acts 28 above to illustrate the gifts of healing. In the same chapter (Acts 28:1-6) Paul gained favor with the superstitious inhabitants of the Island of Mileta when he was bitten by a poisonous snake but suffered no harm from it.  It was this same gift of the Spirit that enabled Jesus to turn water into wine, calm the storm and walk on water.

The sixth gift is prophecy.  We've discussed propheteia in other papers and will see it again, both in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 in this one.  Prophecy is not predicting future events.  It's not reading people's thoughts or giving intimate details of their lives.  Those are all demonic counterfeits used to deceive those in traditional religion that choose to believe that anything supernatural must be God.  The true prophetic in every instance is the revelation of the mind and heart of God and always has to do with His desire to communicate some aspect of His will and purpose.  False prophecy in all its varied forms may be the most fraudulent and misleading of all the counterfeit gifts (and if it is, tongues may be a close second).  There are many examples of the genuine gift in scripture.  Look at Acts 20:28-31 for an example of a prophetic word.  Here, God uses Paul to warn the elders at Ephesus to watch for those who would surely come to deceive and destroy the church through false doctrine.

The discerning of spirits is next on the list.  The word translated "discerning" is diakrisis and means, "to distinguish one from another".  This gift is the temporary ability to see into the spirit realm to see and understand what is coming out of this real, but invisible, domain.  It can be those who serve only the purposes of God, or it can be the enemies of God.  And here it might be good to point out that the sovereign God of the universe is the One Who decides whether or not to allow us to recognize what's going on around us in the spirit realm.  Sometimes it is His intention that we suffer at the hands of evil as part of His plan to perfect us (even Jesus suffered at the hands of evil). But He promises not to test us in ways that are beyond our ability to endure (I Corinthians 10:13).  Then sometimes it is His intention to protect us from evil.  Either way, it's His choice, not ours.  Look at Acts 13:6-12 for an example of this gift.

Then comes the gift of different kinds of tongues, literally the ability to speak languages that have not been previously learned by the one speaking them. This is genos, translated "kinds", or in other translations "diversities", used with the plural glossai, translated "tongues", but more appropriately for our understanding, "languages".  This is a reference to what Jesus spoke of in Mark 16:17, the subsequent events described at Pentecost with the Jews in Acts 2:4, continued in Acts 10:46 with Gentiles, again in Acts 19:6 with the disciples of John the Baptist and then found in the instructions of Paul in I Corinthians 12-14.  These appear to be either known languages that had not been learned by those who spoke them or ecstatic utterance, both in demonstration of the reality of the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4) and the power of God (Acts 2:7, 8).

Since the word "tongues" has appeared, the can of worms (or the barrel of monkeys, depending on your view) has been opened.  So let's see if we can sort them out.  In the past, traditional religion, depending on their agenda (they call it a statement of faith) has tried to deny tongues, ignore them, tolerate them, or over-emphasize them.  Scholars have tried to categorize them, explain them or explain them away.  But I have to tell you, there's nothing like an open, honest and (I hope) unbiased examination of the subject to clear the misconceptions and gain even further understanding of the invisible God.  This is going to take some time, but it will be worth it.  So, get comfortable.

Let's start with Jesus' statement as recorded in Mark 16:15-18.  This is Mark's version of what religion commonly calls the Great Commission (actually, this is the Pentecostal Great Commission, the mainline, evangelical version is found in Matthew 28:19-20).  It is both prophetic in the true sense and predictive.  Here, Jesus has appeared to the eleven for the last time.  He reproves them for their lack of faith and hardness of heart and then tells them they will take the good news of God's plan of redemption to the world (which they did, look at Colossians 1:5, 6).  He then says that those who accept this message, cling to it and identify themselves with it would be delivered (this is where you find the word "baptized", which doesn't mean participate in a ritual and "get wet", it means to make a real identification by changing from one thing into another).  Then Jesus continues, saying those who don't accept it would be condemned.

Then He says there will be certain signs that will distinguish those who accept the message.  The second sign He mentions is that they will speak in "new tongues".  This is kainos, a word that is used to describe something that is qualitatively new, as opposed to numerically new (neos), and the plural glossai, mentioned above.  Jesus is talking about new languages in the context of them being "different" from those normally spoken.  And, unlike traditional religion, neither Jesus nor Paul attempts any distinction between the language of men or ecstatic utterance.  Both are unknown or "new" to the one speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

And while I'm here, I may as well deal with the rest of Jesus' statement.  He mentions casting out demons, handling snakes, drinking poison and laying hands on the sick so they can recover.  I hope the context here is obvious, but to most, I know it's not.  It's not up to us to decide when to cast out demons, speak in different languages, handle snakes, drink poison, or lay hands on the sick.  That's what people do in religion to try to prove their spirituality; but, it's not true spirituality, it's religious self-righteousness.  Those who really cling to this message of truth come to understand that God is in charge, and they're submitted to Him.  So, none of these things are determined by man, only by the Holy Spirit.

The key to understanding this is found in the phrase "in My name" found in verse 17.  As I've said several times before, this is an idiom or word picture that literally means "as a representation of all that I am."  And make no mistake about it; Jesus never did anything because He wanted to, because He decided it on His own or because someone else wanted Him to or expected Him to.  He was totally submitted to the Father, to the Father's plan and to the moment-by-moment leadership of the Holy Spirit.  And everything Jesus describes in verses 17 and 18 must be understood in that context.  Those things will only happen in the lives of those who are submitted to God and following the Spirit like He was.  And then, it will be up to God whether they happen or not.

In Acts 28:1-6 Paul didn't think, "I know how I can impress these stupid barbarians, so they'll think I'm really something and treat me nice.  I'll do some snake handling and if that doesn't do the trick, maybe I'll have them bring me some poison to drink.  That always works."  Paul didn't plan what happened; God through the Holy Spirit, in order to benefit both Paul and the inhabitants of Mileta, orchestrated it.  Normally, the snakebite would have killed him, as it would any man.  Paul would have died had he not experienced the gift of miracles.  He was allowed to demonstrate the power of God by intervening in the laws of nature.

When you continue in Acts 28:7-10, you see the Holy Spirit again work in Paul through the gifts of healing, which put Paul and his party in favor with the people so that they were treated kindly and given everything they needed to continue their journey on to Rome.  But, then again, we also know there were times when Paul sought God's healing for himself or others and it didn't happen.  Again, true spiritual gifts are temporary and under the control of divine discretion.

In His instructions to the disciples in Mark 16, Jesus is not telling them to do these things whenever the notion strikes.  He's not unwittingly establishing traditional, institutional religion.  He's saying that these things will happen in the course of believer's lives as they follow Him.  He's simply describing the result of the operation of the gifts and ministry of the Holy Spirit in those who are submitted to Him.  And speaking in different languages is one of these gifts.

Now, to kind of speed this up let me give you a lot of information in a few short paragraphs.  As already stated, there is no distinction made between known or unknown tongues (known languages or ecstatic utterances), in scripture; that distinction was made by King James translators who added "unknown" to the text and is unnecessary religious confusion (and if you don't think the King James translators had a religious agenda, think again). Therefore, speaking in tongues is only possible as a gift of the Spirit, under His direction (Acts 2:4, 10:44-46, 19:6, I Corinthians 12:4, 11, 14:2).  The one who speaks is not speaking to men, but to God (I Corinthians 14:2, 28).  The benefit may be more to the one speaking than the one hearing (I Corinthians 14:4, 16), but there are exceptions to that (Acts 2:8, 11).  The words spoken may be obscure to both the one speaking and the one hearing (I Corinthians 14:6-11); again, you have the exception above (and just let me slip this in right here, exceptions exist to illustrate the sovereignty of God and to mess up men's theology).  So, if necessary, to balance this there should be interpretation (I Corinthians 12:10, 30, 14:5, 27-28).  Tongues may come in the form of prayer, song, praise or thanksgiving (Acts 10:46, I Corinthians 14:14-17).  The unrestrained use of tongues in the church would make it appear to be an assembly of crazy people to outsiders (I Corinthians 14:23); so it should be limited and controlled (I Corinthians 14:27).

Yet even with this appearance of madness, or in the case of the church at Corinth, impropriety, the proper use of the gift of tongues is a legitimate evidence of God's power to unbelievers (I Corinthians 14:22).  The manifestation of this phenomenon can be either through the languages of men, spoken by those who had not previously learned them, or by the language of angels, spoken by those who could not have learned them (I Corinthians 13:1).  Even though there seemed to be problems in the church at Corinth regarding the use of tongues, Paul confirms the validity of the practice (I Corinthians 13:1, 14:18).  Paul not only had experienced the gift of tongues, he also had first-hand experience with the gift of interpretation. When he was taken up into the third heaven, he both heard and understood the language (utterances) of angels (II Corinthians 12:2-4).

Again, the statement of Jesus in Mark 16:17, the events recorded in Acts 2, 10 and 19 and what is described in I Corinthians 12-14 by Paul are not different categories of tongues.  And unless you have a hidden agenda, attempting to categorize tongues into one compartment of foreign languages and another of ecstatic utterance, is unnecessary. And those who struggle to make that distinction are really wasting their time.  In similarity to what Paul says in I Corinthians 14, the following is what we see in Acts 2.  Here, speaking in tongues is also an endowment of the Spirit (Acts 2:4).  It had at least some appearance of ecstatic utterance due to the supposed drunken state of those speaking (Acts 2:13), to the point that Peter thought it necessary to explain (Acts 2:14-16).  The emphasis appears to be on foreign languages (Acts 2:6, 8), but should not be limited to that, as we will see a little further down the line.

In Acts 10:44-46 we see Peter preaching the good news to the Gentiles and suddenly, unexpectedly the Holy Spirit falls on them and to the amazement of the Jews who had accompanied Peter, these Gentiles begin to speak in tongues.  Depending on the translation and what liberty the translators took to define these tongues, you find both foreign languages and ecstatic utterance referenced here.  Then Peter in Acts 11:15-17, when called on the carpet by the Jewish contingent in Jerusalem to explain his actions, says that when he was in Caesarea talking to the Gentiles, "the Holy Spirit fell on them just like He did on us at the beginning" (verse 15) and, "God gave them the same gift in equal measure as He gave to us" (verse 17).  Now, depending on whom you choose to believe, it would seem that Peter is saying that the events at Pentecost did not simply involve the disciples speaking in foreign languages, but ecstatic utterance, as well.

And in fact, those who propose the idea that only foreign languages were heard at Pentecost may be somewhat shortsighted.  When you read the account in Acts 2 (without taking any liberty to define the language as foreign), it says they all spoke "other tongues" (verse 4).  This is heteros, and means "another".  I'm sorry, heteros doesn't mean "foreign".  It is used to designate the fact that the Holy Spirit was directing them to speak in a manner in which they were not accustomed, in this case, a language other than Hebrew.  This presents another dilemma.  Since those Jews weren't speaking Hebrew, then how did all the Jews who were present in that crowd hear about the miracles of God in their own language?  That's what it says in verses 9 and 11!  So, to assume that were speaking in foreign languages doesn't even begin to explain what happened.

Let me try to sort this out for you.  In the account given by Luke in Acts 2 he tells us in verse 6 that when the multitude in Jerusalem heard the commotion caused by the manifestation of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples (the sound of a violent wind from heaven in verse 2, and everyone beginning to speak in "other" tongues in verse 4), they all rushed together to see what was going on.  Now, this was a large group of religious people, both Jews and proselytes from all over the known world.  Verse 41 tells us that 3,000 of them believed that day and surely there were many more than that present. But try to get the picture.  Here are thousands of people in the midst of what had to be a very noisy mass of confusion.

Does the text explain how all the different people groups were separated, quieted and led into their own little Sunday School rooms so one of the disciples could come and speak to them in their native tongue? Of course not! This was not a typical, traditional evangelistic crusade, where everything was carefully planned and carried out by the numbers in an orderly, dignified manner by religion experts.  They weren't separated and they didn't get quiet until the disciples all stopped speaking in other tongues.  And then Peter quieted the crowd and began to explain what was happening (verse 14).

So by now I hope you're beginning to see the picture.  The miracle of Pentecost goes way beyond what most in religion assume took place there. The disciples were standing together in a small, single group (verses 1, 14), not spread out amongst the crowd.  They were all speaking in other tongues at the same time (verse 4), not politely taking turns and making sure to not go past their allotted time.  And yet in the midst of all this noise, confusion and astonishment, each one in this tumultuous, mixed crowd of thousands heard them speak of the great miracles of God (verse 11).  This does not tell me that the miracle of Pentecost was that the disciples spoke in foreign languages and those present were somehow able to understand them amid the confusion.  No, what this tells me is that the miracle of Pentecost was that the disciples all spoke in some spiritual language and everyone in the huge, frenzied and disorderly crowd, including the Jews, was introduced to the Father and His Son when the Holy Spirit caused each one of them to hear the message in their own native language!!!

There is a segment of traditional religion today that wants to believe that speaking in tongues is a spiritual panacea, the cure-all for anything and everything that ails you.  To them, ecstatic utterance is the proof of salvation (it isn't), evidence of the ministry of the Holy Spirit (not necessarily), a sign of the presence of God (nope) and a gimmick to coerce God into doing what they want Him to do, when they want Him to do it (pure deception).  In most cases, the continued and constant use of ecstatic utterance is, at best, an exercise of the flesh by those who possess little or no understanding of the true will and purposes of God.  The people I know that run in this circle don't appear to speak in tongues at the direction of the Holy Spirit.  They do it whenever they want to or whenever someone tells them to.  The worst-case scenario is that it gives entrance to demonic activity and deception, as does any continual exercise of the flesh.  Look at the problems evident in the church at Corinth and the fact that it was clear as well that they were abusing the gifts.  I rest my case.

On the other hand, those who understand God's purpose and are learning by their experiences with Him how He accomplishes that purpose, grow to prefer present reality and strive to attain some semblance of understanding. They don't continually give in to the flesh to exercise something they themselves view as a token of their spirituality (and again, if they're doing it on their own, it's not spirituality anyway, it's self-righteousness and God hates it).  Instead, true believers submit themselves to God and wait on Him. And in reference to spiritual gifts, they follow Paul's advice to desire those gifts that will bring understanding and edify others (I Corinthians 14:1-4,12,15,19).

Which brings me to the last thing I want to talk about concerning the subject of tongues.  It seems that nothing has changed from Paul's day up to the present time.  With their pagan backgrounds, the Corinthians were inclined to view speaking in tongues as the spiritual gift par excellence.  Which is why, in their flesh, they abused it.  Have you ever wondered why Paul didn't have to correct them because they were abusing the gift of giving or the gift of mercy?  The same is true in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles today. Speaking in tongues is the answer for everything, the cure for anything.  They continually put it on display like a badge of honor.  But, while Paul obviously accepts the validity of spiritual languages, he also restrains himself from making any judgments regarding their prolific use in Corinth. Instead, he wisely instructs the church to subject their exercise of this gift to order, limitation and testing (I Corinthians 14: 26-28).

He was also careful to point out in detail that prophecy was much more valuable for the edification of the body and rather to be desired (I Corinthians 14:1-5).  But even before that, to even further emphasize his point, he lets these immature and ambitious believers know that there is something more important than spiritual gifts.  Sandwiched in the middle of his discussion of spiritual gifts he urges them (in I Corinthians 13) to put their immaturity and anything else that would hinder the spiritual progress of themselves or others aside and embrace the concept of God's love.  And since that will be the subject of my next paper, I'll not say anymore about it just now.

So, can there be a conclusion to all of this?  Well, others may struggle with this, but here's my conclusion.  Speaking in tongues, whether languages of men or angels in its manifestation, is in reality, the language of the Spirit.  It comes from Him at His discretion.  Never at any time in scripture are we given permission to choose the where, the when or the how.  This is spiritual, not fleshly.  And the difference between the two is clearly illustrated for us.  In Acts 2, it was spiritual.  And because it genuinely came from the source of the Spirit, it quickly assumed fruitful forms of genuine spiritual activity.  Peter preached the good news.  The church in Jerusalem was born.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit was beginning to flow freely to the edification of those who believed.  It was an initial experience in the supernatural power of God that introduced them to the ministry of the Spirit and the purposes of the invisible God.

But in Corinth some years later, we see abuse, confusion and more problems than actual fruit as these believers gave in to their pagan past and the dominance of their flesh.  Here Paul had to intervene and impose limits.

This is the plan.  Relax.  Let God do what God wants to do.  Submit to Him. Trust in Him.  Learn to follow Him.  If He brings it, great!  If He doesn't, then that's great, too!  And know that whatever He decides to do, it's in our best interest as long as we're committed to Him (Romans 8:28).

The ninth and last gift listed in this passage is the ability to interpret these languages.  Again, we'll not make any distinction between the languages of men or the language of angels.  The point is that here Paul reminds us all that the Holy Spirit Himself imposes limits on spiritual language by imparting the gift of interpretation so those present can all benefit from the experience (I Corinthians 12:7).

And I suppose now is as good a time as any to mention this, all the spiritual gifts are feigned in both traditional religion and by those struggling to walk in truth.  Even the most committed and submitted of us give in to our flesh from time to time.  The difference is that those who are submitted to God will sometimes recognize their failure, turn to God in repentance and experience the instruction, discipline and testing of God as He puts us through the cleansing processes of His redemptive plan.  But those who have embraced religion are unrestrained (scripture calls them lawless).  They know nothing of submission, are spiritually blind and simply continue to do the things that religion has taught them to do, falling prey to their own flesh, ritualistic traditions and demonic counterfeits.  And so they continue on with their fellows, down the broad road that leads to destruction.

Taken in chronological order, the Book of Romans was written next.  The list of spiritual gifts is found in chapter 12.  And, as with the list found in I Corinthians 12, I think it best to paraphrase the passage to set the context. The following is Romans 12:1-8.  There are 7 spiritual gifts mentioned in this list.

1. And so I'm begging you, brothers, after you have considered how God has taken such pity on us to bring us into His redemptive plan, to present yourselves as a living sacrifice, set apart and in step with what pleases Him; which, under the circumstances, is the only intelligent thing you could do.

2. Don't be like the world, but instead be transformed by allowing God to give you a new way of thinking; so you can be living proof of what is profitable, pleasing to God and so there will be nothing lacking in His will for you.

3. And because of what I'm getting ready to say, I have permission to tell every one of you to be careful and not think that you're something special. But instead, be realistic and define yourself in terms of what God is doing in your life.

4. Because it takes many different parts to make up one body, and all those parts can't have the same function.

5. And in this same way, we are all members of one body in Christ, and so we're mutually dependent on one another.

6. And we receive gifts that are not all the same, they're different according to how God decides to give His grace to us: if it's prophecy, tell others the truths God has revealed;

7. If it's serving, do the practical things that need to be done; if it's teaching, make sure the teaching is useful to others in their pursuit of God;

8. If it's exhortation, be sure that the message is one of encouragement and comfort and the counsel is Godly and sound; if it's giving, make sure that it's done quietly, generously and with no strings attached; if it's ruling, lead by example, being careful not to harm those who follow; and if it's mercy, be ready to share in the misery of others without reservation.

In light of everything that's already been said about spiritual gifts, and because of the way I've defined the words in the paraphrase, this passage is self-explanatory so far as what the different gifts are in this list.  However, I do want to point out something in verse 6 that is important in our understanding of what spiritual gifts are and what God's motivation is in giving them to us.  In verse 6 above Paul basically says that "gifts" (charisma) are determined by God's "grace" (charis).  In other words, charisma only comes from the source of charis; literally gifts are an extension of God's grace and share the same characteristics with His grace.

So, what am I trying to say here?  In spite of what some overly emotional types might say about God, the Sovereign of the Universe is a holy, righteous, just and omnipotent God.  And He managed to do OK long before we ever came on the scene and I suspect He's still doing OK (Isaiah 40:12-18), even with us here doing our best to mess things up.  He doesn't need us.  I say that to illustrate the reality of God's grace.  His grace is defined by what He does that benefits us, but has no benefit or advantage whatsoever for Him.

And so it is with many of the gifts He gives us (remember what I said awhile back about exceptions and God's sovereignty).  They come from His grace and share the same characteristics.  The result is that He gives us gifts to afford us the opportunity to be partakers of His grace.  We then have the privilege of giving them to others to benefit them, but with little or no practical benefit or advantage to us (except the knowledge that we've been obedient and the assurance that He trusts us enough to let us be a part of what He's doing).  He gives us the chance to be like Him.  Actually, as far as God's character and nature is concerned, and with reference to those who are diligently striving to follow Him, He requires that we be like Him.  Spiritual gifts are given to us at the discretion of the Holy Spirit to give away to those in need so they can experience the grace of God through us.  Spiritual gifts are His way of allowing us to be partners with Him in carrying out His plan and purpose.

This should be a sobering and humbling realization for every one of us.  And it should make us determined to watch ourselves and not give in to the temptation of striking out on our own to do our own religious, self-righteous thing.  This is the reason why I include this paper on spiritual gifts in the series on Grace and Faith.  God's children are brought into His plan of grace to participate in it and be a part of what God is continually doing on the earth.  All the glory goes to Him.

There is something else in this passage that bears examination, then we'll move on.  In verse 6 above in the paraphrase you see, "they're different according to how God decides to give His grace to us."  In the original text the verb "give" is an aorist participle.  The aorist participle in Greek is used when there is no definite time in view.  It refers to simple action, as opposed to the continuous action of the present participle, and does not indicate the time of the action, only the reality of the event described.  In this verse Paul is illustrating the discretion of God in the timing of spiritual gifts.  He gives them, but only when He chooses, to whom He chooses.

Now we come to the last list of gifts found in Ephesians 4.  In some segments of traditional religion this list is known as the "Five-fold Ministry", so-called because it is reserved for the professionals (don't try this at home, kids). These are generally understood to be reserved for the religious elite, the specially educated and trained, and the salaried, career positions.  As in most everything else in traditional, institutional, denominational religion the understanding is lacking or absent.

These gifts are definitely different than the others, though not in the way that religion sees them.  They seem to be ongoing in nature, but not permanent or exclusive.  There is obviously some maturity required as evidenced by Paul's exhortation towards an orderly life of humility, selflessness, patience and forbearance and a determination to guard the unity and peace that is produced in the assembly by the Holy Spirit, found in the beginning of this chapter (Ephesians 4:1-6).  Then there is the statement in verse 7 that tells us that all believers are expected to participate in these gifts in whatever way God decides.  "Yet God's undeserved favor was given to each one of us individually, but in different ways depending on what Christ decides to give."

Now there's one more thing before we get to the actual list.  In verse 8 Paul says that Christ has bestowed "gifts" on men.  Here the word gift is not charisma as in the previous two passages.  Here the word is doma, a word that is properly translated "gift", but a word that emphasizes the character of the gift rather than its beneficent nature.  In other words, these gifts are men. Good men?  Probably.  Sincere men?  More than likely.  Perfect men? Absolutely not, forget about it!  Do you put these men up on a pedestal?  Do you allow yourself to have unrealistic expectations?  If you do, you'll be disappointed.  I can almost guarantee it.

In fact, it is entirely possible that God will allow you to be severely disappointed even in true spiritual leadership from time to time to give you the opportunity to hone your skills in the areas of forgiveness and anything else He may determine to be areas of weakness in your character.  It's easier to forgive someone we consider to be less mature; we tend to make allowances for their immaturity.  But when they're supposed to be more mature than we are, it's harder to make those allowances.  We have to fight the urge to criticize and get others involved in our hurt or confusion.  Make no mistake about this, God knows how to test us; He's the expert.

Oh, by the way, when I say "men", I'm using it in a general sense.  Women can and should be involved in these gifts as well.  Remember verse 7?  God's grace is given to every one of us.  You cannot exclude women from the function of the church any more than you can exclude them from the purposes of God and from His redemptive plan.

So here's the list found in verse 11.  I'm giving you a paraphrase of Ephesians 4:11-14 so you can understand the purpose of these gifts.

11. Now, there are several different gifts; He gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some evangelists and some elders and teachers.

12. And His intention is to use them to fully equip those who commit themselves to occupy their place in the community for the purpose of promoting spiritual growth in the body of Christ.

13. Persevering until we all gain unity in the exercise of our faith, come to a full and accurate knowledge of the Son of God and attain maturity that is nothing less than the example Christ has set for us.

14. So we will no longer be tossed here and there by every new false teaching and thrown into confusion at every new false doctrine that comes along, preyed upon by cunning and unscrupulous men who intentionally invent error to deceive us.

There are several things that need to be clarified regarding this list of gifts.  In general, the Book of Ephesians has much to say about the function and purpose of the true church.  And Paul makes it clear that the Lord's intention is that these gifts be used to promote spiritual growth in the Body (verse 12). In reality, all of these gifts are focused on the same thing, to help people understand the will and purpose of God so they can get in on it (verse 13). Their resulting maturity in Christ will then give them the ability to resist men's religious seductions (verse 14).

Let's look at the different gifts listed.  The first gift on this list is apostles. This is the Greek apostolos, meaning "one sent forth".  The idea is that apostles are sent from God as His special messengers.  In this sense, Jesus was an apostle (Hebrews 3:1), as was Paul (I Corinthians 9:1).  The twelve disciples called by Jesus (Luke 6:13), Barnabas (Acts 14:4), Andronicus and Junias (Romans 16:7), Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25), Silas and Timothy (I Thessalonians 2:6) and two unnamed brethren (II Corinthians 8:23) were all called apostles.  All for the same reason, they were given a message from the heart of God and sent by Him to deliver it.  In scripture, the apostle comes out of the presence of God with an understanding of the heart and mind of God and a message burning in his gut that is specifically designed by God to contradict the world's religious philosophies and reveal to them His will and purpose.

This, of course exposes the false apostles in traditional religion today.  In religion an apostle is self-appointed, usually someone who has worked long and hard to establish "his ministry" and has managed to gain influence over several congregations.  But it has nothing to do with his message.  I have yet to see a self-proclaimed apostle in traditional religion that understands the will and purpose of God.  These guys aren't leading people out of deception; they're leading them into it.

In fact, while I'm at it, let me try to clear up a misunderstanding advanced by religion.  Anytime you see people who promote themselves as apostles or prophets, or allow others to do it, steer clear.  God is responsible for the appointment of these giftings, not man.  And they're not permanent appointments.  It is an assumption, and a wrong one, to think that these gifts are offices or permanent positions held for life.  Religion likes to make a distinction between the office of a prophet, for instance, and the gift of prophecy.  No such distinction exists.

In Ephesians 4:7 mentioned above the verb "given" in the original text is in the aorist tense, indicating simple, undefined action.  As I've already said in reference to Romans 12:6, the aorist tense has no significance as to time; it refers only to the reality of a thing.  In other words, God's grace with reference to these particular gifts is still determined by God, not men, in both timing and duration.  There is no indication whatsoever that His gifts are permanent and to be viewed as lifelong endowments.

Next on this list is the gift of prophets (prophetes).  Gifts related to prophecy are found on all three lists and in my mind they're the most important of the gifts.  The reason is that prophecy is the gift that has to do with the revelation of the mind and heart of God as it relates to His will and purpose.  Paul put a premium on prophecy in I Corinthians 14:1-5.

And in I Corinthians 14:3 he tells us why the gift of prophecy is so important, when he describes its function using these three words, edification, exhortation and comfort.  I want to look at these words because they further expose the counterfeit prophecy in religion.  "Edification" is the word oikodome, a word used to describe something in the process of being built.  Here, it is used figuratively to illustrate spiritual growth.  The gift of prophecy helps people understand what God is trying to reveal to them about His will and purpose.  The word translated "exhortation" is paraklesis, a word used to illustrate the act of encouraging others to pursue Godliness. Then "comfort" is paramuthia, taken from para, meaning near, and muthos, speech.

And when you consider all three of these words you have a pretty good overview of the function of prophecy.  God uses the prophetic gift at His discretion to help believers understand Him more completely, which advances them in their spiritual maturity.  He further uses prophecy to encourage them to accept what He has revealed and own it for themselves. Remember, when God reveals something of Himself, it is with the expectation that we accept it and make it a reality in our own lives.  That's what makes us partakers of His character and nature and that is what changes us.  Then He uses prophecy to come near to those who are pursuing Him and trying to be like Him and comforts and calms them in the midst of their struggle to persevere.

There is nothing in scripture to indicate that the gift of prophecy is a permanent possession or position, either in the Old Testament or the New. There is nothing in scripture that indicates the function of prophecy is to predict the future; nor is it to reveal intimate details of a person's life. Instead, the gift of prophecy is to help believers understand the will and purpose of God so they can be delivered.  The gift of prophecy encourages believers to pursue the Godliness that God is revealing to them.  Then it comforts them as they face the obstacles and endure the hardships that He requires.

The third gift on this list is evangelists.  Here the word euaggelistes is generally understood to mean "one who declares the good news".  Of course, in so-called evangelistic Christianity today this is a misconception, since that particular segment of traditional religion doesn't understand what the good news is.  To them Jesus is the Son of God (true), He died on the cross for our sin (also true), so all you have to do is say you believe that and you're saved (not true) and when you die, you'll go to heaven, because the doctrine of eternal security guarantees it (also not true).

In the Baptist churches I was involved with, the evangelist was the guy who traveled from church to church holding special meetings because he was particularly persuasive in getting people to say they believed it (in most evangelistic circles it's called "making a profession of faith").  Another point of view peculiar to at least some evangelicals is the evangelist who brings revival to town in his briefcase.  These guys are called evangelists because they're thought to have some talent when it comes to getting people excited about their religion.  But in my experience, when the meetings are over, everyone lets out a quiet sigh of relief and goes back to their same old routine.  It's hard to wake up something that's already dead.

Yet another view in traditional religion is that missionaries who go to foreign countries to establish churches are the true evangelists.  This could be true, if they knew what the good news is that they're supposed to declare.  But sadly, the missionary programs in traditional religion are designed to export traditional religion.  Convincing someone to make a profession of faith in Africa, South America or anywhere else in the world is not what true evangelists do.  If you think all you have to do is make a profession of faith, then support the programs of some religious institution, then you'll one day find yourself on the wrong side of Matthew 7:21-23 and Luke 13:23-30.

The fourth is elders (poimen, meaning shepherd and used figuratively to describe a spiritual leader).  I know.  The King James Bible and many subsequent translations use the word "pastor".  But, it's not there.  I'm not going to take the time to discuss this again.  If you're reading these papers in the proper order, like I asked you to, then you've already read "Leadership in the Early Church".  If you haven't read it, then you'll have to go back to it to see what I'm talking about.  In this list of gifts, Paul is not describing the professional God guy who uses his talents to build and operate a religious institution.  He's describing a man who is willing to put his true spiritual maturity on display and lead those who are less mature than he is into a fuller understanding and level of experience in the purposes of God.

Then the last gift listed is that of teachers (didaskalos).  This word comes from the verb didasko, to teach, which has inherent in its meaning the understanding that this teaching must cause those who are taught to have an increased understanding which leads them towards the experience of what is taught.  When taken in the context of what Paul says about the purpose of these gifts (Ephesians 4:12-14), this teaching leads those who are taught to experience the reality of God in their lives, so they are able to reject the shallow, superficial religious concepts that are being directed at them from all sides.

In fact, as I stated earlier, Paul says that the purpose of all 5 of these gifts are to bring a greater understanding of the will and purpose of God to the church, so people can experience Him, learn the difference between religion and reality, embrace the reality and reject the religion.  What that tells me is that there are no true apostles, prophets, evangelists, elders or teachers in traditional religious institutions.  Why?  If you don't understand this yet, let me say it again.  Religion and spiritual reality in God are opposites.  They cannot coexist.  One is diametrically opposed to the other.  Religion does not understand the will and purposes of God.  Religion exists to promote what men want the will and purposes of God to be.  Religion is man-made.  Man is at the center; he is in control.  In spiritual reality God is at the center; He is in control.  In religion men grudgingly subject themselves to what men have decided.  In spiritual reality we willingly submit to what God requires.  And the really sad thing is that most professing Christians are under so much deception that they will read what I just said and will not be able to tell one from the other!

Now let me wrap this up by making just a few general statements about spiritual gifts.  First of all, it's not necessary to identify or announce the manifestation of spiritual gifts.  I remember when I was involved in traditional religion people always liked to get everyone's attention and announce them.  "The Lord has just given me a word of knowledge."  They may as well have said, "Hey, look at me, I'm soooooo spiritual."  In our house churches we sometimes recognize the gifts in operation (some are more obvious than others), sometimes we don't recognize them until after the fact and sometimes we don't recognize them at all.  But we never announce them.  The goal is to try to understand what God is doing and be obedient to Him, not bring attention to us.

Also, I've mentioned several times already that gifts vary according to God's discretion.  The tendency in religion is to find one or two that you like and stick with those.  That's fleshly and false.  God wants us to experience a variety of gifts, because He uses them to stretch us beyond our natural abilities and comfort levels.  It's one of the ways He matures us.  If you're submitted to God, but have trouble showing mercy, guess what, He's going to try to lead you into situations where you have the opportunity to show mercy.  If you're in love with your stuff (like the rich, young ruler), then He's going to try to get you to give, so you can overcome that spiritual flaw.

So, how do you recognize when God is imparting a spiritual gift to you?  It's not always easy.  But, I'll try to give you a couple of tips.  If it involves revelation you can usually identify it by the fact that you weren't sitting there trying to think of something spiritual to say.  It just comes to you all of a sudden in that silent, indistinguishable voice I talked about in the paper on the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  And it is usually fragmentary.  The Spirit will give you part of it, then it's up to you to draw from your memory what He's already taught you to fill in the blanks.  But, here you have to be careful, because if you're not, your flesh will take it and run with it.  Sometimes, the Spirit will reveal part of it to someone else and they contribute to it as well.

If the gift involves supernatural intervention, you may not have time to react much one way or another.  You may find yourself caught up in a situation where you recognize God is working and you realize that you're not in control, He is.  Or, He's revealed to you ahead of time what He's going to do and you have to fight your natural tendencies to avoid it, because you're afraid it won't work or that, somehow, you're going to fail.

When the gift has anything to do with meeting the needs of others, one of the more obvious things that happen is that you recognize the need and you're uncomfortable with the thought of getting involved in it.  You find yourself trying to find reasons why you shouldn't, even to the point of discussing it with others hoping to get their support for your avoidance (or, may I suggest, your disobedience).  The fact that you recognized it and were uncomfortable with it tells you that God is trying to stretch you, but your flesh doesn't want to be stretched.

Recognizing what the Holy Spirit is leading us to do isn't easy.  And we'll all make mistakes.  But it's better to make a mistake because you're trying very hard to follow the leadership of the Spirit, than it is to make a mistake because you're trying to avoid Him.  In terms of spiritual maturity and advancement in it, enthusiasm and determination beats laziness and disobedience every time!

The last thing I want to mention is the fact that spiritual gifts are always temporary.  When you look at scripture, you cannot make the assumption, for instance, that an evangelist was always an evangelist.  You cannot find anyone who had the permanent gift of healing.  Spiritual gifts are imparted to believers at the discretion of the Holy Spirit and are temporary because God wants to continually reinforce our dependence on Him. If they were permanent, we wouldn't need Him.

Always remember, God's plan of redemption involves a personal relationship of intimacy with Him.  He wants us to know Him and He wants to change us.  But those who strive for self-sufficiency, whether in their own strength or religion, will never know Him.  And only those who are truly submitted to Him readily acknowledge their dependence.

"Those who truly understand what it is to be completely dependent on God and desperate for Him (the poor in spirit) are fortunate, because they will enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven in its fullness." (Matthew 5:3)

Copyright 2001 © Community Fellowship The reproduction and non-commercial use of this material is permitted...

Grace, Faith and the Rest of God

by Ken Brown

There is a life to be lived within the presence and provision of God offered by Him to all who are willing to live it.  It looks nothing like the life proposed by some in traditional religion today.  It is not a life that offers the freedom to tell God what to do, how to do it and when to do it.  It is not a life that strives for the things of the world.  It is not a life contrived by the flesh and its desires, but a life of submission and obedience to God.  It's a life focused on the plan and purpose of God.  It's called God's rest.

Both David and Paul talk about this rest in God.  And both use the same illustration of Israel's unbelief and their failure to enter into this rest following their release from slavery in Egypt (read Psalms 95:6-11, Hebrews 3:7-11).  And before we go any further, let me define unbelief.  You'll see it in several verses in this paper.  The word is apistia, and means lack of faith.  And faith still means what it always means.  Israel failed because they lacked experiences with God that came as a result of their submission and obedience to Him.  Remember, our experiences with God define our faith, that's what Hebrews 11 is all about.  When you read the account in the books of Exodus and Numbers, you see the plan of God being played out.  The Lord uses Moses to lead Israel out of their bondage in Egypt.  His desire was to take them to the land He had promised.  But first He had to prepare them to live in it.  He wanted them to know how to live in His plan and purpose, not their own.

When Israel left Egypt they took with them gold, jewels and all sorts of material wealth.  But the Lord led them into the desert where it was worthless.  He took them to a place where there was no water (Exodus 17) and no 7 Eleven on the corner.  God's message to them was, OK, now it's just you and Me, will you trust Me?  The problem was that Israel had 400 years experience in learning to survive in the midst of bondage.  They had long forgotten the example of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and how to live by faith. The Father wanted to take care of them.  He wanted to prove that He could. He wanted Israel to experience life as His children.  He wanted to be a Father to them.  But they didn't understand His ways (Hebrews 3:10) and wouldn't trust Him.

And because they wouldn't trust Him, they died in the desert (Hebrews 3:16-19).  For forty years God waited for a new generation that would trust Him.  After all that time He took them back to the same place He had taken them before in Exodus 17 (the place is called Meribah, this time in Numbers 20).  There still wasn't any water there, and after all that time 7 Eleven still hadn't put in a store.  And after all that time they still wouldn't trust Him. The fact is God knew that with few exceptions (in this case, Joshua and Caleb), none of them would trust Him.  When you look towards the end of the Book of Deuteronomy, God tells Moses on the day he's going to die that when Israel finally does go into the land they will forsake Him, turn to false Gods and suffer the consequences of their failure (Deuteronomy 31:16-18). And, of course, that's exactly what happens.

Now, before you start thinking this rest thing was something that only involved Israel and has nothing to do with us today, let's set the record straight.  As I've already said, the incident used to describe this life that God offers is Israel in the desert.  But I've also given you passages in Psalms 95 and Hebrews 3, where God through David, then Paul, offers this life again. As a matter of fact, in the Hebrews passage Paul uses the word "today" several times in chapters 3 and 4 in emphasizing and re-emphasizing the current status of God's generous offer for us to enter into this rest (Hebrews 3:7,15 and 4:7).

And I don't want you to miss the application here either.  So, let me spell it out.  If and when anyone ever really turns to God (and I mean turns to God, not to religion - if you've been reading this stuff then you should know by now that there's a huge difference between the two), drastic changes have to take place.  You have to learn to quit trusting in your own abilities to survive in the midst of your bondage to sin and start learning to recognize and trust the workings of an invisible God as He sets out to reveal Himself to you and begins to give you opportunities to be conformed to the image of His Son.

You have to reject man's religion that tells you God is your own personal Santa Claus and He's just waiting for you to ask so He can give you whatever your flesh craves.  You have to reject the idea that God exists to serve man and His purpose is to make our lives what we want them to be. You have to forget about the religious concept that God is always waiting at your beck and call to rescue you from whatever circumstance you've decided is not in your best interest.  You have to recognize that religion is never what God intended.  That religion does not represent God's heart for us.  And that the morality promoted by the religions of the world is a hoax and a dismal failure.

You have to understand that God isn't interested in whether or not you hear a message on "5 Ways to Overcome Anxiety" or "How to Survive Divorce" or even a well-documented series on "The Historical Reality of Jesus".  He wants you to learn the same thing He tried (without success) to teach Israel in the desert.  He wants you to learn to trust Him.  He doesn't want you to trust in religion or in your own strength (by the way, they're the same thing). He wants you to understand what true spirituality is.

And if you dare to have even the slightest desire to know what true spirituality is, then take a deep breath, maybe sniff a little smelling salts to clear the cobwebs out, and try to concentrate.  This is what true spirituality is: the determination to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit and live in the continual presence of God as He works out His purpose in your life, along with the ability to both enjoy the good and endure the unpleasant that comes, knowing that both are part of His plan.  If necessary, you might want to read that again and think about it for a while.  Let it sink in before you move on.

So, that being said, we can now go on and define the rest of God and illustrate it through the life of Paul.  We begin in Hebrews 4:3.  This is what it says.

At this point we should look at several references to "the foundation of the world".  In the verse above "world" is kosmos, used to describe the earth formed and finished by God in six days as recorded in Genesis 1:2-2:1.  In this verse in Hebrews, Paul tells us that when God established or founded the earth, His work was done.  This agrees with what we find in Genesis 2:2, when it says that "on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested from all His work that He had done".

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, but it puts things in the proper perspective.  The phrase "foundation of the earth" is an important one.  It defines a specific time and establishes certain facts and conditions regarding God, His plan and man's relation to Him.  I'll just quickly go down the list of references; there are 8 of them.

In Matthew 13:35 we see the fulfillment of Psalms 78:2.  It tells us that Jesus would use parables (illustrative teaching) to speak truths that had been kept secret by God and not revealed to men since the foundation of the world. Paul makes several references to this in his epistles (Romans 16:25, I Corinthians 2:7, Ephesians 3:9 and Colossians 1:26).

And in Matthew 25:34 on the occasion of Jesus separating the sheep from the goats, He makes reference to the kingdom that had been prepared since the foundation of the world and was waiting for those who would gain eternal deliverance.  Again, Paul refers to things already prepared by God (I Corinthians 2:9, Hebrews 11:6).  In fact, God has already prepared the eternal fire for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

Then in John 17:24 Jesus is praying for those who would follow Him and asks that they be joined to the Father and the Son in that perfect love that had existed even before the foundation of the world.  This is one of those verses that reveal the eternal plan of God in taking to Himself all those who would submit to that plan.

This brings us to Ephesians 1:4 where Paul explains that God chose those who would follow Christ to be His own, again, even before the foundation of the world.  This is a verse that is often used in various, stupid arguments about predestination and foreordination.  If you have a problem with these terms, let me help you out.  Never use them to refer to people, they don't. Always use them in reference to God's plan.  God never predestined anyone to either heaven or hell.  He predestined a plan that would determine it.  God will never interfere with our free will.  Love is only real and valuable when there is choice.  And, believe me, God knows that better than we do.

In Hebrews 9:26 Paul tells us that Jesus' sacrifice of Himself was far superior to that made yearly by the high priest so that it was not necessary for Him to suffer over and over again since the foundation of the world.  It was established in the father's plan from the foundation of the world that Jesus would suffer once for all time (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 10:10 and I Peter 3:18).

And speaking of foreordination and the fact that it refers to the plan of God, not to individuals, we come to I Peter 1:20.  Here Peter tells us that it was foreordained or predetermined by the Father before the foundation of the world that Jesus would be the sacrificial lamb that would give Himself to purchase our deliverance.  Paul also says in II Timothy 1:9 that Jesus was given to us for that purpose before the world began.  And he tells Titus in Titus 1:1,2 that the God Who cannot tell a lie promised the coming of the Christ and eternal life before the world began.

In Revelation 13:8 John says that all those whose names were not recorded in the Book of Life will fall down and worship the Lamb Who had been chosen to be the sacrifice from the foundation of the world.

And finally, in Revelation 17:8 there is a reference to all those whose names were not recorded in the Book of Life since the foundation of the world.  This verse is similar to 13:8, but there is a distinction.  This is a reference to the fact that God's plan has been in effect since the foundation of the world and has determined who has been recorded in the Book of Life and who has not. Again, it is the plan of God that is predestined and foreordained, not the eternal destinies of individuals.  Your eternal destination will be determined by the choices you make and how they line up with the plan that God foreordained.

Now, before we move on, look at Hebrews 4:3 again.  The last part of the verse says, "and when He said that, His works were already completed from the foundation of the world and were waiting for all who would learn to trust in Him."  God's plan was predestined and foreordained by the time He created and established the earth.

And as you look through the verses above you'll see that a lot was done before the foundation of the world.  Truths were established, but kept secret. A kingdom was prepared.  The Father and the Son enjoyed a perfect love relationship.  The Father formed a plan of redemption that would restore fellowship with mankind.  It was determined that the Son of God would be the sacrifice for the sins of man and that He would suffer only once.  And when man was created and fell, that plan went into effect and has been determining man's eternal fate ever since.

But there's yet another point that has to be made.  This is Hebrews 1:2.

Here, the "ages of time" (the Greek word aion) were constructed or arranged to accomplish an established purpose (poieo, to make, used to illustrate the act of constructing something for a specific reason or purpose) by the Son of God.  Let me show you another verse, and then I'll make my point.  This is Hebrews 11:3.

This is a great statement by Paul who essentially says that because of what we experience with God (the things that happen in our lives that we recognize as having their source in Him – true faith), we are made to understand two things.  One is that the times in which we live were specifically arranged by God to be used by Him to accomplish His purpose. And because of that we also understand that what is happening is not coincidental circumstance, but purposeful events guided by an invisible God.

Now sit up straight.  Take a deep breath.  Focus.  You have to get what I'm about to say.  This is important.  If you don't understand this, then this paper will be useless to you.  The point is that before the beginning of time God predestined a plan and specifically designed the successive ages of time to accomplish His purposes for all who would submit to Him and to what He has already determined and provided.  And let's be perfectly clear about what that plan and purpose is – for us to accept God's offer of redemption through Christ and enter into a life of submission and obedience to Him that is designed to deliver us from who we are by changing us into Who He is. Now, those who are willing to trust Him and submit to what He has already planned and purposed will enter His rest.  This is Hebrews 4:9,10.

Now, I'm going to assume that religion has clouded your ability to comprehend the magnitude of all this (and if I'm wrong, please forgive me). Nevertheless, I'm going to proceed under that assumption (because I remember how much I struggled with this too).  It is not up to you to decide what's best for you.  God has already done that.  It's not up to you to decide what's best for someone else.  God has already done that too.  It's not up to you to determine which circumstances in your life are tolerable and which ones are intolerable.  God has determined to use both to accomplish what he needs to in your life (that is, if you're paying attention so He can).  It's not up to you to figure out what God needs to change in others because you don't like it.  Again, He wants to use those irritating things to teach you to not be irritated.

Are you beginning to see the picture?  Many people believe that if you come to God He'll let you design your own life.  Just tell Him what you want (He only wants to bless you).  Tell Him how you want Him to manipulate others because you think you know what's best for them (after all, you only want to be a blessing to them – as if you could really do that by interfering in God's plan for their lives).  Or, tell Him to change your circumstances because you're not comfortable with them.  Go ahead.  You can tell Him all those things and more, if you want to.

But if you do, let me tell you what He's hearing.  God, I don't like Your plan. I don't like Your plan for others.  I don't really care about Your purpose.  I think I have a better plan.  In fact, I have no intention of submitting to Your plan and demand that You submit to my plan.  And whether you realize it or not, as crazy as it sounds, that describes traditional, denominational, institutional religion perfectly.

Did Jesus live the religious designer life?  Did He decide what His life was going to be like?  Do you ever see in Him even a hint that He was dissatisfied with His life and wanted to change it?  I've already mentioned in several papers all those great statements Jesus makes in the Book of John regarding His submission to the Father and to the Father's plan.  Jesus is the ultimate example of living in God's rest.  He had no agenda of His own.  He only wanted to fulfill the Father's plan and purpose for His life; and for most professing Christians this concept would be unthinkable, but it's what God expects of all of us.  No, that's not strong enough.  It's what He absolutely requires of all of us!

In Luke 22 Jesus is eating the Passover meal with His disciples for the last time.  On this occasion He literally changes the Passover observance into Communion to commemorate the events of the cross the following day.  And in reference to that we come to verse 22 where Jesus makes this statement, "for the Son of Man is following the path that has already been determined and appointed to Him".  The verb horizo (it means, "to set or determine boundary or time) is in the perfect tense to indicate what was already completed in the past but has continuing results.  The events of Jesus' life were predetermined by the Father's plan.  All Jesus was doing was submitting to it.  Peter and the early Church understood this as well (Acts 2:23, 4:28).

And in Matthew 20 we see the account of the mother of Zebedee's children (James and John) asking Jesus to grant that her two sons would sit with Him, one on His right side, the other on His left, in His kingdom.  In verse 23 Jesus' answer goes something like this, "seats at My right hand and at My left are not Mine to give, but they are for those for whom they have already been determined and prepared by My Father".

Now, as promised, we'll look at the life of Paul.  In Hebrews 12:1 he uses the illustration of running a race over a predetermined course to explain how we're supposed to live our lives with God.  The context of this statement is chapter 11, where he has just talked about all the great experiences others had with God in the Old Testament and the examples of submission and obedience they had set for us.

Did Paul live the religious designer life?  Was he constantly trying to decide what was best for him so he could tell God what to do, how to do it and when to do it to make his life what he wanted it to be?  If that's the case, I have to think Paul was crazy.  He must have enjoyed pain, hardship and humiliation.  Look at II Corinthians 11:23-28.  Here, Paul lists some of the things he experienced while following his appointed course.  He mentions hard work, imprisonments, beatings to the point of death, being stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked and adrift in the sea for a day and a night, exposed to life-threatening danger on journeys, on rivers, from bandits, from his own countrymen who wanted to kill him, from Gentiles who wanted to do the same, in cities, in the desert, on the seas, from those pretending to be believers, in difficult situations where he had to stay awake all night to protect himself, in times of hunger and thirst, times that he was driven to fast so he could endure the destitute situation he was in, times when he was exposed to the cold and didn't have the clothing he needed and besides all that, he constantly worried about how he was going to take care of the churches he had established.  Compared to many in traditional religion today, Paul looks like a total loser.

In Philippians 4 Paul is thanking the church at Philippi for their generosity in contributing to his needs.  And included in this is an explanation of what Paul had learned over the years by submitting to God's plan for his life.  This is what he says in verses 11-14.

In other words, Paul had learned through the difficult times in his life that he could face anything when Christ was at his side.  His attitude was, bring it on, it doesn't matter, this is just another day with God.  Real strength is found in our spirit, never in the soul or the body.  Strength of soul is deceitful.  That's what religion promotes (it's called morality).  Physical strength is fleeting.  One day you have it and you think you'll live forever; the next day it's gone.  Strength of spirit is what counts.  That's what Paul had.  That's why external circumstances didn't affect him.  It's something you only learn through submission and obedience to God.

Later, when he writes the Book of II Timothy he knows that God is not going to rescue him again and that his death is near.  In verses 15-18 he tells Timothy that everyone, except Onesiphorus, had forsaken him and he was alone and destitute.  He wasn't complaining, just stating the facts.  In chapter 4, verses 6-8 he essentially says that he has done everything that God has determined for him to do and that he's ready to die.  There's no remorse and no regret.

Paul was done.  He knew it.  And he was ready to go home.

Earlier I quoted Hebrews 4:9,10.  Now I want to give you the rest of chapter 4. It has some great stuff in it.  The following is verses 11-16.

What Paul describes here is, again, strength of spirit.  He says we should strive to enter the rest of God, the life He has prepared for us.  He says we should understand that what God speaks to us is alive.  It's current, and relevant, and purposeful, today, tomorrow, the day after that and the day after that.  And it can change us.  He tells us that we have a remarkable High Priest, the Son of God, Who has already preceded us to the Father and we can trust Him.  And he tells us that this High Priest understands us and sympathizes with us.  And finally, he tells us that we can go confidently to the Father to find comfort and the strength to face difficulty.

Now I hope you see the distinction.  According to what Paul is saying here, God doesn't want us to avoid hard times.  He wants to give us the strength to face hard times.   Now when was the last time you heard a sermon on that? God has actually predetermined failure, hardship, tragedy and other difficulties to allow us the privilege and opportunity to experience His comfort and strength.

And if you're struggling with this, let me ask you something.  If you're the type that wants to live the religious designer life, have you kept score?  I mean have you really kept track of how many times God has jumped to attention to do what you told Him to do to change your life to make it what you wanted it to be?  Oh, I know there's a lot of people who claim that God has done things like that for them, but they're kind of like the guy who works 16 hours a day and tells everyone that God has enabled him to make a lot of money.  People who are successful in the world's system have that success because they know how to work the system.  It has nothing to do with God's blessing.  If you're honest, you'll have to admit that God has a very poor record in this regard.  The fact is He's not interested in what you want.  He's already determined what you need.

Let's go back to the life of Paul.  In II Corinthians 12 Paul is defending his apostleship to this carnal church.  And he is explaining that because of the extent of the revelation God had given him (things that are beyond the ability of a man to put into words, things a man is not permitted to talk about), he was predisposed to exhibit just a touch of pride and arrogance from time to time.  And because of that, God had allowed a demon to attach itself to Paul, follow him around, and beat him senseless anytime this pride or arrogance worked its way to the surface.  And, as you can imagine, Paul wasn't liking this very much.  This brings us to verses 8 and 9, where he says:

So there you have it.  Paul gave in to the temptation to try the religious designer life, asked God to change something and God said, no.  But it's not quite that simple.  In reality, God gave Paul something better than what he asked for, the opportunity to experience God and gain spiritual strength. And Paul, being the smart guy that he is, recognized that and was happy for it.

When you enter God's rest, you enter the life God has for you.  You don't strive to change it; you embrace it as it comes to you.  You don't waste your time trying to manipulate it, because, if you do, what you're really trying to do is manipulate God.  And unless you're living in a serious state of denial, trying to manipulate God brings nothing but frustration, disappointment and a load of serious hurt.  It's kind of like trying to milk a bull; it just doesn't work.

Over the years I've watched a lot of professing Christians try to live the religious designer life.  They were all smiles.  They never had a discouraging word.  They tried their best to keep up appearances.  When something bad happened in their lives they tried to keep it hidden.  And never in a million years would they ever admit that God had let them down.  The peer pressure in traditional religion is a powerful thing.  They all want to be known as the one who has God's ear, the one who gets prayers answered, the one who gets God's blessing, the one who told God what to do and He did it. And when the time comes that they can't hide their failure, they disappear. God "calls" them to another church, where they can start the pretense all over again with a fresh crowd.  Or, they finally decide this God thing isn't working for them and they quit going to church altogether (these are the smarter of the two).

As I've said several times in other papers, the Sermon on the Mount is a complete message.  No matter what subject I'm talking about, I can always refer to this passage for support of it.  This is no exception.  In Matthew 6 Jesus talks about learning to trust the Father.  Basically His point is this: God created the earth and everything in it, so don't you think He's able to care for it as well?  I'll close with a paraphrase of Matthew 6:24-34.

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Grace, Faith and the Ministry of the Holy Spirit

by Ken Brown

In Hebrews 10:19-39 there is a passage I've quoted before (at the very end of the paper entitled "The Blood of Christ") that illustrates the connection between the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God.  In verse 19 the passage starts with a statement about our freedom to enter into the presence of the Father.  Then at the end of this verse and into verse 20 it tells us that this freedom was opened to us through what Christ did on the cross.  And in verse 26 it begins to talk about what's in store for those who fail to take advantage of this great freedom and opportunity.  By the time you get to verse 29 there's a stern warning.  This is what it says.

The paraphrase uses "undeserved favor" for the word "grace" in the original text.  And I open the paper with this verse for that very reason.  It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to administer God's grace or undeserved favor to us.  And it's an insult and an outrage to a holy and righteous God when men treat the grace of God with contempt.  And let's not forget what grace is.  Contrary to religious thought, we're not saved by grace alone; we're saved by means of grace through the operation of our faith.  Grace is the opportunity given to us because of the Father's plan and the Son's willingness to carry out that plan in regards to our redemption.  But our faith is the essential means by which we must access God's grace to experience His deliverance.  The purpose of this paper is to show that we cannot access God's plan of grace outside of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

So, what is the ministry of the Holy Spirit?  What does the Holy Spirit actually do in the administration of God's grace?  Let's start where I usually like to start when I can, in the red letters.  The first significant passage is found in John 14:15-18, 26.  I'll quote it for you.

In the KJV verse 16 has the words "another Comforter".  This is allos used with parakletos, and describes both Who the Holy Spirit is, and what the Holy Spirit does.  Jesus uses the word allos to describe someone who is the same as or equal to Himself.  The Holy Spirit is God, just like Jesus is God.  Then Jesus says the Holy Spirit is parakletos, a verbal adjective that literally means, "he who has been called to help".  Then in verse 26 Jesus says the Holy Spirit will be sent by the Father "in My name", which, as we've discussed before, is an idiom or word picture that means "as a representation of all that I Am." (See also John 14:13, 14, 15:16 and compare I John 5:13-15)  Then when we consider everything that I've just described, we conclude that the Holy Spirit is God and was sent by the Father at Jesus' request to be His substitute and our helper on the earth until Jesus comes back.

He further explains in verse 26 that the Holy Spirit will teach them and cause them to remember "all things", in this context, literally, "everything necessary for the understanding".  And what understanding do we need?  We need to understand the invisible Father and His Son, Who is the visible representation of all that the Father is (Colossians 1:15); but Who is also absent from this earth and, therefore, unseen as well.

In John 15:26 Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth and says "…He will testify regarding Me."  The word "testify" is martureo and means, "to give information based on personal knowledge."  This is a reference to the accuracy of what the Holy Spirit reveals to believers regarding the Son.  He cannot be mistaken.  He will not distort the truth.  He has no agenda of His own.  Just like Jesus is committed to the will and purpose of the Father (John 6:38, 7:16, 8:28), the Holy Spirit is committed to the same will and purpose. This unity of God is illustrated in John 16:15, which tells us that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit all cooperate in the effort to reveal themselves to mankind, a fact that should humble us all.  Let me quote it for you here.

"Everything that belongs to the Father belongs to Me too.  That's why I told you that the Holy Spirit will take what is Mine and will reveal it to you."

Do you see what I mean?  Everything the Father has He's given to the Son. The Holy Spirit has access to everything the Son has (which He received from the Father).  And everything the Holy Spirit has (which He received from the Son, Who received it from the Father) is then revealed to us!  God's grace mixed with our faith allows us to be part of the mix.  And if you don't understand what an unspeakable privilege that is, it's probably because you don't know God the way He wants you to know Him!

Actually, this is the last verse in a passage found in John 16:7-15 that tells us more about the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  Let's just look at the whole thing.

7. Nevertheless, I'm telling you the truth when I say it's good for you if I go away.  Because if I don't go away, the Helper will not come.  But if I go, I'll send Him to you.

8. And when He comes, He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment:

9. Of sin, because they have not believed in Me;

10. Of righteousness, because I'm going to My Father, and you won't see Me;

11. And of judgment, because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged already and his punishment is set.

12. I still have many things to tell you, but they'll have to wait.

13. And when the Spirit of Truth comes, He'll guide you into all the truth you'll need.  He won't speak on His own, but will tell you only what He hears from the Father, and will tell you what you need to know in the Father's timing.

14. He will honor Me, because He will take what is Mine and will reveal it to you.

15. Everything that belongs to the Father belongs to Me too.  That's why I told you that the Holy Spirit will take what is Mine and will reveal it to you.

Now, if you're at all familiar with the Book of John, then you know that Jesus has been talking to His disciples for several chapters now about the fact that He was going to go away (John 12:8, 35, 13:33, 36, 14:1-2, 18-19, 28, 16:5, 7). When you read chapter 15, you should recognize that everything Jesus says about abiding in the Vine and the persecution of believers is in the context of what He says earlier about going away.  The disciples are sad, confused and worried.  In fact, everything Jesus says about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in John 14, 15 and 16 is spoken in the context of Him going away.  He was trying to encourage the disciples with the fact that the Holy Spirit would come to take His place on the earth.

And in verse 7 of the passage quoted above, Jesus tells them it is to their advantage to see Him go away so the Holy Spirit could come.  This is, no doubt, due to the fact that Jesus was somewhat restricted in His physical form to being in only one place at a time.  The Holy Spirit has no such restriction. Jesus speaks of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in terms of the Spirit being able to act as helper to do different tasks or facets of His ministry to any or all simultaneously, with no regard to time or space.

Paul speaks in Romans 8:9, 11 (and in many other places, as well) of the ability of the Holy Spirit to "dwell" (the Greek oikeo, meaning, "to inhabit") in the life of believers to direct and guide them.  You need only to go down to Romans 8:14 to see this illustrated when he says "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God."  The Holy Spirit can lead us all at the same time.

And while I'm on the subject, let me quickly show you another verse that reinforces this and what we were saying earlier about the Holy Spirit coming to take Jesus' place on the earth.  Ephesians 3:17 says "May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith."  This doesn't say Christ dwells in our hearts in the same way the Holy Spirit dwells in us.  Look at it.  It says that Christ dwells in our hearts through our faith.  You need only go up to Ephesians 3:16 to see how Christ dwells in our hearts by faith.  "May He grant you out of the riches of His glory to be strengthened in the innermost part of your being through the ministry of the Holy Spirit."  It's the ministry of the Holy Spirit that reveals Jesus to us and makes Him a reality in our lives!

But for now, we need to get back to this passage in John 16.  In verse 8, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment.  Then, in verses 9, 10 and 11 He explains each point.  In verse 9 Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin "because they have not believed in Me."  The most basic, foundational sin of mankind that leads to his eventual destruction, and all the chaos that precedes it, is unbelief.

When you read the red letters, one of the recurring themes is Jesus' frustration over the fact that men would not believe in Him.  He marveled at their unbelief (Mark 6:6) and most of the confrontations you see between Jesus and the religious establishment were because of their unbelief and the opposition that came out of it (John 5:30-47).  The next paper in this series will be entitled "Grace, Faith and the Rest of God".  In it you will see an explanation of the life that God intends for His children to have.  It's a life in which we voluntarily place ourselves completely in His care and keeping – a life that illustrates the relationship between the Father and His children, a people and their God.  And unbelief is what makes it impossible.  Read Hebrews 3:7-19 and see what I mean.

Then in verse 10 Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit convicting the world of righteousness.  The word "righteousness" in this verse is translated from the Greek <I>dikaiosune and describes the result of a man recognizing the authority of God over his life and the acceptance of God that comes when one is submissive and obedient to that authority.  It is the right standing with God that can only come by faith.  And again, you have to apply the right definition of faith or you're going to get messed up.  Faith is not what you believe in your head.  Faith is the result of your submission and obedience to God.  It's never defined by what you know about God; it's defined by your real experiences with Him.

In verse 9 the Holy Spirit exposes the sin of unbelief, which is the root cause of man's failure to take God up on His gracious offer of relationship and deliverance.  In verse 10 the Holy Spirit reproves man for his failure to submit to God's authority, conform to His character and nature and gain His approval.  The key to understanding this is what He says at the end of the verse "because I'm going to My Father, and you won't see Me."  It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to reveal the character and nature of God to man in the absence of the Son of God Who has gone back to the Father.

And finally, in verse 11 Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict the world of judgment "because the ruler of this world (Satan) has been judged already and his punishment is set."  In other words, it is part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to let the world know that God will not tolerate lawlessness.  He demonstrated that when He judged Satan for his rebellion and reminds us that all who rebel against His authority and reject His grace will suffer the same consequences.  The world may choose to believe God is a benevolent God and will not punish those who refuse Him (or accept Him only on their own false, religious terms, which is the same thing).  But they're wrong.  That's what Galatians 6:7-8 is all about (if you want to read a more detailed version of the principle of sowing and reaping, look at what David says in Proverbs 1:20-33).

In verses 13 and 14 Jesus reveals 4 aspects of the ministry of the Spirit.  The first is that He will guide us into "all" truth.  Pantos, when used without a negative describes something that is whole or complete.  Here, Jesus is describing the ability of the Holy Spirit to guide believers into all the truth they need to fulfill the Father's plan and purpose.  Next, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit doesn't have His own message, but will speak only what He hears from the Father.  In other words, like Jesus (John 5:30), the Holy Spirit is submitted to the will of the Father.  So, the second aspect of the ministry of the Holy Spirit described in these two verses is that He will reveal the heart and mind of the Father.

Then in the last part of verse 13 Jesus says the Holy Spirit will announce or declare things that are to "come".  The word used here in the original text is erchomai, a term used primarily to describe motion from one place to another, or, in this context, from one event to another.  In the paraphrase above, this is taken into consideration where the translation reads "and will tell you what you need to know in the Father's timing."  This is a description of the part of the ministry of the Spirit that helps us understand the circumstances and situations in our lives and what God may be trying to accomplish in them. The emphasis is on the present.

I've got to stop here and meddle a little bit.  This does not say that part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to continually give insight into or warn about events that will happen in the future.  There is a large segment of traditional religion today that is enamored with this false concept of prophecy.  They love to chase after these self-proclaimed prophets who are continually coming up with new "words for the church" specifically devised to tickle the ears of the deceived and impress the uninitiated.

And I'm amazed at the ability of the traditional church to disregard these prophecies when they turn out to be false, but then immediately embrace the next one that comes along (usually from the same guy who has proven his unreliability over and over again).  And with each new prophecy, more newsletters have to be sent out, a new round of meetings has to be booked, new tapes have to be produced and new books have to be written, all to satisfy the demand for some new thing, line the pockets of the prophets and keep the wheels of religious commerce turning.

Anyone who has the courage to pursue God outside the confines of religion will find out that He insists on having a relationship with us in which our submission and dependency on Him is constantly reinforced.  It is not His purpose to tell us the future; He wants to prepare us for the present.  Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow, just learn how to deal with today (Matthew 6:24).  Those who have a real relationship with God and understand His plan and purpose regarding deliverance know that God is not One to dwell in the past or race towards the future; He ever lives in the present.  Only those whose supposed relationship with God is based on pretense are content to live in the future.  But reality is always found in the now, never in the imagination and deceit of false prophets.  False prophecy is a narcotic of religion.  It dulls the senses and produces spiritual procrastinators, drunk with deception and addicted to smoke and mirrors. People who chase after self-proclaimed prophets in the traditional church today don't have the spiritual discernment of a gnat.  I don't need a concept of God for the future; I need the reality of God today.

Scripture does not present prophecy as something reserved for the religious elite.  It's not an exclusive ministry meant only for a select few.  Paul makes it clear that all should prophesy (I Corinthians 14:5).  And there are those who like to draw a clear distinction between the gift of prophecy and the office of a prophet; but, again, it's those who consider themselves to be the religious elite that make this distinction, not God.  Besides, if God can use Balaam's ass to prophesy, He can't be all that particular.

And probably the most condemning thing about all this supposed prophetic activity is that it denies the true meaning and intent of prophecy.  Let me try to explain.  The words prophecy (propheteia), prophesy (propheteuo) and prophet (prophetes) all have their roots in Greek mythology and idolatry. Soothsayers announced the will of the gods, sometimes for the present, usually for the future.  But this was all false.  The men, the words they spoke and the gods they represented were false and all had their foundation in the demonic spirit realm.  The mistake is that you can't apply the Greek definitions based on what is false to the New Testament usages based on what is real and true.

In religion today most everything connected to the prophetic must involve future events or it's not considered prophetic.  But in scripture everything prophetic involves revealing the true will and purpose of God in the present. Real prophecy is speaking forth the today message of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit.  This isn't demonic deception; it's spiritual reality.  And the emphasis is almost never on the future; the emphasis is on the heart and mind of God.  The religious concept of the prophetic today may be based largely on a misunderstanding of Old Testament usages, due to the predictive content of some of those prophetic passages.  

But if you look at those passages, in most of them the predictive content is not the emphasis.  The emphasis was a warning that applied to the day it was spoken (repent now, or God will judge you severely in the days to come).  The prophetic utterances recorded in scripture illustrate the grace of God, not His desire to tickle our ears with predictions of future events.  A study of the Hebrew words (nevuah, nava and navi) that correspond with the Greek words above, all illustrate the same emphasis, the revelation of the will and purpose of God.

One more thing, then we'll move on.  I've mentioned before that out of all the translations available today, the Amplified Version is probably the least misleading.  Let me give you an example of what I mean.  This is I Corinthians 14:1 in the Amplified Bible.  Pay particular attention to the last part underlined.

"Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy (interpret the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching)." (See also, verses 3,4,5,22,24,31,37 and 39 in the same chapter)

Therefore, the main purpose of prophecy is not to predict future events.  It is to demonstrate the grace of God in revealing the divine will and purpose for the present.  Remember that next time your religious friends get excited over the latest supposed prophecy that comes out of the traditional church. 

In case you don't remember, we were looking at the 4 aspects of the ministry of the Holy Spirit given by Jesus in John 16:13, 14.  And we're ready to look at the last one mentioned in verse 14.  Here, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will honor Him "because He will take what is Mine and will reveal it to you." In this context Jesus is talking about His message.  It's the same message that Jesus received from the Father (John 17:16, 8:28).  Which brings us full circle, back to verse 15 mentioned above that tells us that regardless of Who is involved (Father, Son or Holy Spirit) the message is consistent and all three members of the Trinity are unified in Their efforts to reveal themselves to man.

Now, as we move out of the red letters and into Paul's letters, more aspects of the ministry of the Holy Spirit are revealed.  I'm not going to take these in any particular order.  And some of them will be fairly short explanations due to the fact that I've already touched on them in previous papers or I plan to cover them in detail in future ones and mention them now only to call them to your attention while we're on this subject.

As previously mentioned under Point 5 in the paper "Grace, Faith and the Plan of God", we find in Romans 8:14-27 a passage in which Paul explains that part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to intercede for those who are frustrated and discouraged by the suffering involved in their walk with God. I'm showing you this now because it illustrates the unity of purpose in the Trinity that we just talked about above.  I'll quote verses 26 and 27 for you here and remind you that verse 26 is not talking about praying in tongues.

If you look at the verse without any preconceived religious ideas, you can easily see that it's not talking about men praying, but about the Holy Spirit praying on our behalf.  The idea that this verse is talking about us praying in tongues is only an assumption, and a wrong one at that.  And since I just brought up the word "tongues", I know I just got your attention.  You're thinking, "Well, is he going to say anything about tongues?"  Not now, but I will when I write the paper on "Grace, Faith and Spiritual Gifts".  Want a hint? Tongues may be valid in the beginning experience of some believers, but they're certainly not the panacea some segments of traditional religion make them out to be.  And, they're not necessarily a tool of the Devil as others suppose.  In our relationship with God, present reality and clear understanding are always God's preference.

One of the biggest frauds perpetrated by the traditional church today has to do with spiritual gifts.  It's clear from scripture and clear to anyone who is truly submitted to the leadership of the Holy Spirit that the function of spiritual gifts lies squarely within the confines of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and can only be the result of His direction and timing and our submission and obedience.  Men do not teach true spiritual gifts; and the function of spiritual gifts is not controlled by the whim and imagination of men.  The real manifestation of spiritual gifts can only be the result of our submission and obedience to the leadership of the Spirit as we learn to walk with Him.  They are not planned, learned in class, practiced at home or manipulated.  They're not produced by an evaluation or test, they don't line up with your natural abilities, and you can't choose them out of a fleshly desire to exhibit your supposed spiritual superiority over those with less ambition.  But, as I've said before in several places, the obvious difference between traditional religion and the true church is this: who is in charge?  Men are in charge of religion; but the true church is submitted to the Holy Spirit.

Regardless of where you look (I Corinthians 12, Romans 12 or Ephesians 4), spiritual gifts are attributed to the Holy Spirit.  This is I Corinthians 12:4-7.

In Galatians 5 Paul talks about being controlled or led by the Holy Spirit in order to control the desires of the flesh (verse 16) and produce the manifestations (fruits) of the Spirit (verses 22 and 23).  Then he encourages us to take advantage of the ministry of the Holy Spirit by learning to walk in the Spirit.  This is verse 25.

When I read this verse I can't help but go back and remember how Jesus described the coming of the Holy Spirit in John 14:26.  He called the Spirit parakletos, "the one who is called to help".  The logic of Paul in the verse above is simple: since the Holy Spirit is here to help, let Him help!

OK, let's back up a little and review what we've looked at so far.  The Holy Spirit is our Helper, He teaches, causes us to remember, reveals truth, exposes sin, shows us what righteousness looks like, helps us understand our circumstances and what God is doing in them, makes God's judgment a reality, shows us Who Jesus is, intercedes for us to the Father, is responsible for the function of spiritual gifts through us and will lead or guide us if we submit to Him.  And, no doubt, if you tried you could find a lot of other things He does.  But when you put them all together, they become part of this one thing: He is the agent of spiritual birth.  And in case you don't make the connection, spiritual birth is your deliverance (salvation).  It's the purpose of God, you remember, to change us, to conform us to the image of Christ, to transform us, or, as we're getting ready to see, to renew us.

When you look at John 3:1-13, the whole focus of the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus was spiritual birth.  Jesus makes it clear that we must be born from above (verse 3), that this birth is different from our physical birth (verse 5), that this birth is spiritual in nature (verse 6), and that it's only possible through the Holy Spirit (verses 6, 8).  At the time, though, it wasn't totally clear to Nicodemus, he obviously had some religious issues to work through.

Paul describes this spiritual birth that comes from above a little differently in Titus 3:3-5, but its clear he's talking about the same thing Jesus was talking about.  This is what he says.

Here, Paul describes his own evil, sinful life that was cleansed or changed by a new birth that came as a result of a renewal carried out by the Holy Spirit. The word "new birth" ("regeneration" in the KJV) is the Greek paliggenesia, from two words, palin (again) and ginomai (to become).  "Renewing" is anakainosis, and describes a spiritual transformation, "a renewal".  Paul uses these two words to describe his deliverance (salvation, for those who prefer that word), a kind of spiritual remodel with the Holy Spirit as the general contractor.

Paul makes reference to this renewal in several of his other letters.  I'll quote them here for you.

And, at my age this is one of my personal favorites.

For variety, let me throw this one in.  It doesn't use the word renewal, but describes the same process.

In this particular reference the words used are a little different, but the meaning is basically the same, so I'll include it as well.

I have to stop here and take a few jabs at my evangelical, religious friends who want to base their salvation on a so-called profession of faith.  They view salvation as though it were a packet of instant oatmeal, just add water, a little heat and it's done!  The salvation that's described in scripture is more like plowing the ground, planting the seed, watering, weeding, waiting, watching, harvesting the crop, preparing the oats, rolling them flat, then cooking them, s-l-o-w-l-y.

It's clear to me that salvation is a process that takes time.  And if you don't think I'm correctly translating the verb tenses in the verses above, check them out in the New International Version and the Amplified Bible.  They say basically the same thing (that's why I picked those particular verses).  Again, an honest look at scripture will show without contradiction that salvation is a process that involves a lifetime of persistence and effort and is usually described in the present tense.  Now is still the accepted time, now is still the day of salvation (II Corinthians 6:2, Hebrews 3:13-15).

Now, this paper wouldn't be complete if it didn't include a section on the different ways we can hinder the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  Our actions can delay the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes we obstruct the Spirit.  At times we stop Him dead in His tracks.  We can even drive Him away so that He never comes back.  So, let's look at this.

In Acts 5:3, 9 and 10 Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, lied to the Holy Spirit with disastrous results.  You probably know the story, they both died.  When you read the passage, it's clear that the conversations took place between Ananias and Peter, then Sapphira and Peter.  So how did the Holy Spirit get involved?  If you read Acts 1:14, 2:1, 46, 4:24, 32-37 you'll see that at this point in time the church was not in disarray.  There was complete unity and therefore an atmosphere of complete freedom for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, a condition that was short-lived and that probably hasn't been duplicated since.  In fact, you need only go to the next chapter to see this unity beginning to erode (Acts 6:1).

When Ananias, and later on Sapphira, lied to Peter; they lied to the whole body and to the Holy Spirit, resident in all of them.  In this pure spiritual atmosphere you see Peter demonstrate at least two spiritual gifts at the direction and timing of the Holy Spirit.  The first was the gift of timely and partial knowledge (identified as a word of knowledge in I Corinthians 12:8). The Holy Spirit told Peter that Ananias was lying about the selling price of the land.  The second was the discerning of spirits (I Corinthians 12:10), which is a temporary ability given by the Holy Spirit to see into the spirit realm and understand the activities and plans of the enemies of God.  I suspect the severity of their punishment corresponds with the purity of the church at that time; but make no mistake about it, lying to the Holy Spirit or to those who are submitted to Him is not a good plan.

A couple of pages over in Acts 7:51 we find a reference to the stubborn and stiff-necked always actively resisting the Holy Spirit.  This is towards the end of Stephen's sermon, right before the indignant religious crowd dragged him outside the city and stoned him to death.  Resisting the Holy Spirit is probably the most prevalent sin against the Holy Spirit in the world today.  I say that because man-made religion is so pervasive and so widely accepted. And in this context, resisting the Holy Spirit is choosing religion over spiritual reality, which is exactly what most people do.  That's why Jesus explains in Luke 13:23-30 that only a few will be saved.  Those who embrace religious deception and close their hearts and minds to the truth make it impossible for the Holy Spirit to work and this leaves them open to the influence of the god of this world.

In I Thessalonians 5:19 we find a warning against quenching the Holy Spirit. This is an illustrative use where quenching is a picture of hindering the ministry of the Holy Spirit by failing to recognize true revelation and inspired instruction.  When believers allow their flesh to rise up in jealousy, envy, competitiveness, a sense of false spiritual superiority and some others that don't come to mind at the moment, we tend to treat true gifts of the Spirit with doubt or even criticism because they're being manifested through others and we want to be the one in the spotlight.  When that happens, the Holy Spirit will withdraw and leave us to our own devices until we repent and straighten up.

Then in Ephesians 4:30 there's another warning, only this time it's a warning against grieving the Holy Spirit.  This is found towards the end of a passage that runs from verse 25 to verse 32.  Here, Paul talks about doing away with dishonesty, anger, manipulation, senseless or destructive language, indignation, resentment, quarreling, slander or any other manifestation of the flesh.  The point is that all these things show that we are indeed giving in to our flesh in extremely destructive ways and it grieves the Holy Spirit because we're not submitted to Him; so He can't do what He wants to do and our spiritual progress is slowed.

I started this paper with a quote of Hebrews 10:29, which is a clear reference to treating the Holy Spirit with contempt (the Amplified Bible correctly calls this an insult and outrage).  In the context of the whole passage that runs from verse 19 to verse 39, this is an act of total distain in which the sacrifice of Christ on the cross (His physical and spiritual death) is considered to be worthless or unimportant.  This is a full rejection of the grace of God and places those guilty of such action outside of the redemptive plan of God with nothing in their future except God's vengeance, indignation and judgment (verses 30,31).  This is an insult to the Holy Spirit because, as I mentioned earlier, it is the Holy Spirit Who came to administer this grace.  This is one of the things we can do that will cause the Holy Spirit to withdraw from us and not return.  A possibility that some religious types won't accept because it doesn't fit into their concept of Who God is.  This is prevalent in most religions.  They emphasize God's love, mercy, forgiveness, compassion and any other positive trait they can think of, but ignore His righteousness, holiness and justice.

The last point I want to make here is closely related to the one above.  I also believe it's what is often called the unpardonable sin, the "sin unto death" of I John 5:16.  I'm talking about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.  This is what Jesus says in Matthew 12:31-32.

In the context of Matthew 12 blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not being able or willing to discern the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.  When you read the account that runs from verse 22 to verse 45, you see the Pharisees accusing Jesus of casting out demons with the help of Beelzebub, the prince of demons (verse 24).  But Jesus tells them that He's driving them out with the help of the Holy Spirit (verse 28).  The Pharisees were so intent on protecting their religion and the social standing it afforded them that they were unable to recognize true spirituality.  Jesus was moving in the power of the Holy Spirit, but they couldn't see it.  Not only did they fail to recognize it, they spoke openly against it.

Now, I know there are those who want to believe God is willing to forgive anything, anytime, regardless of the circumstance.  That's what religion does to people.  They ignore what God says and deceive themselves into believing God will do anything they want Him to do.  They never seem to understand that they're not in charge and they don't make the rules: God is in charge and what He says, goes.  In religion, the statement "there's nothing God won't forgive" is right up there with "once saved, always saved".  And I don't intend to spend a lot of time on this, but we should look at a couple of passages here.  This is Hebrew 6:4-6.

I think this passage is fairly clear, but let me point out a couple of interesting facts.  When you compare it to Matthew 12:31-32, there are some striking dissimilarities.  In Matthew, Jesus is dealing with a bunch of Pharisees (real ones).  These guys had the best religious education available at the time, which means they had no clue when it came to recognizing spiritual realities. Everything they knew was based on tradition, ritual and fleshly motivations (only goes to show, some things never change).  You can at least understand why they opposed Jesus and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  They were trying to protect their religion and the influence it gave them.  But, the Hebrews 6:4-6 passage is talking about a true believer who has experienced spiritual reality in his life.  I only point this out because I want you to realize that the outcome for both is the same.  They're cut off.

And, by the way, if you happen to be one of those "God doesn't speak to us any more, except through His written word" types, then, for your information, the translation of verse 5 above is correct.  "Word" is the Greek rema, and means, "a word spoken".

There's another difference.  In the Hebrews passage, the word translated "fall away" in verse 6 is parapipto, and means, "to fall away inadvertently or unintentionally".  Here, parapipto is used to illustrate a believer falling away from the faith because he was deceived or led astray!  Again, can you see the contrast?  In Matthew the Pharisees were very intentional, even calculating.  In Hebrews, the believer's intentions are not questioned at all; he didn't intend to do it.  But he was careless and it happened!  Again, the result is the same.  And here, I have to say to those who want to believe God winks at ignorance or will excuse it because people are "sincere": you'd better rethink that.  God will not take ignorance into consideration, neither will he place any value on sincerity; His only concern will be whether or not we have submitted to His will and purpose.

Let's look at another one.  This is Hebrews 12:14-17.

The key to understanding this passage is found in the meaning of the word bebelos, translated "profane" in the KJV and "spiritually irresponsible" above. Esau was Isaac's first-born.  As such, it was Esau's place to take over the duties and responsibilities of the family priest when Isaac died.  In this passage, bebelos illustrates Esau's unwillingness to take this responsibility seriously, a fact that made it possible for him to treat it with contempt simply because he was hungry and wanted something to eat.

Esau was more interested in his own selfish pursuits than in making sure he and his family knew God and followed Him.  Esau's rejection of his birthright was not a simple matter of giving away his rightful double-portion inheritance (something he secretly plotted to regain anyway); it was his total repudiation of God.  He reduced God and his family's spiritual future to something less important than a chunk of bread and a bowl of lentils.  And when he realized the enormity of what he had done, he tried to fix it.  But he couldn't.  And don't think for a moment that he wasn't sincere in the attempt.

How could I ever tell you how important the Holy Spirit is to us?  This is inadequate, but He's everything.  Without Him, we can't know God.  Without Him, we can't be delivered.  Without Him, we'll never see God.  We can resist the Holy Spirit.  We can hinder Him.  We can disappoint Him or slow Him down.  And from those things, we can recover.  We can insult Him, refuse to recognize Him, speak out against Him or we can hold Him in contempt.  And regardless of any human viewpoint we may have, He can reject us for it.

Since the ministry of the Holy Spirit is so vital to us, we need to look at a couple of passages that can encourage us and give us some insight into how we can keep on track and not hinder the work of the Spirit in our lives.  I'm going to mention two things.  The first is has to do with keeping your focus on God's plan and purpose and on continually being submitted to the Holy Spirit.  The second has to do with repentance and the necessity of being honest with God.  This is Ephesians 5:8-20.

In this passage Paul uses illustrative terms to describe the believer's responsibility to avoid fleshly pursuits (darkness), and live in fellowship with Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (light).  In context, the "darkness" to which he refers was probably the Eleusinian or Bacchanalian cults, prevalent in Ephesus at the time this was written and well known for their sexual immorality, drunkenness and perverse ceremonies carried out only in the darkness of night.  But the instruction has the same value for us today as it did for the believers at Ephesus in Paul's time.  In verse 15 he tells them to be wise and live their lives with God's plan and purpose always in mind.  That's great advice.  When we're continually aware of God's purpose, we're better prepared to recognize it and cooperate with it.  But when we're not thinking about it, we tend to miss it or give in to our flesh without even thinking.

Paul goes on to say that we should take full advantage of every opportunity the Lord gives us to grow spiritually and increase in our understanding of the Lord's will for our lives.  This brings us to verse 18 in which he admonishes us to not allow anything to control our lives except the Holy Spirit.  I don't think this is a warning against drunkenness only.  In context, Paul is warning the Ephesians against the things of darkness.  And anyone who is serious about knowing God and experiencing His plan and purpose for their lives should probably copy verse 18 on some "Post It" notes and stick them all over the house, in their cars and at their work place to serve as constant reminders of the absolute important of submitting continually to the Holy Spirit!

Then, there's the issue of repentance and being honest with God.  This is I John 1:8-10.

Actually, in the case of repentance, honesty with God isn't all that's involved. We have to be honest with ourselves first.  Admitting your own sin to yourself is the first step in admitting it to God.  I've talked about this before, but in Matthew 6:12 Jesus tells us that every time we talk to God, one of the things we should talk to Him about is our sin.  If you remember, He says we should ask God to forgive our sin, but that we should remember that His forgiveness is always based on our own willingness to forgive those who have sinned against us.  If anything is clear to me it's that we can't have a relationship with God unless we learn to talk to Him.  And, He won't reveal Himself and His purpose to us unless we honestly submit to Him.

When you start talking about a relationship with God that's defined by the actual, real experiences you have with Him (and, by the way, that is the only true definition of relationship), those who have only the programs, rituals and head knowledge of religion start getting nervous.  But for those of us who have experienced God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, there is a witness from the Spirit that reassures us that this relationship is real.  This is what Paul says in Romans 8:12-16.

It's the presence of the Holy Spirit and the reality of His ministry in our lives (the experiences we have with God as He works out His will and purpose, with our cooperation, of course) that reassures us that we're one of His children.  And believe me there's a difference.  I remember in the past (when I was serving religion) that I used to think about what might happen if I suddenly died.  I remember thinking about what I had learned in school.  I thought about what I had read in books, what the doctrine of my denomination was and what I was teaching others.  Everything was based on what men said.  It was all religious opinion, and wrong opinion at that.  Now, I'm experiencing God in my life and there's a confidence that comes with this spiritual reality that I never had before.

There is just one more passage I'd like to share with you and this paper will be concluded.  This is I Corinthians 2:6-16 and is as good an example of anything you might find in the Scripture to define the ministry of God's Holy Spirit.

8. And none of the rulers of this present time understood this, because if they had, they never would have crucified the Lord of glory.

Spiritual realities can only be understood through the ministry of the Holy Spirit (verse 10).  Spiritual realities define a real relationship with God.  If you're looking for spiritual reality in books, in your pastor's sermons, the programs or rituals of your traditional religion, public worship, group prayers, healings, signs and wonders or anything else man's religion has to offer, then you're making a big mistake.

Get alone with God.  Submit your life to him.  Open your spirit to things that go well beyond your natural senses.  And when you don't recognize anything, then do it again, and again.  And keep doing it until you begin to recognize a reality that's not of this world, things that are right and good and true, but aren't achieved without effort, change, suffering or sacrifice.  Then you'll see yourself being transformed.  You'll begin to look at the world from a completely different perspective.  And then you'll begin to understand the plan of God and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  And you'll possess a joy and peace that's not contrived, not on the surface that comes and goes depending on your circumstances, but is deep and abiding in your spirit from the Spirit that only comes from God (Romans 8:6, 14:17).

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Grace, Faith and the Plan of God

by Ken Brown

This is the third installment in the series on Grace and Faith.  I suppose we should review again some of the points we've discussed in the first two papers.  However, I don't want to spend a lot of time on this.  So, if you read the following statements and they're confusing to you, let me encourage you to go back and read the first two papers again.

The Scriptures do not say that we are saved by grace.  Instead, they are very explicit in pointing out that we are saved by grace through our faith.  Grace gives us the opportunity to be saved and faith is the essential means by which we are saved.  Faith literally describes the on-going, real experiences we have with God that define our salvation and make the invisible God a reality.

Also, it bears repeating that God's purpose is to change us into the image of His Son.  And that He's not interested in our futile efforts to reform ourselves through our own religious efforts.  As good as anyone might think they are, self-righteousness will never gain them entrance into God's Kingdom.  They remain citizens of the kingdom ruled by the god of this world.  God insists that we participate in His plan by submitting to Him so we can be changed through a relationship with Him that is real, and in which He is personally involved.

And while I'm at it, let me expand something that was previously mentioned regarding the use of the words, "salvation" and "deliverance".  The concept and meaning of the word "salvation" as the traditional, institutional church uses it is both inaccurate and misleading.  The Greek word is soteria and primarily means "deliverance".  It can also mean "preservation".  However, the idea as it is presented by the traditional church is that salvation is quick and easy to obtain and impossible to lose.  I'm not going to cover that ground again; I already have in several papers.  But, I will give you one short passage that speaks to this issue, as well as the necessity of God's personal involvement mentioned in the previous paragraph.  This is Philippians 2:12-13:

Simply stated, this verse tells us that our deliverance involves an on-going process that requires our cooperation with the continued participation of God in our lives that is designed to carry out what amounts to His plan and purpose (His good pleasure).  It's another bucket of cold water, another slap in the face, another reality check for all those involved in the religious pursuit of self-righteousness or those who want to believe they have the freedom to make up their own agenda with God.  Listen again, and listen well.  God doesn't care about what we want, because He knows that what we want will not deliver us!

Now to the issue at hand – the plan of God.  In the last paper I said that grace is the product of God's mercy and loving kindness.  God knew there was no way that we, in our fallen state, could ever deliver ourselves, so out of His grace He came up with a plan.  And we must be very clear on this point, He not only had to come up with the plan, He had to carry out that plan.  We don't have anything to do with God's plan.  We didn't help Him come up with it.  He didn't ask for our help and wouldn't accept it if we offered.  And there's nothing we could ever do to change this plan or affect it in any way.  God did it all.

Of course, those who insist that we're "saved by grace, not by works" like the sound of this.  But the "God did everything, we do nothing" crowd has to ignore not only Ephesians 2:10 (remember those "good works that God has prepared for us to walk in"), but about 75 other verses that I've quoted in previous papers that show us without question that our salvation (deliverance) requires work on our part.  For those who might have a really short memory, go back to page 1 and reread Philippians 2:12-13.

The fact is, and as you go through these points it should become crystal clear, that God's plan of grace is nothing more than what He did to make our deliverance possible.  And if you have struggled with this concept that grace is what gives us the opportunity to be delivered, I hope this presentation will help you with that.

There are 7 points in God's plan of grace, so let's get started.  This is going to take some time.

There is in man a certain arrogance of self-determination ignorant of truth.  We tend to think that we are life-givers and therefore are free to determine our own fate.  Male and female join, conception takes place, and a child is born.  We did it.  It was fun.  It was easy.  We can do it again, if we want to.  This is typical human reasoning based on partial truth leading to a wrong conclusion.

The first point in God's plan of grace is that He alone gives life.  As in every part of God's plan, if He doesn't do it, then it simply won't happen, because man does not have the ability to carry out any part of His plan.  If He doesn't give life, it doesn't come.  Let's go to the scriptures.

Now, let's take a look at the words I italicized in the verses above and see if we can make sense out of all this.  The first word in Genesis 1:26 is "image".  The Hebrew is tselem and means "a representative figure".  In this case, it's a reference to something being the same, but not exactly the same.  Specifically, like God, but not God.  A representation is never exactly like the original.  That's why it's called a representation.

Here, God is saying that we're going to be like Him, but not like Him in every way.  I would suggest that the difference has something to do with the fact that God has no beginning and no end.  He is eternal and unchanging.  The fact that He is unchanging tells us that He has always existed and always will exist.  The difference is that we will always exist, but we necessarily had a beginning.  That beginning is described in this verse.  So, while God is eternal in His existence, man is everlasting.  There is similarity, but there is a definite difference.

The second word is demuth and means "a model or pattern".  God used Himself as the pattern He would follow in creating mankind.  This word takes us back to the previous paper on the invisible God.  The God of the universe is invisible, but real.  His life or essence is immaterial.  Through the ages most people have been born, lived their lives and died, never knowing that God created them as a representation of Himself, having a beginning, but no end.  And they never understood that their real life was not represented by the function of their physical body, but is, in fact, an invisible, immaterial life patterned after God's own life.

Then, the next verse tells us that God "created" mankind.  This word is bara and is very specific.  It emphasizes the initiation or beginning of something as opposed to the manipulation or changing of something that already exists.  It is literally the creation of something where nothing existed before, making something out of nothing.  This is the creation (the beginning) of the invisible, immaterial, yet real souls of mankind.  This is the beginning of life for the man and the woman.

Which takes us then to Chapter 2, verse 7.  And it might help to notice at this point in the narrative that the 6 days of creative activity and the seventh day of rest have ended.  So, after the dust had settled, so to speak, the Lord forms the body of the man.  The word "formed" is asah and means to fashion or mold.  The man's soul had already been created on the sixth day, but he still needed a body, a body fashioned from already existing dust.

As we continue in this verse we see the act of God giving life.  Did the first man have the ability to give himself life?  Did everything in the universe align in just the precise way necessary to produce some mysterious combustible spark that made him live and thus give him the ability to reproduce and give his offspring life as well?  That's what the great thinkers of our day want us to believe.  No, God gave the first man life.  It was a deliberate, purposeful act.  Without God's action, Adam would never have drawn his first breath.

The text goes something like this, "and (God) breathed into him the breath of life, so the man became a living soul."  The term "breath of life" is neshamah used with chay.  The first word comes from the root word nasham, meaning to breathe.  Neshamah describes the action taken by God that allows us to breathe.  The result is that we are alive, which is the meaning of chay. This is the action of God placing the soul that He created in the body He had formed, producing a living soul.  This is why Job says in Job 12:10 "in His hand is the breath (neshamah) of all mankind."  The term "living soul" is chay again used with nephesh, a self-conscious, rational, functional soul giving the body the ability to live.

I don't want to go on and on about this, but I think a few comments are necessary at this point.  God didn't form our bodies personally like He did Adam's.  He gave us the ability and His permission to produce offspring (Genesis 1:28).  But, make no mistake, while we have the ability to produce physical, functioning bodies, we do not give life to our offspring.  Only God can do that.  While the fetus is developing in the womb, it is simply going through a growth process that will eventually enable it to live independent of the life support system supplied by the mother's womb and umbilical cord.  At the moment of birth God is present to place the soul He created into the body the parents have formed.

Physical life is possible only in one of two ways: the presence of a soul in the body, or the body being connected to a life support system.  Doctors can keep a body functioning with machines that keep the heart and lungs working.  But in the absence of brainwave activity, they know when they turn off the machines the body will not function on its own.  The soul is what allows our autonomic nervous system to function.  We don't have to tell our heart to beat or our lungs to breathe.

Human life is the result of a direct act of God.  Old Testament writers understood this fact (Job 10:18, 33:4, Psalms 22:9, 71:6, Isaiah 46:3).  And for all you would-be theologians, simply apply the principle of precedence.  God through His Holy Spirit tells us in Genesis 2:7 how the first man received life.  When we get to Genesis 2:21, 22 we see God making the woman's body out of one of Adam's ribs (the verb here is banah and means "to build for a specific purpose" and the context tells us that the purpose was to make the man complete, and it's interesting to note that it only took one woman to complete the man, and…I'd better not get started).

What we have to notice in verses 21 and 22 is what isn't there.  There's no description of how the woman's body came to life.  This is the principle of precedence.  God has already explained to us how Adam was made a living soul.  So, when we get to the account of how He formed the woman's body He assumes we're smart enough to remember what He did next.  Then, when we consider everyone else that has ever lived on this earth, including ourselves, He assumes that we're smart enough to figure that out as well.  The rules didn't change.  God hasn't changed.  What Job, David, Isaiah and others understood is still as true now as it was in their day.  Human life is the result of an individual, personal act of God when at birth He places the soul that He created in the body that has been formed.  It is an act of His grace.  It is part of His plan.  And if He doesn't do it, it won't get done.  Because God is the only One Who can carry out His plan!

One more thing before we move to the second point.  Earlier we were talking about being created in God's image and how we were a representation of Him, like Him, but not exactly.  God has no beginning and no end.  We have a beginning, but no end.  Our existence (our life) has a starting point.  It starts when we're born and God gives us life.  The physical body that we get from our parents will eventually wear out and die, but the soul we received from God will never die.  That's why we need to understand God's plan of grace.  It's His plan to deliver us so we can spend eternity with Him, instead of without Him.  In II Corinthians 5:1-8 Paul makes it clear that when this earthly body dies we still have a life that came from God, not made with hands (that is, not having human origin), that is eternal.  He makes it clear that physical death is not an end, but there is a continuation of life beyond physical death for which we must prepare.

The second point in God's plan of grace doesn't sound like grace at all.  Trust me, it is.  Man cannot, indeed would not, condemn himself.  So God in His perfect justice has already done it.  To me, one of the more significant verses on this subject is Romans 11:32.

Now if you read this verse in the KJV it's not going to say that.  So what else is new?  The KJV reads "For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all."  The word translated "concluded" in the KJV and "delivered" above is sunkleio, which means, "to shut in together".  It could be rendered "included", but when you look at the context, "delivered" is accurate.  And the word translated "unbelief" in the KJV and "disobedience" elsewhere is apeitheia.  In the context of this verse, apeitheia is not simply a reference to disobedience, but to the result of disobedience.  This result is, of course, condemnation.

This verse does not stand alone, and it cannot be used to promote the idea of universal salvation as some fantasize.  When you read the KJV rendering of this verse given in the paragraph above, you can see why some might want to promote this idea.  It only strengthens my argument regarding the weakness of this version.  In the full context of the passage that runs from verse 25 through verse 32 Paul is telling us that God has convicted all men of disobedience and that there can be no escape from this condemnation through human merit.  The only escape is through His mercy as it is offered in His plan of grace, which is available to all alike, regardless of national distinction.

Now all this talk about disobedience and condemnation is forcing me to get into something that most religious types try their best to avoid.  You can go to traditional, institutional churches every week for years and not hear much of anything about this.  I'm talking about the s-word, you know, SIN.  Churches today will present you with an endless series of self-help, feel-good, empty promises that aren't there, messages that avoid dealing with anything pertinent to a real understanding of God's plan and purpose.

The goal is to keep people happy, keep them entertained.  Keep them excited or at least interested.  Tell them what they want to hear, no real surprises, and above all, don't say anything negative.  The last thing you want to do is tell people they're sinners.  Telling them they're condemned is definitely not entertaining.  Telling them that their sin has separated them from God is not what they want to hear.  It's all just too negative.

Instead, tell them constantly how God loves them (emphasize His grace and mercy, but never mention His righteousness and justice).  Tell them He wants to bless them, that He wants to heal them or make them rich.  Or if you're up to it, quote the first half of a single verse to give the message some semblance of validity and religiosity, then give them five steps to overcome depression from the world's philosophy.  Throw in a few jokes to make them laugh, jump around a little to keep them awake and you've got them right where you want them and right where they want to be – self-satisfied, self-righteous, asleep at the wheel, headed for hell at break-neck speed!  Sorry.  Every time I mention the traditional church something comes over me. 

Enough of that, let's look at some scriptures.

"So sin came into the world through one man (Adam), and spiritual death came as a result of sin, and this spiritual death spread to all men, because all of them sinned." (Romans 5:12)

When we look at this verse, several things stand out.  All men are sinners, sin brings God's condemnation and the result of this condemnation is death.  The death that comes is not physical death.  It's spiritual death.  God told Adam the very day he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would surely die (Genesis 2:17).  Yet we know that later, Adam and his wife hid from God (Genesis 3:8).  Actually he must have lived for quite some time after the occasion of his original sin, since the record tells us that he lived for 930 years (Genesis 5:5).  It's obvious that Adam did not die physically as a result of his sin.  So, how did he die?  His sin separated him from God in time.  Fellowship was broken.  He was hiding from God.  This is spiritual death.  Romans 5:12 tells us that we are under the same condemnation that Adam suffered.  Paul revisits the same argument in Romans 5:17-19 and I Corinthians 15:21,22.

In addition to this, you can easily find a recurring theme in Paul's letters regarding the existence of an inherent quality or nature in man that predisposes him to sin.  We all sin because it is our nature to do so.  However, Paul does not attribute this sinful disposition to some mysterious or even mystical cause.  He tells us through the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit that our sinful nature is not a part of the soul that God creates, but a physical part of the body that we form through reproduction.  In plain terms, our sin nature resides in the cellular structure of our physical bodies and has been passed on from generation to generation from the first man who sinned.

That's why Paul calls it the "flesh" (Romans 7:14-21, 8:3-6), the "body of sin" (Romans 6:6), the "sin that reigns in our mortal bodies" (Romans 6:12), and "the old man" (Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:9).  This last reference to the "old man" is actually a metaphor illustrating the genetic perpetuation of the sin nature from one man to another through each successive generation from Adam until now.

And so, when you consider everything we've talked about so far, several conclusions may be reached.  We are born physically alive, but spiritually dead.  The soul that God creates and gives is flawless and perfect as it comes from His hand to our body at birth.  However, it is immediately corrupted when it comes in contact with and under the influence of the sin nature present in the body.  In Adam this corruption took place the moment he sinned, with us, at the moment of birth.

In God's plan of grace we are all condemned by sin at birth, not at some religious, ambiguous, self-determined time.  He doesn't wait for us to realize that we're sinners.  He doesn't give us the luxury of justifying or denying our sin.  Our personal sins have absolutely nothing to do with our condemnation.  God is totally balanced and in His grace has exercised His perfect judgment and has condemned us on His terms, not ours.  He is completely fair and impartial.  He is no respecter of persons.  He deals with each one of us exactly the same.  The playing field is perfectly level.  No one has an advantage or a disadvantage.

Before we move on, I know there are those who struggle with the term spiritual death.  And it is my sincere desire that before this paper is concluded you would have a better grasp of this important issue.  For now just let me point you to the passage found in John 3:1-21 where we find Jesus talking to Nicodemus.  The conversation centers on the necessity of a spiritual rebirth, something that this Pharisee obviously didn't understand.  But may I suggest to you that he didn't understand spiritual rebirth because he didn't know anything about spiritual death.  The connection is undeniable.  Spiritual death is what makes spiritual rebirth a necessity, exactly the point Jesus is driving home in this passage.  We'll have more to say about this in Point Six.

Now, there's one more thing we must take up before we can go to the next point in God's plan of grace.  This has to do with the genetic perpetuation of the sin nature from generation to generation and is essential to our understanding of what God does in Point Three.  As I've said earlier, God not only had to come up with a plan, He had to carry out His plan in every detail.  We couldn't do it and in some cases probably wouldn't, if we could.  His plan is His plan.  And the more we understand it, the better we should appreciate it.  Now pay close attention to the next couple of paragraphs, concentrate and try not to go to sleep on me.

The physical mechanics of the genetic perpetuation of the sin nature in man can be found in a few good embryology textbooks, though it is not generally understood by the world how they apply to this specific spiritual truth.  For the purposes of growth, repair and replenishment body cells divide by a process called mitosis.  In mitosis one cell with 46 chromosomes divides into two with each new cell then identical to the original, each having 46 chromosomes.

However, in reproductive cells, a more specialized process called meiosis produces the male sperm and the female ovum.  In meiosis one cell with 46 chromosomes divides into two cells, but each new cell contains only 23 chromosomes.  Are you still awake?  You might want to get up and walk around a little or stretch, maybe throw a little cold water on your face.

With the male, one cell with 46 chromosomes divides into two cells having 23 chromosomes each.  Then both of these new cells with 23 chromosomes each divide again into two more cells, again with 23 chromosomes.  The result is that from one original cell with 46 chromosomes come four mature sperm cells with 23 chromosomes each.  So far, so good.  Now it gets interesting.

In the female the process of meiosis is different.  It has two stages like male meiosis.  But, while meiosis in the male produces four sperm cells, meiosis in the female produces only one ovum or egg.  This is called oogenesis.  Here, one cell with 46 chromosomes divides into two cells with 23 chromosomes each.  But, only one cell remains intact, the other disintegrates.  The surviving cell with 23 chromosomes then divides again into two new cells with 23 chromosomes each.  Again one cell remains and the other disintegrates.

Now we get down to the really pertinent part of this whole (and I hope not too confusing) discussion.  In each cell that disintegrates cellular material called polar bodies concentrate or polarize themselves on one side of the cell before the division takes place.  After the cell divides, the one with the concentration of polar bodies is the one that disintegrates.  When the two stages of division in oogenesis are completed, the one ovum produced by this process is completely free of polar bodies.

This process is God's ingenious way of cleansing the female ovum of the contamination of the sin nature that is a part of every other cell that makes up the human body, whether male or female.  From this we must draw several conclusions.  The first is what we have already alluded to earlier in the fact that scripture tells us that we are all possessors of Adam's sin.  That it is a part of our physical makeup and passed on from generation to generation by the man starting with Adam is clear when you consider the difference illustrated by the male and female reproductive systems.  In the male, all four mature sperm cells produced contain the exact same makeup, therefore, the same contamination as the original, contamination that is immediately passed on to the uncontaminated female ovum at conception!!!  The exclamation points are to get your attention and let you know I'm getting excited about this, because I know where it's leading.

The second thing is that all this boring talk about cells, chromosomes and polar bodies illustrates God's provision to fulfill His promise of the coming of the Christ through the "seed of the woman" in Genesis 3:15.  In oogenesis God provided the way for the Son of Man to enter the world through a physical birth with a human mother and be born free of the contamination of the sin nature, yet in a physical body.  Make no mistake about this, in Mary a real conception took place, but no man was involved.  It was the Holy Spirit that made it possible (Matthew 1:20, Luke 1:34,35) for the Lord to be born a perfect, sinless man, absent Adam's sin, the only One qualified to go to the cross as our substitute.  Mary had a sin nature like everyone else.  But, because she was a woman, she could not transmit it to her progeny.  After Christ was born she delivered six other children by her husband Joseph through normal procreation.  All six were born spiritually dead with a sin nature passed on to them by their father.

At this juncture I should probably just move on.  But I can't pass up the opportunity to tear down a few religious concepts.  The idea that Jesus' sinless perfection is somehow connected to Mary's virginity is ludicrous at best.  One has absolutely nothing to do with the other.  The idea that God would have to depend on human merit to accomplish His plan is nothing more than religious arrogance and ignorance.  Mary was a sinner in need of a Savior, not unlike any other woman who ever lived.  She was condemned as soon as she drew her first breath, just like everyone else.  And while I have no intention of diminishing her special place in history and the favor God showed her, I can't elevate her to a prominence that exceeds even the Lord Himself as some do.

The fact is her virginity was only a sign, a signal to all who awaited the coming of the Holy One (Isaiah 7:14).  If it had not been for the prophecy requiring the mother of the Lord to be a virgin, this provision of God would have allowed Him to be born to any woman at any time providing she had a healthy, functioning reproductive system to produce the pure egg.  And if there can be any question regarding what God thinks about depending on us to help Him carry out His plan, consider Isaiah 64:6,7.

"Because we have all become like one who is defiled and unclean, even our best efforts before God are like filthy rags to Him.  We're so frail and here for such a short time and it is our own depravity that carries us like a strong wind far away from God's favor.  No one calls Your name and there are none that struggle to embrace You.  And so Your face is hidden from us and we are left only to the consuming power of our own sin."

I know there's a sermon here somewhere, but I'll stick to the subject.  The KJV uses the term "our righteousnesses" where you see "our best efforts" in the verse above.  Both are a reference to self-righteousness (see Philippians 3:9).  What follows describes God's attitude towards self-righteousness or human effort.  He sees them as "filthy rags".  Here, the word translated "filthy" is the Hebrew ed and means, "to set a period (of time)".  In the context of the verse it is used to illustrate the woman's monthly menstrual flow.  In other words, God considers our self-righteousness to be right up there on the same level of rags used by women to control the flow of blood from their monthly period.

Now you might be wondering why I bring this up at this particular time, so I'll tell you.  Remember back when we were talking about oogenesis and how every time a cell would divide, the cell with the polar bodies (the physical contamination of the sin nature present in every cell) would disintegrate?  The menstrual period is the means by which the material from these disintegrated cells is sloughed off through a discharge of blood from the uterine wall.  Every month the woman discharges a small but significant portion of the sin nature that resides in her body.  The illustration in the verse above is simply comparing our best efforts to our own sin.  To God there's no difference.  No real righteousness exists but His.

Now we have to talk about God's justice.  In order to give us the opportunity to be delivered and brought to a place where we could be acceptable to a Holy God, something had to be done to satisfy His perfect justice in the matter of our sin.  As we have already established, all men are sinners, spiritually dead and consequently separated from God in time.  But it is God's purpose to draw us to Him.  However, there necessarily is a judicial matter that must be settled.  There is a penalty required for the violation of God's standard of character and nature.  The question of sin and the payment for sin must be answered.

God's plan of grace does that once and for all.  What payment did God's justice demand for our sin?  To understand what payment was required for sin, we must understand its penalty.  And that has already been established in Point Two.  The penalty for sin is spiritual death.  Therefore, the payment had to be the same.  It was the spiritual death of Christ on the cross that paid our debt in full and paved the way for us to come to God.  Christ took the penalty upon Himself.  He stood in for us.  He took our place.  The principle is substitutionary death.

As in all points of God's plan of grace, we are unable of ourselves to do anything that could ever be acceptable to God.  Again, it's His plan and He had to carry it out to the full.  In the matter of paying the penalty for our own sin, we are helpless.  This is Romans 5:6.

In the KJV we find the term "without strength", the word "unable" is used above.  In the original text the Greek word is asthenes and means, "weak or powerless".  In the context of this verse it is used to illustrate the fact that man does not possess the spiritual qualification necessary to pay his own penalty.  The logic is inescapable.  How can a man who is already spiritually dead stand in for himself and die a spiritual death to make payment for his own sin?

When we apply everything we've discussed so far to the birth of Christ, we can conclude the following.  That wonderful night in a Bethlehem stable when the fetus emerged from Mary's womb, God breathed life into it in the form of Christ's human soul.  The result was, as it is with every other member of the human race, human life.  But, when the justice of God would normally have condemned this newly born child to spiritual death, no such condemnation was possible!  Since Christ had no human father, He had no genetically formed sin nature.  Adam's sin was absent.

Let's go back to the words of Paul.  This is Romans 5:14.

There's just one thing I want to look at in the verse.  It has to do with the word "figure".  The Greek word is tupos and means, a type, facsimile or representation.  This verse is telling us that before Adam transgressed and experienced spiritual death; he was a type of Christ.  As already noted, Adam was created perfect.  He had no sin nature, no condemnation, and no spiritual death.  Therefore, Jesus was born a facsimile of Adam before he sinned, with no sin nature, no condemnation and no spiritual death.  The point is that Jesus Christ is the only man born with the qualifications to be our substitute and pay for the sins of mankind.  He could die a spiritual death, because from the moment of birth to the instant He was nailed to the cross, He remained sinless, spiritually alive.

There are several more things we should discuss here to give this point the balance it deserves.  First, let's consider the implication found in the following:

"Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not reckon against him." (Romans 4:8)

These verses, at least for me, bring focus to this whole idea of God having a plan of grace in which He offers to deliver us.  Our sin is a reality, regardless of any attitude, emotion, rationalization, justification or just plain denial we might apply to it.  We're sinners.  We have a sin nature.  We live under a cloud of condemnation and it's resulting spiritual death whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not.  But listen to me, while our condition is the result of a judicial sentence imposed by God, His plan of grace delays the time when the sentence will be carried out.

Instead of holding us accountable for our sin and demanding immediate payment, God's plan of grace steps in and makes the payment for us.  Instead of charging us with our own sin, God determined to put them all on His Beloved Son.

I hope you recognize the dilemma had God determined to carry out His sentence immediately.  We would emerge from our mother's womb, draw our first breath and before we could exhale, we'd find ourselves in hell.  Actually, that's not correct.  If God carried out His sentence immediately, both Adam and his wife would have gone to hell the moment they sinned, they would have had no children, and we wouldn't be here.

But that wasn't God's plan.  Instead His grace brings us a reprieve (in Romans 3:25 it's called the "forbearance of God").  We have time to access His gracious offer and accept His payment for our sin.  But, make no mistake.  This is only an offer, and a limited one at that.  The offer expires when we experience physical death.

Everyone will die.  Everyone will face judgment.  The Lord is going to judge us on the basis of what we did "while in this body".  These are clear references to the time span that is our physical life.  The time will come when each one of us will stand, alone, before the King of Kings.  And He will examine us to see if He can find anything in us that looks like Him.  Again nothing will be hidden from Him (Hebrews 4:13).

If we despise the grace of God, if we embrace our sin, if we refuse the Holy sacrifice made on our behalf, then God will allow us to make our own payment.  This is the "second death", an eternity in Hell with the Devil and his angels, referred to in Revelation 20:14.  Check it out.

Before we go on to Point Four, there must necessarily be a parenthetical explanation inserted between Points Three and Four.  As has already been stated, God's plan of grace is His plan.  It came from His heart and mind, and He alone had to carry it out to the full.  But, if you remember the gist of the first paper in this series ("Grace, Faith and Salvation"), we're not saved or delivered by God's grace alone.  Our faith is an essential part of the process and the good works that God planned beforehand for each one of us are what He uses to recreate us in the image of His Son (Ephesians 2:8-10).  So, it is safe for us to conclude that at some point in God's plan of grace our faith is required.

May I suggest that we have now arrived at that point?  In Point One every single person who was ever born into this world received human life the same way the first man and the first woman received theirs, by an individual, personal act of God (Isaiah 46:3).  In Point Two every person ever born following the original sin of the first man and woman was born a sinner with a sin nature, condemned at birth and spiritually dead (Romans 3:9,10,23).  In Point Three Jesus is the only One qualified to pay the penalty for the sins of the world (I John 2:2).

So, every person who has ever lived on the earth has been a part of God's plan of grace through these first three points.  And, as you will quickly see, faith is required if any will continue through Points Four, Five, Six and Seven.  Before we move on to the next point, let's revisit what Paul says about the relationship between grace and faith.  We looked at this passage in the paper "Grace, Faith and Salvation".  It's Romans 5:1-3.

Here Paul is so clear.  This is not open for debate.  It's not arguable.  Our right standing with God comes only one way.  We have to access His grace through our faith.  And faith has only one definition.  It's not based on what we know or what we believe.  It's a result of what we do, with God.  Faith requires knowing what God wants, or understanding what He's saying.  Faith is submitting to and obeying what God reveals to you personally.  Faith is defined by your experiences with God Himself.  It has nothing to do with what we think, what we've learned in church, what others tell us about what God is supposedly saying, or what any group or denomination has settled on as true.  It has only to do with what passes between you and God on a personal, individual basis and with what you do about it, period!  And if you disagree with that, then you don't understand what you're reading when you pick up your Bible and see experience after experience chronicled in detail to show you how God worked in the lives of men and women in the past by faith (read Hebrews 11).

As we have noted from Isaiah 64:6, we have no righteousness of our own.  The only righteousness that exists in this age belongs to God.  Paul establishes that pretty well in Romans 3: 9, 10, 23.  In Point Three God's perfect justice demanded perfect justice, so the Son of God was the only One qualified to pay the penalty for our sins.  In Point four you will soon see that God's perfect righteousness demands perfect righteousness, and since we have none of our own, He offers to give us His.

Everything that makes up the character and nature of God is perfect and unchanging.  The fact that God will not, indeed cannot, compromise His character or nature defines His integrity.  God's plan of grace is His way of bringing us into conformity with His integrity.  His plan of grace gives us the opportunity to be like Him so we can be with Him.  And, as we've previously discussed in the paper entitled "The Greatest Commandment", our willingness to forsake who we are and prove that we're willing to be like Him is a key issue with God.

But, as we have also previously discussed, contrary to what religion tells us, God's offers are always conditional.  We must meet His conditions to receive what He offers.  Nowhere in scripture is this presented any more clearly than in the passage that follows.  Here, in Romans 3:19-31, Paul lets us know in no uncertain terms that righteousness in the believer is the result of faith (our submission and obedience to what God is doing or saying individually to each of us).  And it can never be gained through a system of pre-determined, manmade, religious efforts.

For your convenience I've underlined all the references to faith in this passage.  Now that you've read it through once, let me encourage you to go back and read it a second time.  This time look for all the references to righteousness and see how they correspond to the use of faith.

Do you see what I mean? Paul sounds like a broken record here.

Now, if you can resist the temptation of your flesh to revert back to your religious training and allow faith to be defined correctly (that is, your willingness to submit to and obey what God is doing and saying to you personally and individually), then you can easily see what Paul is saying here, over and over again.  As I've said before, faith is defined by our experiences with God.

But, maybe it would help to look at faith another way.  When we submit ourselves to God, the experiences that follow are designed by Him to help us understand Who He is, what He does and what He wants.  The obedience that He requires gives us the opportunity to prove that we're willing to be like Him, and it changes us.  The exercise of our faith in this way puts us in the enviable position of having God's approval.  We've just rejected who we are and chosen to be like God.  We've just said no to our flesh and yes to Him.  And in the expression of our faith God credits us with His own righteousness.

Let me show you what I mean.  In scripture, Abraham is the obvious example.  This is what follows immediately after the passage quoted above.  This is Romans 4:1-5.

When we trust God, when we submit to Him, when we do what He wants us to do, what He tells us to do, He approves and rewards us with His own righteousness.  As already discussed, when we do our own thing, regardless of how good we think it might be, it's filthy rags to God.  Our efforts are worthless, mere expressions of our sin nature.

This is a great time to point out, again, the difference between morality and spirituality.  Regardless of your perspective (and I'm going to be dogmatic here), God has not called us to be moral; in fact, He requires that we be spiritual.  Morality is nothing more than human viewpoint.  Morality is based on what men think is right.  And if you're paying any attention at all to what's going on in the world today as opposed to what has gone on in the past, you have to know that morality is always changing.  If morality came from God, it wouldn't change, because He doesn't change!

Morality is what people do when they know other people are watching.  And their attitude in regard to what they're willing to allow other people to see changes, when they sense public acceptance or at least the absence of outrage.  Because of this, things that were unacceptable or even outrageous in the past are considered normal today.  And so morality is nothing more than an ambiguous, ever-changing set of manmade standards of behavior that are a product of the collective influence of the sin nature.

And, to make matters worse, religion is the chief proponent of morality in the world.  Every religious group that exists today promotes their own version of morality.  And herein lies the problem.  Those who claim to represent God in the world teach people the principles of morality and in most cases add to it a really twisted doctrine of fairness and false compassion.  The result of all this is a self-centered, human rights oriented culture that only pretends to care about others.  And by the way, if you're interested, that is exactly the indictment God brings against Israel through the prophet Jeremiah.  I only mention it to let you know that nothing has changed in the human condition from then until now.

The end result then is that morality is presented as a solution, but is actually the problem.  Those who embrace morality can resolve to reform themselves to some degree and experience the counterfeit version of God's purpose, which is to change us.  They can see they've changed.  Others can see it too.  They can give God the credit (remember, in religion, everything has God's name on it) and feel really good about themselves and about God.

Listen to me and listen well, the incredibly effective deception in religion and morality is that people are trained to equate God's presence or His approval with their own good feelings.  The only problem with this is that in both religion and morality, these good feelings are produced by people doing what they've decided to do.  It has nothing to do with God.  It's self-righteousness, and God hates it.

On the other hand, spirituality is simply following God by faith.  He's in control.  He's calling the shots.  We're trusting His judgment, not our own.  What we do is what He wants.  And what He wants will not always make us feel good.  Sometimes it hurts.  We're proving to God, and to those who are smart enough to recognize it that we want to be like Him.  He approves and credits us with His righteousness.  And it's not based on our feelings; it's based on whether or not we really know Him in an experiential way (Matthew 7:21-23).

Now, in case you've forgotten what we were talking about, this is Point Four in God's plan of grace.  Since we have no righteousness of our own, He has determined to give us His righteousness, but only on the condition that we add our faith to His grace.  I need to discuss one more thing, and then we'll move on to Point Five.

Paul understood the difference between morality and spirituality, though he used different terms (self-righteousness and righteousness).  In Romans 6:15-23 he talks about this issue and why it's important to seek God's righteousness.  I'm not going to cover the complete passage, because this paper is going to be too long as it is.  But I want to hit the high spots to show you what I'm talking about.

In these verses Paul contrasts morality and spirituality.  But he then commends these Roman believers for their commitment to spirituality.  Then he encourages them to continue to be the servants of righteousness, because righteousness leads to holiness.  When you consider the context and grammatical structure of this passage, Paul is illustrating that holiness is the accumulation of righteousness over time.  And why is this important?  I'm glad you asked.  The answer is down in verse 22.

Does that put things in a little better focus for you?  As we follow God in faith, trusting Him and obeying Him, in His plan of grace He credits us with His righteousness.  As we continue on this course, the accumulation of His righteousness becomes holiness.  And holiness results in eternal life.  The plan of God from beginning to end (from Leviticus 20:7 to I Peter 1:16) was always to give us the opportunity to be holy like God is holy.  And holiness only comes from the grace of God as we follow Him by faith and receive an accumulation of His righteousness.

This is what Paul says in Colossians 1:22,23.  It should tie everything up for you.

May I suggest that the occasion of Christ presenting faithful, mature, holy believers to the Father is the "joy that was set before Him" in Hebrews 12:2, and is, in fact, described as the marriage of the Lamb and His bride.  And before we move on, I must quote this last passage from Revelation 19:7-9.

There are two things I hope you noticed in these verses.  The first is that it says the "bride has prepared herself".  Contrary to religious fantasy, God does not magically prepare the bride against her will or without her full participation and cooperation.  It is up to the bride to prepare herself!  That's what real faith is all about.  And it will never be any different, either now or in the future.  This baloney about an end-time revival that will instantaneously sweep millions of people into God's Kingdom is just so much religious smoke and mirrors, pure deception.

And the second thing I want you to see proves it.  This passage also says that because the bride has prepared herself, she is permitted to dress in white linen "signifying the righteousness of God's holy people".  And at this point I have to hope that our memories are not so short that we don't remember what we've been talking about in Point Four of God's plan of grace.  How we obtain God's righteousness that leads to holiness that results in eternal life, which is what this passage confirms!

And being one that loves the Word of God (both written and spoken by revelation) I can't resist pointing out this one last thing spoken by the angel and recorded by John.  Regardless of what you want, what you think or how you feel, this is the true and "exact declaration that God Himself has made" on the subject.  Don't try to figure out why it might be wrong, because it doesn't agree with your religion.  And don't try to figure out how you can manipulate the truth so you can avoid it.  Just accept it and cry out to God for help.  We all desperately need His righteousness, and there's only one way to get it.

Once we get a glimpse of the fact that God's purpose is to change us and we turn our hearts toward Him, He will begin to reveal Himself to us.  He will then begin to teach us His ways, give us opportunities to submit to and obey Him, and give us His righteousness when we make right choices.

Earlier in this paper towards the end of Point Three I quoted Romans 5:1-3, you might want to flip back and read it.  There are two things in that passage that are pertinent to our discussion here.  In verse one Paul talks about our reconciliation with God.  Reconciliation illustrates the fact that the wall that had separated man from God has been broken down and removed.  Of course, the wall represents our sin, which Christ took upon Himself on the cross.  What Paul says here is that since we're no longer the enemies of God, we have this unbelievable privilege of having an intimate relationship with Him, "living face to face with Him".

Then in verse two he tells us that we have the opportunity to "experience the reality of God" in our lives and to be strengthened by the "tribulations and sufferings" that are designed by God to give us the determination to follow Him.  The point is that God wants us to live our lives with Him.  He wants to participate, to be involved.  And in this part of His plan of grace we'll see the extent of that participation.  God could not compromise His integrity by having a relationship with men held in the bondage of their sin.  But with the payment of our penalty (reconciliation) and God's willingness to credit us with His own righteousness when we exercise faith (justification), He is now free to deal with us in time and prepare us for an eternity with Him.

His dealings with us include many things.  This presentation will most certainly not be complete, but I'll try to point out what I think the important or more obvious things might be.  There are blessings, both spiritual and material.  There is also suffering and discipline.  Let's look at the blessings first.  And I have to say at this point, again contrary to what many in religion today claim, His emphasis is on spiritual blessing, not material or physical.  There are those who will always and absolutely refuse to accept the fact that God is not interested in giving us what our flesh craves.  He wants to kill our flesh, not strengthen it!  We'll talk more about this a little later.

This following passage is as good an example as you'll find that shows the Father heart of God and His desire to bestow spiritual blessings upon His children. This is Ephesians 3:14-21.

The overwhelming desire of God is for us to know Him.  Not for us to know about Him but know Him on an individual, personal, intimate level that allows Him to influence and change us.  The focus of God's efforts towards mankind has always been concentrated on this one thing and one thing only – to restore us back to fellowship with Him.  God's plan points to a time yet future when He will be able to fellowship with us like He did with Adam and his wife in the garden before they sinned (Genesis 3:8,9).

The purpose of God's plan of grace is to position us in such a way that He is able to reveal Himself to us and have a relationship with us in time.  And with the limitations that exist with our free will, sin nature, the influence of the world and the enemies of God, still change us from who we are into who He is.  In our free will, God gives us permission to make our own decisions, regardless of whether they're right or wrong.  And He will not interfere.  Our sin nature is a definite disadvantage to us, because it continually influences us to make wrong decisions.  The world continually tries to distract us away from God.  And the enemies of God lead us astray and deceive us.

But His plan takes all this into consideration by making it a priority to strengthen us in our spirit man.  In other words, God sets out to strengthen us in our spirit, because our spirit is that part of us that pursues Him, is willing to submit to Him and craves fellowship with Him.  It is our spirit that is willing to put down the sin nature, reject what the world has to offer and stand firm against the enemies of God.  So God wants us to be strong in our spirit.

And how does God strengthen our spirit man?  This is a simplistic answer, but the right one.  He loves us.  As the passage above tells us, God wants us to understand His love in a full, complete way, because it will stabilize us, make us strong and enable us to really know Him and that is what changes us.

And here I have to say just a little bit about the concept of love.  Depending on how many people you ask you can get any number of definitions of love.  And I'll not go into that now.  But there is just one legitimate definition of love and it's found in the last phrase of I John 4:8 that says, "...for God is love."  Literally, what that means is, "Who God is, is what He does". Everything that God does towards us is an expression of His love for us and has its source in His perfect, unchanging character and nature.  When God loves us, in reality, what He does is reveal to us on a personal basis Who He is and what He does.  And His intention is that we would then experience it, understand it and then emulate it, both in our relationship with Him and with others.

In order to explain this more fully, I really should take you verse by verse through II Peter 1:1-9.  But instead, let me just say that in this passage Peter talks about our being called to be partakers of the divine nature (verse 4).  Through the exercise of our faith God will see to it that we have the opportunity to develop the characteristics that are listed.  I'll just quickly mention them for you here.  There are seven.

Virtue is spiritual courage as expressed in our loyalty to God.  Anyone who determines to pursue God will learn that He demands loyalty.  God will always give us plenty of opportunities to show which side we're on, His or the Devil's.  Knowledge in this text actually means discernment.  God wants us to have the ability to hear His voice and recognize Him in our circumstances so we can understand what He wants.  Temperance is the ability to control our lust for the things of the world, so we're not tempted or distracted.  Patience is the ability to face trials and sufferings with determination, but without complaint.  He wants to teach us to face any hardship and come out of the experience stronger instead of weaker.  Godliness is a singular devotion to God, making Him the first priority in your life.  Godliness actually illustrates a passion for God.  Brotherly affection is the care you have for fellow believers, when you make them the second priority in your life.  And the last is Charity, which is Christ-like love, the fullest expression of a selfless life, and the culmination of all the characteristics listed here.

A solid understanding of these seven characteristics gives us all the ability to see where we are in our walk with God.  Look at them.  What are your weaknesses?  Can you see some of your strengths?  Thank God for the strengths, then go to Him in repentance and ask Him to work in your life to correct the weaknesses.

Let's move on to material blessings.  There are those who call themselves Christian who want us to believe that the only purpose God has is to make us wealthy.  They want us to believe it because that's the gimmick they use to manipulate people and appeal to their lust for wealth.  They claim to have an "anointing" to make others rich.  Of course the way it works is that you have to send them your money.  It doesn't take a genius to figure out who is getting rich.  I always thought if they had the "anointing" then they should be sending me their money!  It's interesting how religion tends to appeal to the flesh.  In Galatians 3:3, Paul says it's foolish to think that appealing to your flesh could perfect you.

As I've already said the emphasis that God has and that scripture confirms is spiritual blessing over material blessing.  God is clear.  We don't have the ability to serve Him and manage material wealth (Matthew 6:24).  But that doesn't mean God is indifferent to us in the area of material things.  He's not.  In the context of everything we've been talking about in God's plan of grace, even a casual look at Matthew 6:24-34 shows us that God is deeply interested.  However, the obvious difference between truth and traditional religion is that God doesn't care what the religious hucksters and their followers want, but He does care about what His children need.

When you read this passage, Jesus encourages us with the fact that the Father has more than proven His ability to care for His creation and that in the scope of everything that He does to care for it, His children are His first concern.  He continues to tell us that when we worry about such things it's because we're weak in faith (and you might want to stop here and contemplate the true meaning of faith).  And then, just in case we still didn't get it, He gives us a principle for getting the Father's attention so He will give us what we need.  This is Matthew 6:33.

Do you want the Father to give you what you need?  May I remind you that the verse above is yet another conditional promise of God?  If we meet His conditions, He'll supply our needs.  Making the rule of God real and pursuing His righteousness is Jesus' way of telling us to walk with God in true submission and obedience.  When we do that, He'll make sure we have what we need.

It's worth noting that God doesn't always give us what we think we need.  And, He doesn't always give it to us when we think we need it.  He will never allow our relationship with Him to become so predictable that we mistakenly suppose that we're in charge.  If I've learned anything in my walk with Him, it's that He continually reinforces my dependency on Him.  He wants His children to learn that their dependency on Him is actually their security in this world and the next.  When He used Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness, that's what He wanted to teach them.  But they refused.  This will be the subject of the last paper in this series.  It will be called "Grace, Faith and the Rest of God".

In Romans 12:16 we find this statement in the KJV, "Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate."  Without getting into a lengthy discussion of this really weak translation, let me just give you a simple paraphrase.  "Control your lust for wealth, position or power, and be willing to live a simple, uncomplicated life with those who care little for the things of this world."  That's Paul's advice for believers (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course), and it's good advice.

The Father can supply all our needs.  That will never be a problem for Him (Philippians 4:19).  And if we have a true relationship of intimacy with Him, then we can approach Him with confidence to receive mercy for our failures and help for our need (Hebrews 4:16).

Now, as much as you probably don't want me to, I need to talk about suffering.  As I've said several times before in other papers, it's part of the deal (John 16:33, Philippians 3:10, I Peter 4:19).  But let's look at suffering in a positive way, if that's possible.  In Romans 8:14-27 Paul gives us some insight into the purpose of our suffering.  This is what it says.

I've really quoted more from this passage than I needed to make my point, but I couldn't help it.  I really like what Paul is saying here.  The part I want you to notice though is about two-thirds of the way through this passage (verse 23) where he's talking about the children of God suffering and waiting, yearning for the final transformation of their bodies.  Here Paul is explaining that God uses suffering to make us look beyond our present circumstances and develop hope (an anxious anticipation) for our future with Him.  The time will come when the suffering will end and the promised inheritance will become a finished reality (Isaiah 25:8,9, Revelation 21:3-7).  God knows that any suffering we endure now will only heighten our appreciation and enjoyment then.

When you read I Thessalonians 2, 3, you can recognize another purpose for suffering.  Paul warned the little group of believers in Thessalonica what was in store for them.  But the suffering and affliction failed to turn them away from God, and instead, gave them a love for Paul and for each other that helped sustain them through the worst of times.

Then, the last thing mentioned back at the beginning of this point was discipline.  The reality and purpose of this is found in I Corinthians 11:31,32.  This is found in the context of Paul's instruction regarding the Lord's Supper.  But don't think that the principle illustrated here has only to do with Communion.  Let me quote it for you.

How many millions of times have ignorant people made a statement similar to this?  "Why would God allow such a terrible thing to happen?"  Generally speaking, the common attitude in the world has always been that God exists to protect people, make them happy and give them what they want.  And they're confused when that doesn't happen.  May I propose to you that every time a ship sinks, an airplane crashes, a car wrecks, or we see a volcano, a hurricane, an earthquake or a flood and people are hurt or killed God may be trying to get our attention?  Maybe, just maybe, God is trying to get people to understand that there's a vast difference between what they want and what they need.

He wants to give us what we need, not what we want.  What we want won't deliver us and keep us from eternal punishment.  What we want won't help us understand Who God is and what He requires.  And it's only His perfect, uncompromising character and nature that allows Him to try to help us.  God allows bad things to happen to create in us a need for Him.  His mercy and grace are at work trying to give us what we need before His justice is forced to give us what we deserve.  If we refuse to recognize or acknowledge our need of Him, He at least tries to help us out.

And if we are wise enough or lucky enough to recognize our need of Him, the discipline doesn't stop, but at least we begin to understand it and benefit from it.  The world doesn't comprehend this, but discipline is the proof of God's affection and acceptance.  And it results in security and stability in the one being disciplined.  This is what is explained in the passage in Hebrews 12:5-11.  This is another fairly long passage, but an important one.  So, I think I'll include the complete translation of it here.

The word translated "chastening" in the KJV and "discipline" above is paideuo.  This is a word that is generally used to indicate education or training by the use of the infliction of physical punishment, evils or calamities.  In other words, God uses a broad range of things to discipline us.  It could be physical injury, sickness or emotional distress.  He could turn demonic forces against us, or allow us to be opposed or even persecuted by His enemies.  Or, He could allow us to experience devastation and loss through accidents or disasters.

But one thing is certain and we all must keep this in focus.  Whatever He does, regardless of what we think or how we feel about it, or what the severity of it might be, He's doing it for our good.  He's putting us in situations and circumstances that give us the opportunity to make the decisions He wants us to make and do the things He wants us to do so we can be partakers of His holiness.  And if you don't remember how important that is, you have a really short memory.  We just talked about it in Point Four back on pages 17 and 18.

There is one more issue that I should mention before we move on to Point Six.  This is God's final blessing to those who lived by faith.  When you read the last four chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy you see that Moses got up the morning of his 120^th birthday only to hear God tell him he wouldn't live to enjoy it.  In fact, God told Moses to write a song to Israel about rejecting other gods, teach it to the people, and then go up on Mount Nebo and die.  Which is exactly what Moses did and God was the only One that attended his burial (Deuteronomy 34:5,6).

The point is that when God gave Moses his final instructions, Moses carried them out to the letter and died with no regret, no complaint and no fear.  Now you might think that under the circumstances Moses might have had some regret, since God told him he couldn't go into the Promised Land because of his disobedience years earlier in Kadesh (Deuteronomy 32:48-52). And you might be right.  But you don't see any hint of it in what you read there.  Moses died and according to the record (Deuteronomy 34:7), his eyesight was still good and his body was strong and healthy.

What I'm talking about is the ability of a true believer who has followed God by faith to die peacefully, when the time comes.  Paul is a great example, especially when you consider the circumstances of his death.  When you read II Timothy 4:6-8, Paul knows he's about to die.  He's in prison for the second time.  He has a sense this time God isn't going to rescue him.  There's no remorse, no anger, no panic.  All you see is a calm expectancy.  Paul is finally going to get what he wants – to be with the Lord.  A short time after this letter was written Paul was escorted to his executioner to have his head cut off by the sword.  Tradition says that Paul embraced his executioner, thanked him, bent down and pulled his coat back to expose his neck.  Religious traditions are not all that trustworthy, but in this case I don't doubt it.

And by the way, this is completely off the subject, but I can't help mentioning the religious hoax based largely on traditional writings, otherwise known as Fox's Book of Martyrs.  With the exception of some of the references in Chapter One, most of this book has nothing to do with real martyrs.  Martyrs are those who died because they experienced real faith in God.  Most of the incidents chronicled in this book are nothing more than religious people who were killed because the religion they embraced was not Catholic.  Catholicism has murdered thousands and thousands of people over the centuries that refused to embrace the so-called Catholic Faith.  And, no doubt, a few of them could have been true martyrs.  But, don't be confused.  Protestantism has never been representative of truth just because it opposed Catholicism.  Both are perversions of truth.  This book only records the bloody history the two have had.

Remember, in God's plan of grace, if He doesn't do it, then it won't get done.  And that could not be any more evident than here in part 6.  At some point in time God will give eternal life to those who submit to Him.  However, it must be understood that the Scriptures give us two perspectives on this.  And it's also important to emphasize that these are not opposing or contradictory.  One perspective is that eternal life is granted to the believer when he first begins his walk with God.  The other seems to indicate that eternal life is given only after the believer has successfully completed his earthly walk and is ready to enter that eternal state.

You will see both perspectives in this presentation.  But first, let me attempt to reconcile the two.  First of all, we must recognize the fact that the Scriptures represent God's point of view.  They are, after all, God's Word to us.  And His point of view is an unbroken, clearly defined understanding of the history of mankind, both corporately and individually, from beginning to end.  He knew me before I was ever born.  And He knew I would eventually make the decision to submit to Him and follow Him.  And He knows whether or not I will be faithful to this decision in the days to come.  He knows the same things about every other person who was ever born in the past or who will be born in the future.

And on that basis, what difference does it make whether or not those who follow Him are seen to receive eternal life at the beginning of their walk with Him, or when their life on this earth is over and it's all said and done?  I think the truest picture of what God intends can be found in Jesus' statement in John 10:10: "I came that they may enjoy a life that overflows (from time into eternity)."

The word translated "more abundantly" in the KJV is perissos, and means, "overflowing".  You see it's God's intention that we enjoy a life with Him in time as we walk with Him by faith in this life and then see that same life continue or overflow from time into eternity.  Our physical death brings about a change in our geography and eventually some other changes as well (a new body and so on), but our relationship with God is unchanged and uninterrupted.

And on this note, maybe this is a good time to define eternal life.  One of the best passages in scripture for this is John 17:1-3.

The verb translated "know" in the KJV (know and understand above) is ginosko and means, "to know by experience".  This is the word generally used to illustrate real relationship.  In other words, according to what Jesus is saying here, having a relationship that is based on experience with the Father and with the Son is synonymous with the concept of eternal life.  John says it another way in I John 5:11-13.

Now, there's no way we can talk about eternal life without talking about the connection it has in scripture with the new birth.  So we have to look at Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:1-21.  I recommend that you stop and read this passage so you'll be familiar with it.  I'm not going to quote this long passage, but instead, we'll just look at the most important parts.

In verse 3 Jesus introduces the idea of the necessity of being "born again".  Actually the word translated "again" is anothen and literally means "from above".  And since poor Nicodemus doesn't know anything, except what his dead religion has taught him, he questions Jesus in verse 4.  The concept of more than one birth is confusing to him.  But Jesus comes back in verses 5 through 8 and describes the two births.  One is fleshly and physical.  Nicodemus understands this one.  But the other is spiritual, immaterial and invisible, but real.  Jesus compares it to the wind.

None of Nicodemus' religious training prepared him for this.  And let me reemphasize something here that I've mentioned several times before.  Religion always appeals to the flesh and to the physical senses.  Nicodemus was typical.  He was religious, but not spiritual.   He understood only what he could discern with his natural senses and understand with his natural mind.  He had absolutely no understanding of anything that had to be spiritually discerned, no real understanding of the invisible God.  But he was a Pharisee and had the best religious training possible.  Nicodemus makes my case, again.  Traditional, institutional religion does not lead men to God it keeps them from God.  It substitutes doctrinal teaching, dead ritual, emotion and demonic manifestation for the reality of God's purpose and a relationship with God by faith that is defined by real, personal experience.

Nicodemus is incredulous and in verse 9 he questions Jesus again.  "How is this possible", he asks?  To which Jesus answers in verse 10, "You're a teacher in Israel and you don't know these things?"  And the statement that Jesus makes in the next several verses must have put poor Nicodemus' religious brain on overload, because it looks as though from the text that he doesn't say another word.  This is a short paraphrase of verses 11, 12 and 13.

Jesus had actually witnessed Old Testament saints experiencing this spiritual birth in His heavenly, preincarnate existence.  And without getting too far off the subject here, Jesus' statement about no one ever going up to heaven is consistent with what the Scriptures tell us about Old Testament saints going to the compartment of Sheol, called paradise or Abraham's bosom, to await their release following Jesus' resurrection.  Also, I didn't want to leave Nicodemus in a negative light, so I'll mention that the time came when he defended Jesus (John 7:50-52) and assisted in His burial (John 19:39), indicating the real possibility that he may have come to an understanding of what Jesus was talking about here.

What comes next in this passage is the most well known verse in all of the Scriptures, John 3:16.  Religious people love to quote this verse from the KJV.  It makes them feel good.  It makes them think they're secure.  If the King James boys had translated it properly (instead of poetically), it would probably have been a little more obscure.  I'll quote it here with verses 17, 18 and 19.

Let's make just a few comments here.  First, Jesus was not simply the "only begotten" Son of God, He was the "uniquely born" Son of God.  The only man born of a virgin, having the Holy Spirit as His father, born without Adam's sin, no sin nature, no resulting condemnation and spiritual death, the only One ever qualified to go to the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind.

Second, let's reaffirm the real meaning of "believe".  Again, this is pistueo, the verb form of the noun pistis, which is translated "faith".  Both "faith" and "believe" mean the same thing, "to learn by experience to trust completely".  It implies submission and obedience to God and an understanding of His will and purpose, which is to deliver us by changing us into the image of Christ.  Both of these words are in direct conflict with religion.  In religion, man is in charge, telling God what to do, how to do it and when to do it.  It's false and demonic.  Religion seeks to reverse the natural order of the universe and put God in submission to man to do his bidding.  It's ludicrous!  "Faith" and "believe" are words that are used in the Scriptures to illustrate a real relationship with God that is based on experiences with Him and has as its necessary foundation the realization that man must be in submission to God.

I'll say this as often as the opportunity arises, these two words do not imply mental assent or agreement.  Believing in Christ is not simply agreeing that He exists.  And supporting an institution is not evidence of your faith.  Going to church every Sunday, giving them your money, following their rituals and traditions and agreeing with their doctrinal statement is not faith.  Participating in church activities that make you feel good or that arouse your emotions or leading a "ministry" in the church that puts you in the spotlight isn't faith.  If you're not personally experiencing God in ways you can identify and if you're not being changed into the image of Christ by your submission and obedience to Him as you go through these experiences, then you are not "believing" in Him and you have no real "faith" from a scriptural context.  And if you don't think about anything else you read in this paper, I hope you'll at least think long and hard on this.

The third thing I wanted to point out in this passage is found in verse 18.  And the reason is that it confirms something I talked about earlier on page 13 when I said "So, it is safe for us to conclude that at some point in God's plan of grace our faith is required."  I went on to explain that everyone who has ever been born on the earth has experienced the first three points, God gave them life, condemned them at birth and Christ paid the penalty for the sins of everyone who would believe.  But in order to continue through points 4, 5, 6, and 7, we have to access God's grace by our faith.

This is what Jesus confirms in verse 18 when He says those who haven't believed are already condemned.  Like everyone else, they were condemned at birth.  And like everyone else, if they want to escape this condemnation, they have to begin to submit themselves to God, determine to be obedient to Him and begin to experience Him in real, definable ways.  In other words, they have to "believe" in Him.

So, let me break this down for you. When you look at the complete passage in John 3, Jesus connects these three concepts, the spiritual birth, "believing" on the Son of God in the fullest sense of the word, and eternal life.  And that's why I wanted to show it to you.  In case you've forgotten by now, Point 6 in God's plan of grace is that He gives us eternal life.  And here Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus that being born from above is a spiritual transformation that involves learning by experience to trust in Him in a personal relationship (believing), and that results in eternal life.  John 3 is nothing more than a longer version of John 17:1-3 and I John 5:11-13 already mentioned.

There is another passage found in Titus 3:3-7 that connects the ideas of a new birth and the ministry of the Holy Spirit with eternal life (something that I'll talk about in much more detail in the next paper in this series, "Grace, Faith and the Ministry of the Holy Spirit").  But for now let me just quote this one passage for you.

In this passage Paul explains to Titus that eternal life is the result of a spiritual renewal that has a cleansing affect on the soul and is accomplished through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  The word translated "regeneration" in verse 5 is palligenesia and is used to illustrate the idea of recovery, restoration or regeneration (re-creation).  Here it is used to convey the idea of re-creating a soul in the image of Christ.

As you read through the New Testament, you will find many different words and combinations of words and ideas that all represent pretty much the same thing.  Born again, born from above, born of the Spirit, renewing of the Holy Spirit, regeneration, and more, all of which are references to the process of deliverance or salvation.  These terms are synonymous with terms found in other passages that describe the same thing – deliverance.  Read Romans 8:29 (conformed), 12:2 (transformed), II Corinthians 3:18 (changed), and Ephesians 4:24 (renewed), and see what I mean.

At the beginning of our discussion of eternal life I mentioned the two perspectives found in scripture, that is, eternal life seen as a reality now for all who are really trusting in Christ, and eternal life granted in the future to those who have been faithful in their walk with Him.  Most of what I've shown you so far assumes eternal life in time, so for balance, let's look at a couple of references that indicate that it's something granted in the future.  This is Romans 2:4-8.

These verses are fairly clear and easy to understand.  Paul is succinct.  Do your own thing and you're headed straight for God's anger and judgment.  Submit to Him and be faithful and the time will come when He'll give you eternal life.  Here's another verse that presents eternal life as something yet future.  This is Jude 20, 21.

I should also mention one last passage found in John 5:19-29.  Again, I won't quote the whole passage, but in verse 21 Jesus tells us that the Father can "raise the dead and cause them to live on."  Jesus then explains that He can do the same to whomever He chooses.  But verse 24 is the definitive verse.  This is what it says.

If you search the Scriptures, you'll find a consistent pattern of eternal or everlasting life being tied to the concept of having a consistent, personal relationship with God over time that is defined by real experiences with Him and real changes in you, changes that transform you from who you are into Who He is.  Your relationship with God is nothing less than your experiences with Him, designed by Him to accomplish His purpose in you.  This is your deliverance, your salvation.  And the promised result of your salvation is eternal life.

And I have to say at this juncture, for the life of me I can't understand how so-called Evangelical Christians, if they had any more than just a casual understanding of Scripture, would ever think that salvation could be accomplished in a moment of time by reciting a simple prayer.  Even more difficult to understand are all the denominational types who assume that salvation is based on religious ritual, tradition or some ambiguous moral standard.

It seems almost impossible when I think about this, but one day, time, as we know it and as we understand it will be over.  The Scriptures have several references to this in both the Old and the New Testaments and to the changes that will take place.  New Heavens, a new earth, no more sea, the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, streets of gold, foundations of precious stone, no sun or moon because the glory of God will be our source of light and heat, a new song, new names, all things made new, and more that I haven't mentioned.

Jesus Himself gives us a glimpse into eternity following His resurrection when He appeared on the earth in His new body.  The Gospel accounts intrigue us as Jesus demonstrates a physical body that seems to defy physical laws.  He appears to the disciples inside a house apparently able to pass through solid walls, yet they touch and handle His body.  He seems to have the ability to travel long distances in no time and with no effort.  There's no evidence that He gets tired, needs sleep or gets hungry, but He does enjoy a fresh fish broiled on an open fire.

Paul tells us in I Corinthians 2:9 that "eye hasn't seen, nor ear heard, neither has man in his wildest imagination ever dreamed of all that God has prepared for those who reverence Him and are quick to obey Him."  And, in defense of his apostleship in II Corinthians 12:1-4, he talks about being taken up into heaven and given visions and revelations about God that he was not allowed to speak.

What I'm trying to show you here is that as much as we do know about eternity, there's much that we don't know.  In my experience, God is more eager to reveal Himself to us than He is to reveal what He intends to give us.  His promise has always been "if you seek Me, you'll find Me." (Jeremiah 29:12,13)  Jesus said, "The one who keeps My commandments is the one who loves Me, and whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father.  And I will love him too and will reveal Myself to him." (John 14:21)

It's clear that God loves us and that He wants us to love Him.  When you go all the way back to Genesis 3, you see God seeking out Adam and Eve looking for fellowship.  He wanted to have relationship with them.  And in the thousands of years that have passed since that day, nothing has changed.  As I've already mentioned earlier in this paper, God's plan of grace is nothing less than the manifestation of His determination and purpose to bring mankind back to the place of unbroken, unhindered relationship they had before sin entered the world.

Then there's a second issue that I believe is essential to our understanding of Who God is and what He wants.  One of the most distorted and deceptive tenets of religion is the way it tends to appeal to the lust of the flesh in the areas of prosperity and materialism.  In spite of God's warnings and instruction, people are urged to come to God almost solely for the material benefit (again, salvation is not an issue, it's assumed).  I'm not going to go on about this greedy manipulation, I've said enough about it in other places.

But this is a good place to explain to you why it's so false.  There are those who love to make wild statements about God and His ability to do whatever He wants to do.  But that's a religious half-truth.  The whole truth is that God is restricted from certain things by the fact that He will not violate His Own integrity.  We've talked a little bit about this in the past.  His integrity is made up of His character and nature.  Both are static and unchanging.  Who He is and what He does is Who He has always been and what He has always done.

That's not a bunch of double talk.  I'm not trying to confuse anyone.  I'm trying to explain to you that the integrity of God makes it impossible for Him to tempt, bribe or manipulate us in any way (James 1:13,14).  And why am I talking about this now, when I'm supposed to be talking about God's blessings in eternity?  Because God has never wanted people to come to Him because of what He could give them, either in time or in eternity.  He wants us to come to Him because we love Him.

His promises are real.  I'm sure that as little as God has chosen to reveal to us, eternity will be extraordinary by any standard.  And I have little or no concept of what it will be like.  But God has purposed that our walk with Him, our submission to Him, our determination to follow Him and our desire to spend eternity with Him cannot be motivated by our flesh.  Therefore He will not appeal to our flesh.

As always, this is a heart issue.  And that's where God's appeal to us lies.  His plan of grace reveals His heart to us, and pulls us towards Him.  It shows us the incredible love He has for us, and beckons us on.  It proves His determination to overcome every obstacle to restore us back to the place that we can come into His presence free of any self-doubt, having no fear, with the weight of guilt gone, able to look on His glory and majesty, and enjoy Him forever!

Copyright 2001 © Community Fellowship The reproduction and non-commercial use of this material is permitted...

Grace, Faith and the Invisible God

by Ken Brown

In my last paper (Grace, Faith and Salvation) I said that faith describes our relationship with an invisible God.  Just to put things into context before we start our discussion of the invisible God, let's define grace and faith again.  I want to know that you haven't forgotten what they mean, because, if you have, it will distort some of what I'm getting ready to say.

Grace is the favor of God.  We don't deserve it and there's nothing we could ever do to earn it.  It's simply the product of God's mercy and lovingkindness.  There's no way we could ever save ourselves, so God came up with a plan.  He not only had to have a plan; He had to carry out that plan (we'll discuss this later in Grace, Faith and the Plan of God).  But Scripture does not teach us that we're saved by God's grace (remember, "it is by free grace that you are saved through your faith" in Ephesians 2:8).  Instead, it is His grace that gives us the opportunity to be saved.  We access or appropriate His grace through our faith.

And faith doesn't represent basic facts that we agree with.  It's not what we supposedly believe.  And it's not a set of doctrinal teachings.  You don't learn faith by going to class.  It requires revelation, understanding and obedience.  The concept of faith in Scripture is undeniably tied to the ability to hear God's still, small voice and the desire to recognize what He's doing in the circumstances and situations of your everyday life.  Then you have to cooperate with what God is doing in your life through your obedience.  Faith is recognizing God's will and direction.  And, it demands submission and obedience to that will and direction.  Faith literally describes or defines your experiences with God.  It's faith that makes the invisible God a reality.  You know that He's real because of what He's doing in your life to accomplish His purpose – to change you.

An understanding of the invisible is essential to a walk of faith.  We must get to the place where God is just as real to us as anything we've ever seen with our eyes or recognized through any of our other physical senses.  Our spiritual perception must be as strong as our natural, physical senses.  And that's difficult at best.

In Genesis 22:1-14 we see the account of Abraham demonstrating his faith.  He hears God (not an audible voice, but God's still, small voice), submits to Him and sets out to obey His command.  And just when he's ready to offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice, the Lord stops him and provides a ram instead.  Verse 14 is the part that's pertinent to this discussion.

"Then Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh.  And even to this day it is said that on the mount of the Lord it will be seen."

Now I know that most translations take a religious viewpoint and translate Jehovah-jireh "The Lord Will Provide".  Of course they do.  Remember what I said before.  Religion has to have a hook, something to grab you, something that appeals to your flesh.  This is just another hook.  The message is, "Come to God.  One of His names is The Lord Will Provide.  All He wants to do is bless you.  All you have to do is let Him."  Baloney!  Any reputable Hebrew Dictionary will tell you that Jehovah-jireh means, "The Lord will see".  Even the KJV almost got it right!

In fact, when you look at the symbolism in Genesis 22 and consider the context, there's a great message here.  Abraham has just experienced a fantastic exchange with God.  He obeyed God in something that most of us would flat out refute and blame on the devil.  (Surely God wouldn't ask me to sacrifice my own son.  This can't be God.)  But Abraham knew God.  He knew the voice of God.  And He obeyed.  The significance of the "mount of God" is simply this – it is the presence of God.  And in the presence of God Abraham's obedience was seen and God responded to it by providing.  Here, Abraham is literally describing "the unseen God Who sees".

In Matthew 6:6 Jesus tells us to pray to that same unseen God (the word translated "secret" in this verse is kruptos, meaning hidden or unseen).  Jesus is talking about the same invisible God that Abraham knew and obeyed.  And Jesus is telling us that this invisible God sees and responds to those who do things His way (see Matthew 6: 3,4 and 17,18 as well).

The obvious verse that connects faith and the invisible God is Hebrews 11:6.

What's Paul saying here?  He's simply saying that it's impossible to please God unless we're submitted to Him.  It's impossible to please God unless we're seeking His will and purpose (and, as always, this will and purpose is to conform us to the image of His Son, Jesus).  It's impossible to please God unless we're determined to be obedient to Him as His will and purpose unfolds in our life.  And all of those things are impossible unless we're convinced that this God Who we've never seen really exists!

Now, this verse is a great example of a pervasive principle that is the very foundation of anyone's relationship with God.  This principle is found over and over again in both the Old and New Testaments and literally defines the process of coming to know God in an experiential reality as opposed to the false, deceitful, supposed relationship based on head knowledge that is presented by the world's religious systems.  I've mentioned this principle before and will most certainly mention it again, since it has many obvious applications in our understanding of the ways and purposes of God.

Basically, the principle is this: God's promises are real and valid, but are always conditional.  Therefore, God will not fulfill His promises until His conditions are met.  The principle is expressed simply in this phrase, God says, "if you will, then I will".  In other words, He makes the promise, sets the conditions, waits for us to meet the conditions and only then will He fulfill the promise.  Actually, Hebrews 11:6 illustrates this principle twice.  Go back and read the verse and see if you can find them.

Now might be a good time for a short refresher course to help us all get our heads on straight.  God is Sovereign.  God is Holy and Righteous.  He is the Creator.  We are His creation.  He decides what's right and what's wrong, not us.  He tells us what to do.  We don't tell Him what to do.  He has a will and purpose for our lives.  We don't determine a will or purpose for ourselves, or for Him.  Everything in existence, get ready for this, including man is under His authority!  Read the following passages to reinforce this perspective: Isaiah 55:6-9, 40:12-28; Acts 17:16-31; Romans 1:17-22.

God requires that our relationship with Him should be built on the element of trust.  He tells us what to do and what He'll do when we're obedient.  Then He waits to see if we'll trust Him.  The above verse in Hebrews 11:6 tells us that He is ready to respond when we're diligent in seeking Him.  The ball is in our court, so to speak.  We have to initiate the action.  When we seek, He responds.  It doesn't say He'll respond whether we seek Him or not.  We have to make the first move.  God is still saying, "If you will, then I will."  He didn't give Abraham the ram before he even left home, or even somewhere along the way.  He waited until Abraham had been obedient.

Let's get back to the discussion at hand.  We're talking about the invisible God and the fact that an understanding of the invisible is essential in our walk of faith.  This is exactly what Paul is talking about in Hebrews 11:6.  "For anyone who wants to come near to God must, as a necessity, know that He exists".  Anyone who wants to know God must accept the reality of something he's never seen.  And he must be diligent to seek after something he never will see in this life.  He must be determined to understand and follow a God who does not manifest Himself in obvious ways to our natural senses.  When you read a little further in Hebrews 11 you'll find Moses is used as an example of one who was willing to forsake the things of the world that he could see to pursue the invisible God that he couldn't see (Hebrews 11:24-27).

This is what Paul had to say about understanding things that can't be known through the natural, physical senses.  It's found in I Corinthians 2:9-16.

"But just as Isaiah has said, the eye hasn't seen, nor the ear heard, neither has man in his wildest imagination ever dreamed of all that God has prepared for those who reverence Him and are quick to obey Him (see John 14:21).  But God reveals them to us through His Holy Spirit.  For it is only the Spirit Who understands the things that lie hidden well beyond the perceptive abilities of our natural senses.  Men tend to understand only what they've reasoned out of their own minds.  But the Holy Spirit understands only the things of God (He's not burdened down with a rational mind controlled by physical senses and appetites). Now, we don't follow the natural senses that reveal only the things of the world.  Instead, we follow the Spirit of God, Who has been given to us so we can comprehend the things that God has given to us out of His grace.  So that the things we've been telling you about have not come out of our own understanding (they didn't originate in our own thoughts, and we didn't learn them from other men).  But it is the Holy Spirit Who has taught us these things by adding one spiritual concept upon another.  Therefore, those who insist on relying on their own natural senses will never understand what the Spirit teaches.  They will think these things are absurd and will never understand what comes only through the Spirit.  The man who follows the Spirit will understand spiritual things.  Yet, those who follow only after their natural senses will never understand Him.  And who has ever understood all that is in the mind of the Lord that he could ever tell Him anything?  Yet we have the mind of Christ available to us (revealing the thoughts and purposes of His heart to those who are submitted to Him)."

God has chosen to reveal Himself and His purpose to us through His Holy Spirit.  But the Holy Spirit doesn't knock on the door, come into the kitchen and sit down to have a cup of coffee with us while He explains to us what we need to know.  We can't see Him with our eyes.  We can't hear Him with our ears.  We can't smell Him, taste Him or touch Him.  The Holy Spirit cannot be detected through our natural senses.  Neither can the Father.  For that matter, neither can the Son.  For even though He has taken on the form of a man (Philippians 2:7,8) and continues to exist as the visible representation of the invisible God (Colossians 2:15), He currently resides at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:32-34), a place slightly beyond the capacity of our natural sight.

Now, earlier I said that God does not reveal Himself to us in ways that are obvious to our natural senses.  So how does He reveal Himself to us?  Paul says in the passage above that the Holy Spirit teaches us.  Jesus says the same thing in John 14:26.  By the way, Jesus also confirms what Paul says about not being able to understand the things of the Spirit through the natural senses.  In <B>John 14:17 Jesus says that the unbelievers of this age will not understand the things taught by the Spirit because they cannot see Him.  Check it out for yourself.  In fact, Jude says the same thing about those who crept into the early fellowships in an attempt to corrupt them from the truth. He says of them, "But these men scoff at whatever they don't understand, and what they do understand comes to them only through their natural, physical senses.  Like animals with no spiritual perception, they corrupt themselves and others with these things." (Jude 10)

There are several ways that the Holy Spirit reveals God's will, purpose and direction to us.  The first is His still, small voice.  Of course, this is a reference to Elijah's experience in I Kings 19:12.  The words "still" (the Hebrew demamah) and "small" (daq) literally means silent and indistinguishable.  How can a voice be silent?  What does indistinguishable mean?  The voice of the Holy Spirit cannot be heard with your ears and you cannot recognize His voice by tone, accent, vocabulary or any other characteristic you might use to recognize a person's voice.  The Holy Spirit's voice has no distinguishable characteristics.

Let me use a most unlikely source to illustrate what I mean – Hollywood.  In the movie "The Ten Commandments", Charlton Heston (Moses) didn't understand why the bush on the side of the mountain could burn for so long and not be consumed.  So he decided to go check it out.  We all know the story.  When he came back to tell his wife what had happened, he gave a great description of God's still, small voice.  He explained to her that God had spoken to him.  But it wasn't with a voice he could hear.  He pointed to his head and said that the words were just there.  That's how God's silent, indistinguishable voice comes to us.  We can't hear it.  We don't recognize it because it sounds like God (it doesn't come to us in King James English).  It's just there all of a sudden and we know this is God speaking to us because it has some affinity with what we know is His will and purpose for our lives.  In this particular instance, this was certainly not the first time Moses had recognized the voice of God.  He had just spent the better part of 40 years in the desert learning how and God was preparing to send him back to Egypt to do what He wanted Moses to do.

Now, before I talk about the other way that God reveals His will, purpose and direction to us, allow me to chase a rabbit or two.  When I was in the traditional church someone was always saying "God told me…" or "God said…" and then would come out with some of the most ridiculous things imaginable.  In the Scriptures you can find the phrase "and the word of the Lord came to him, and He said".  This was not an audible voice that they could hear with their ears.  This was the silent, indistinguishable voice of God's Spirit coming to the prophet or some other mature believer who had developed the ability to recognize it.

This ability is not gained quickly or easily.  Neither is it acquired apart from a general understanding of God's purpose.  Here we go again.  God's purpose is not to make you wealthy.  It's not to keep you healthy.  It's not to help you accomplish all the goals you've set for yourself so you can be a success.  God's purpose is not to make Himself available to respond to your every whim or desire.  He wants you to submit your life to Him so He can transform you into the image of Christ.  He wants to deliver you from the bondage of what you are by changing you into who He is.  That is your salvation.  God's voice comes to those who are submitted to Him so they can know more about His purpose or so they can help someone else understand more about His purpose.

And you will never learn to recognize His voice until you understand, at least in general terms, what He wants to talk to you about.  Everyone hears voices inside their head.  But since most people don't have a clue what God wants to say to them, the voices they hear are either their own or the voices of the enemies of God.  People tend to hear what they want to hear.  The problem is that they don't recognize the fact that these voices represent a very real spiritual battle that rages around every one of us.

The second way the Holy Spirit reveals God's purpose is through the circumstances and situations we face in our everyday lives.  And just like His voice, our ability to recognize what He's doing is directly related to our understanding of just what His purpose is and what He wants to do.  When we know that He wants to change us, we're more apt to recognize the opportunities He's giving us to change.  If you submit yourself to God and to His purpose, He will confront you with your faults and give you the opportunities you need to correct them.

If you have a problem with anger, He'll send people into your life that will frustrate and anger you.  Now you have a chance to prove to yourself and to God that you want to change.  Now you have a decision to make.  Will you respond to this situation like you always have in the past?  Or will you respond in the way that God wants you to?  If you respond correctly, you have just cooperated with the purpose of God and you and He together have just affected a change in you.  You have just experienced God in a positive way and your obedience has made you a partaker of His nature.

And by the way, I can't resist pointing out the fact that the word translated "salvation" in the New Testament means "deliverance".  And we could all understand God's purpose a little more clearly if we used the word deliverance instead of salvation.  God wants to deliver us and I have just explained to you the only way He does it.  God will not magically transform us in the absence of our willing participation in the process.  Neither will He accept our attempts to reform ourselves in the absence of His active participation (this is religious morality, the self-righteousness that He hates).

And while we're talking about how God reveals Himself, I have to mention the Scriptures.  Most people believe that God only reveals Himself to us through His written word and that it is the written word that gives us the blueprint for His will and purpose.  Allow me to give you this truth.  If you understand it, then good for you!  If you don't, well then I'm sorry for you. The Scriptures reveal the general, over-all will and purpose of God for mankind, which is that He wants to deliver us by changing us from who we are to who He is.  But the Scriptures do not reveal God's specific will and purpose for each one of us individually, because that is different for each one of us and can only be known through our real, personal relationship with Him.  It is only through our personal experiences with Him that God is able to reveal His specific will and purpose for us.  And it is only through our willingness to seek Him, submit to Him and be obedient to Him that He is able to accomplish that will and purpose.

Those who believe that He only reveals Himself to us through the written word will never understand deliverance and therefore will never experience it.  They're dead in the water.  It's impossible for them to have a relationship with God that's real and that will allow Him to reveal Himself to them.  And why is that pertinent to our subject of the invisible God?  Because those who believe only in the written word are like the Pharisees Jesus was talking to in John 5:39.  They thought salvation could be found in what was written.  They were trusting only in what their eyes could see!

The Scriptures contain accounts of men and women who had a real relationship with an invisible God.  Men and women, who understood His purpose, submitted to it and saw it accomplished.  Listen to me!  Please understand this!  God never intended for us to use the Scriptures as a blueprint to follow.  His intent was that we would use the Scriptures as a confirmation of our real experiences with Him.

God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.  He doesn't change and the way in which he relates to mankind doesn't change either.  And when I submit to the invisible God and He does something in my life that I know is related to His will and purpose, it's not weird or strange to me (though it probably is to those who don't understand Him).  And I can go to the Scriptures and see that He did the same things with Paul or Moses or David.  The Scriptures confirm the reality of my experiences with God and give me the confidence and determination to go on with Him!

Now, I think we can just about wrap this up with a discussion of Hebrews 11:1-3.  This passage tells us pretty much all we need to know about the connection between faith and the invisible God.  And in case you've forgotten, that is our subject.  If you remember at the beginning of this paper I said faith is what defines our relationship with God, that faith actually describes our experiences with God and that when you look at faith in this way, faith is what makes the invisible God a reality to us.  So, here's the passage.

When you look at Hebrews 11 (the whole chapter), it is nothing more than a condensed record of Old Testament believer's experiences with an invisible God and their convictions of His reality based on those experiences.  It is literally a testament of their ability to recognize the will and purpose of an invisible God through the things that He spoke and the situations and circumstances of their lives that He arranged and their willingness to submit to and obey those things.  And if we ever arrive at those same convictions, it will be through the same process.  As I've said before, neither the Scriptures nor my own personal experience with God indicate that He has changed how he relates to man in any way.

He's still the same and my experiences and the Scriptures agree on that.  A few paragraphs back I said we were just about finished, which means, if you know me, we're not finished at all.  I have to take a couple of pokes at all the religious folks out there who insist on going through the motions of having a relationship with a god of their own making.  You see, I've just given you as clear an explanation as you're likely to ever run across of Who God is, what He does and how He does it.  And if you disagree with that it's because you've been convinced by religion that God has changed, and that He doesn't do now what He did in the past.

So, let's look at what men have said in the Scriptures.  And at the outset let me remind you that these men were mature believers who understood the reality of an invisible God because of their experiences with Him.  They were men that said what they said because they were constrained to do so by God Himself and by His Holy Spirit (II Timothy 3:16, II Peter 1:20,21).  And they were men who had not allowed themselves to be corrupted by human philosophy, vain deceit and the traditions of men (Colossians 2:8), the very things that have separated traditional, institutional religion and the Truth of God throughout the history of mankind.

"Jesus Christ is always the same, yesterday, today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)

There are many references in both the Old and New Testaments that speak of the fact that God is not like a man who can lie or make a mistake.  All of the things that make up His nature and character are absolutes.  He always tells the truth.  He always makes the right decision.  Therefore there can never be an instance when He has to change what He says or what He decides.  The conclusion of this is inescapable: since God cannot change, His ways will not change.  Read the following to see what I mean, Numbers 23:19, I Samuel 15:29, Ezekiel 24:14, Romans 11:29 and Titus 1:2.

Then, finally, let me quote you a couple of my favorite verses that illustrate the unchangeableness of God.  The first is II Timothy 2:13.

Now I know that you're going to struggle a bit with this if you're comparing it to your KJV or even your NIV.  But bear with me on this.  The word translated "faithful" in the KJV is pistos and means "reliable" in this context.  And if you know anything about the meaning of words, then you know that when someone is reliable, they can be trusted not to change.  And in the next phrase, the word translated "deny" is arneomai, which comes from a root word that means, "to contradict".  Here it is used in a negative sense to illustrate the fact that God cannot do anything that would contradict His unchanging nature or character.  To apply this to our discussion, God will always do what He has always done, because it was always the right thing to do, and there will never be any reason for it to change, or will there ever be anything that could cause it to change.

One more verse and we'll be finished.  I promise.  This is James 1:17.

This is such a great verse!  In the KJV you find the phrase "Father of lights".  The word translated "lights" is phos, a reference to the lights in the heavens, the sun, moon and stars.  It's a metaphor used to illustrate the fact that God is just as constant as the sun.  It rises every morning and sets every evening.  His character and nature is as constant and predictable as the moon and stars.  The moon is always visible and the stars are always shining.  They never change their orbits or their relative positions in the heavens.  They're always the same, and so is God!

Then the words "no variableness" comes from parallage, a word used to illustrate a change from one condition to another.  Here, it's used with a negative prefix to indicate that God cannot change.  Then we see the phrase "neither shadow of turning".  This is aposkiasma used with trope and is another word picture used to illustrate the fact that God will never cast a shadow of doubt on our understanding of Who He is or what He does by changing them.  Understanding an invisible God is difficult at best.  Understanding an invisible God who is apt to change is unthinkable!

Did you ever know someone who was moody or temperamental?  One time you see them and they're friendly and congenial, then the next time you see them they're hateful, maybe even combative.  Then when you see them again, you're wondering, which one is going to show up, the friendly one or the hateful one?  It's confusing and uncomfortable.  You find yourself trying to avoid them.  By now you have to know what I'm getting at.  God isn't like that.  He's not going to confuse us by changing from one day to the next.  Nor is He going to do anything that would make us want to avoid Him (and if you do find yourself wanting to avoid Him, just understand that it's not because of anything He's done, it's because of your own flesh).  The God, Who shows up, if it's really Him, is always going to be the same invisible God with the same will and purpose that He carries out in the same way.  He won't change because He can't change.  He won't change because there's no reason why He should change.  He won't change because there's nothing in existence that can make Him change.

And so it is our task to know and understand and submit to this unchanging, invisible God.  It's not an option.  It's not something that we can avoid.  In the end, He will determine our fate.  Like it or not, that's the way it's always been, that's the way it is and that's the way it will always be.

Copyright 2001 © Community Fellowship The reproduction and non-commercial use of this material is permitted..

Grace, Faith and Salvation

by Ken Brown

There's a cute little saying related to grace, faith and salvation that's been circulating through religious circles for years, and it goes something like this: "God did everything, we do nothing; God gets all the credit, we get all the blessings."  I know the saying well.  I used to teach it.  Of course the message of this little ditty is that salvation requires nothing on our part, God has already done everything necessary.  The view in more conservative, Jesus-centered groups is that Jesus did it all on the cross.  Now all we have to do is believe it, accept it, sit back and enjoy it.  There's only one small problem with this – it's not exactly true.

The concepts of grace, faith and salvation have always been distorted in the institutional church.  As I've said before, the goal of any institution is to perpetuate itself.  That's why it's called an institution.  The so-called church is no different.  To get people involved in religion, you have to make that religion palatable.  It has to be enticing and enjoyable.  Salvation has to be quick and easy.  It has to involve positive thinking, but it also has to have rules.  And it has to have a hook, something to offer.  "Come to God and let Him give you everything you ever wanted.  All He wants to do is bless you, all you have to do is let Him."  Religion wants us to think we can enjoy all that the world has to offer, have a relationship with God and eternal life, and we can get it all wrapped up in the same, neat little package.

Anyone who ever took the time to read the red letters in the Gospels should know that Jesus never encouraged or misled anyone by telling them salvation was quick or easy.  And He never promised them worldly blessings.  In fact, He told them they had to choose between God and worldly things, because the two don't mix!  He never told anyone that following God was fun; He said it required suffering and self-sacrifice.  You cannot find anything in what Jesus said that would lead you to believe that salvation was based entirely on something that God would do, and that you would never be required to do anything.  And Jesus never held salvation out like a carrot, appealing to our flesh, saying, "follow Me and I'll give you anything you want."  He said we would have to be willing to forsake everything and everyone in order to be His disciple.  God insists that we have no idols.  He's very clear on that point.

The sacred mantra of institutional Christianity is "For by grace are ye saved; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."  And if you can read that and not see that there's something wrong with it, then you've been lulled to sleep with the rest of them.  Salvation is God's free gift, they say.  Works of any kind are not acceptable, they say.  The preacher trying his best to manipulate and tempt people to respond to his invitation tells his potential converts to simply stretch out their hands and receive what God has to offer.  Implying, of course, that nothing is required of them.  Just believe.  Just receive.  It's so simple, so easy.

Did you see anything wrong with the quote of Ephesians 2:8,9 above.  I quoted it like most evangelicals and fundamentalists quote it to me.  Which means I left part of it out.  And, it is my contention that they leave out the part they don't want to deal with or don't understand.  What part is that, you ask?  It's the part that mentions faith.  The first phrase of verse 8 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith".  Now, if I understand anything at all, it seems to me that Paul is expressing something here that connects the concepts of grace, faith and salvation.  Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think this verse says that it's grace alone that saves us.

There are two prepositions here.  And they're used to illustrate the relation of grace and faith to salvation.  Salvation comes by (means of) grace, through (the way of) faith.  In other words, grace doesn't save us.  It makes salvation possible.  And faith can't be ignored.  It's the essential activity that makes salvation a reality!

This makes even more sense when you look at the meanings of grace and faith.  Both of these terms are seriously distorted by institutional religion.  The word "grace" is translated from the Greek charis, and describes the result of God's loving-kindness towards men, the result of which is His unearned and undeserved favor.  It is God's grace that puts man in a position to experience salvation – a position we could never earn or deserve.  There is nothing that we could ever do that would make God indebted to us, nor is there anything we could ever do that would make us equal to His righteous perfection.  Without His grace, we're dead in the water, no hope, zip!  But God's grace doesn't save us.  It gives us the opportunity to be saved!

Then, there's the issue of faith.  What a can of worms this is!  In the traditional church today, faith can mean almost anything you want it to mean.  But, in the word of God, faith describes man's relationship with an invisible God and the meaning is specific and unchanging.  The Greek word translated "faith" is pistis.  It comes from the word peitho, to persuade.  The noun "faith" and the corresponding verb pisteuo, translated "believe", both have the same basic elements in their definition.

First and most importantly, they require revelation from God.  You cannot exercise faith or truly believe anything from a Biblical perspective unless you receive revelation from God.  You have to learn to recognize His still, small voice.  That's a real problem for all those religious types who don't think that God is able to communicate with men today, or that He chooses not to.  The second thing involved in the meaning of faith and believe involves surrender.  We have to submit to what He says.  It's proof that we agree with Him.  And the third aspect of these two words is obedience.  We have to do what He says.  So, faith includes all of these.  We have to hear God, submit or agree with Him, and then we have to be obedient and do what He says.

And just in case you don't want to accept the fact that "faith" and "believe" mean the same thing, argue with Paul.  In Romans 4:22 he says that Abraham had right standing with God because of his faith (pistis).  Then in Galatians 3:6, he says the reason Abraham had right standing with God was because he believed (pisteuo).  The fact is Abraham learned how to recognize the voice of God.  When he realized that God was speaking to him, he submitted.  And then he obeyed.  Read Genesis 22:1-14 and you'll see what I mean.  If that's not enough to convince you, read chapters 12 through 22 of Genesis and see time after time where Abraham heard God, submitted to Him and obeyed Him.

I love what Paul says in Philippians 3:7-9.  This puts grace and faith in perspective for me as well as any Scripture I know.

Now, when you read this don't even think about changing the definition of faith, because if you do, this verse won't make sense.  Paul knew that real righteousness came from hearing God, submitting to Him and obeying Him, not from keeping the rules.  And you may be wondering where grace is in this passage, since the word is nowhere to be found.  I'll tell you where it is.  To Paul, grace is found in the "possession of the priceless privilege of knowing Jesus".  He couldn't earn it and nothing that he was before in the religious world made him deserve it.  To Paul (and to us) grace was the source of his privilege or opportunity to know God, but faith was the operative means needed to accomplish it.

And don't give me any of that irresponsible, religious baloney about how God doesn't speak to men today like He did in Biblical times.  Or how it was different for them.  People want to assume that God did something different with Abraham or Moses or David.  That He spoke to them in an unmistakable, booming voice out of clouds or burning bushes or the wind.  But God doesn't change and the way in which He relates to men doesn't change either (Malachi 3:6,7).  The truth is these men learned how to hear God's voice and followed Him.  And the accounts of their lives and their experiences with God are recorded for us as an example to follow.  Religion teaches us to follow man, and man's reasoning.  That reasoning tries to convince us that God changed.  He didn't.  He won't.  He can't.

Today "faith" stands for what you supposedly "believe".  In religion your faith is based on a combination of doctrinal positions, traditional rituals and rules of acceptable behavior.  And "believe" means what you agree with intellectually.  But Abraham was not declared righteous by God because he agreed with a particular doctrinal position or because he followed the rules.  He was declared righteous because he heard God, submitted to Him and obeyed Him.  It had nothing to do with man or man's religion.

God never intended for us to be dependent on men, books, traditions or rituals.  He wants (He requires) that we be dependent on Him and Him alone.  He never intended for us to have a relationship with a book, nor will He excuse us for making that choice.  The Scriptures have only one purpose; to point us to a real, living God Who wants to have a personal, intimate relationship with us.  Go back up and read Philippians 3:7-9 again, that's what Paul is talking about.  But religion wants us to have a relationship with a book and miss out on the real thing.  The Pharisees were guilty of this and Jesus was careful to point it out to them (John 5:39,40).  Supposed conservative Christians who claim to "believe the Bible, nothing more, nothing less" will never know or experience God.  They can only know about Him and experience their own emotions.  Neither of those will get you to heaven.

If you ever get to the point where you understand the definitions of grace and faith and aren't confused when you see them in the Scriptures, then you should be able to read Romans 3, 4 and 5 and actually understand what Paul is talking about.  And I'm not being sarcastic here (believe it or not).  I'm saying this because I still have to think about it myself.  My 35 years in religion still messes me up from time to time.

But while we're here, let me give you one more passage that points out the true relationship between grace and faith.  Again, this is Paul in Romans 5:1,2.

I can't resist pointing out a couple of things here.  First, our right standing or approval with God comes only by faith, and remember, faith has only one definition so don't try to make it mean something else.  The second is, and Paul is perfectly clear on this point, we access God's grace only through faith (and it still means the same thing).  Grace is real.  It's out there waiting.  But grace alone will never save you.  You have to access grace by faith.  You have to access the opportunity to know God by listening to Him, submitting to Him and doing what He says.  And then finally, Paul mentions tribulations and suffering.  This is not strictly on the subject of grace and faith, but I like to point it out whenever I get the chance so I can show you that suffering and self-sacrifice is part of the deal.

The bottom line here is that we cannot accept the religious view that you can somehow have a relationship with God by reading a book (the Bible).  At some point you must accept the fact that all the men you are reading about in that book had a relationship with God that was based on hearing, submitting and obeying Him and had nothing whatsoever to do with anything they had to read.  Abraham didn't have an extensive library filled with Christian "how to" books and seven or eight different translations of the Bible.  He wasn't a "King James only" kind of guy.

And the argument that says we have to be careful about hearing God is ludicrous.  Of course there are all those nut cases out there that claim to hear God and get involved in all sorts of strange and dangerous perversions.  They all claim to have the truth.  I've heard the warnings hundreds of times.  "Be careful about this business of hearing God, you'll open yourself up to all kinds of evil influences."  Or, how about this one, it's pretty common.  "How can you know it's really God?"

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it until the Lord takes me home, "man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (I Samuel 16:7)  If people would really read the book they place so much confidence in, then they would realize that it points us to an invisible but real, living God Who wants to have a personal and intimate relationship with us.  And He knows when we really want to know Him, because He knows what's in our heart.  He knows the difference between man seeking Him and man trying to come up with new ways to manipulate and control other men.  He knows when we're sincere in our desire for Him and He knows when we're content to follow man's religion.  Look at Luke 18:10-14 if you don't think God knows the difference.  And look at II Thessalonians 2:9-12 if you don't think He will allow deception to come on those who are trusting in religion or in themselves.  Don't kid yourself; absolutely nothing is hidden from Him (Hebrews 4:13).  He knows your heart.  And if your heart is right, He'll honor it.

Here's a great illustration of how God responds when we're serious about seeking Him.  It's found in II Chronicles 15, and this is how it shakes out.

And if that's not enough to convince you (and for some, I know it's not), look at the advice David gives to his son Solomon in I Chronicles 28:9.

Now, that's a verse that needs no explanation, but if that's still not enough, how about this one? This is Hebrews 11:6.

I hope you haven't forgotten the definition of faith already, because it means the same thing here that it does everywhere else.  If you don't learn to recognize His still, small voice, you can't please Him.  But if you seek after Him, He will respond to you and you will learn to recognize His voice.  It's His promise, not mine.

I want to mention one more passage.  Then we'll put this issue to rest. This is Matthew 7:9-11.

It's ridiculous for all those people who claim to believe in God and say they trust Him to think that if they seek after Him with a sincere heart the devil is going to show up instead.  Who's in charge anyway?  Neither the devil nor his demons are able to do anything without God's knowledge and permission.  If you're too lazy to read the whole book, at least read Job 1:6-12 and see what I mean.

And by now I've come to realize how humorous it really is for anyone to think that the devil is the problem when it comes to knowing God.  Our flesh is the problem!  If you don't believe me, try to get alone with God, submit to Him and wait on Him.  Your mind will race, your imagination will soar and your flesh will go positively wild!  You'll likely be shocked by the evil and disgusting thoughts that come into your mind.  But let me give you a little advice.  When they come, don't blame the devil.  Be honest, own them and deal with them as your own.

There is one more passage that I'd like to look at that puts grace and faith into perspective.  This is Romans 4:13-22 and is somewhat longer than the others, so bear with me.

I really think this passage is clear enough, but just in case your religion is still blinding you from the truth and you still don't get it, let me help you out.  Paul builds his case for faith and grace by using Abraham as his example.  Abraham inherited God's promise because of his faith, not because he followed the rules.  And Paul is careful to point out the fact that since it was by faith, the promise was truly given as an act of grace, because Abraham didn't try to do anything to earn it or deserve it.  And, as it says above, Abraham is the father of all who live by faith (if you need to read that in another place, look at Galatians 3:7).

Now, somebody needs to help me out here.  I know what's going to happen.  There will be some that will read this, completely disregard the Scripture references and accuse me of teaching salvation by works.  And I can almost guarantee that the ones who do it will be the religious types who go to church every time the doors are open, get up at 5 am every day to read their devotional books, faithfully pray every prayer request that every Tom, Dick and Harry in the world has given them (and don't forget to pray for all the missionaries and for our government officials too), teach Sunday School on Sunday morning and lead a divorce recovery group on Thursday night, sing in the choir and, of course, tithe and give generously to the building fund.  Or, they'll be the kind who did all those things for years, but now they're burned out and don't want to do anything.  Anyway, don't compare a life of faith to religious works.  I was in the traditional church for 35 years and I know what religious works are.

There's one more thing I want to clear up before I'm finished with this paper.  I don't know how to break this to you easy, so I'll just come right out and say it.  You can't have salvation without works.  That's what the Bible says, which makes for an interesting situation for all you "The Bible says it, I believe it and that settles it!" folks who want to rest your case on "not of works, lest any man should boast."

This is a great illustration of how religion distorts truth by choosing isolated verses or parts of verses to support their doctrine.  While it's certainly true that Ephesians 2:9 tells us that salvation is not by works, it's equally true that Ephesians 2:10 tells us that works are essential.  We simply have to understand which works are good and which are bad.  And that is established by the context and by an honest examination of the complete passage that deals with the subject at hand.  So, let's look at Ephesians 2:8,9 and 10.

So, which works are bad and which are good?  The context tells us everything we need to know.  The bad works are the religious things we think up on our own because we think they make us look good or because we think we can gain God or man's approval if we do them.  The good works are the things God has prepared for us to do because they're what He has determined to use in conforming us to the image of His Son.  The bad works are man's plan.  The good works are God's plan.  It's real simple.

And how do you find out what those good works are that God has planned for you?  I'm sorry to tell you this, but He didn't write our entire individual, personal plans down in a book.  And regardless of what you think, you won't find His plan for you in the Bible.  Sooner or later you're going to have to grasp this concept.  God wants to have a personal relationship with you based on you accessing His plan of grace through your faith in Him.  And that faith requires that you learn how to recognize His voice so you can hear Him tell you what they are.  Then you can submit to Him, obey Him and see His purpose unfold in your life.  And that is your salvation.  It's made possible by God's grace.  And it becomes a reality only through the exercise of your faith!  That's why Paul calls it saving faith (Philippians 3:9).

WorldWide Religious News August 20

Africa:

"Mob torches church building"
by Tom Odula (AP, August 18, 2007)

Nairobi, Kenya - A crowd burned a church compound on Friday in one of Africa's largest slums after a long-running land dispute flared into violence, witnesses and police said. Nobody was injured.

"HIV test before Nigerian marriage"
("BBC News," August 17, 2007)

Lagos, Nigeria - Couples are being advised to take an HIV test before they marry, the Anglican Church in Nigeria says.

"Police grill Dera sect chief, confiscate dress"
("IANS," August 18, 2007)

Sirsa, India - The Punjab police yesterday confiscated the controversial dress that Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh had worn in likeness of a revered Sikh guru - the cause of the current stand-off between the Sikh community and Dera followers.

"Christian groups up in arms"
("Times of India," August 20, 2007)

Hyderabad, India - A storm may be brewing what with Christian groups having decided to challenge the Andhra Pradesh government's order 747 that bans propagation of any religion other than Hinduism in Tirupati and other specified temple areas. A case is expected to be filed in the AP High Court shortly on the grounds that provisions of GO 747 are being "misused" and that it is "unconstitutional." The Christian groups would move the court that the GO notified in June this year be struck down as it "supports and promotes Hindutva forces."

"Kolkata's clerics threaten Taslima Nasreen"
(Reuters, August 17, 2007)

Kolkata, India - Muslim clerics in Kolkata issued a "death warrant" against controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Friday, threatening her life if she did not leave the country where she lives in exile.

"Britons 'more suspicious' of Muslims"
by Daniel Dombey and Simon Kuper ("Financial Times," August 19, 2007)

London, England/Paris, France - Britons are more suspicious of Muslims than Americans and other Europeans are, according to a poll for the Financial Times.

"Religious fault line divides Europeans"
by Simon Kuper and Daniel Dombey ("Financial Times," August 19, 2007)

London, England - Europe remains divided by attitudes to Muslims and to religion in general. Two issues stand out, both highlighted by a new poll carried out for the Financial Times.

"Head count belies vision of 'Eurabia'"
by Simon Kuper ("Financial Times," August 19, 2007)

Paris, France - Muhammad is the second most popular name for newborn boys in Britain, if you add together the various spellings. In the Seine-St-Denis suburb of Paris, Mohamed is number one. In the four biggest Dutch cities in 2005, either Mohamed or Mohammed came top.

"Turkey cancels Istanbul visit of Greek-Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos"
("New Anatolian," August 18, 2007)

Ankara, Turkey - Turkey has cancelled the visit of Greek-Orthodox Archbishop of Cyprus, Chrysostomos to Istanbul to meet Patriarch Bartholomew I between August 17 and 21 for the second time in two months.

"Catholic Church withdraws support for Amnesty"
("Ireland Online," August 18, 2007)

Vatican City - The Catholic Church has urged Catholic organisations worldwide to withdraw their support for Amnesty International after the human rights group backed women's right to an abortion if their lives are in danger or if they have been raped.

"Amanpour explores religious zealotry"
by Joanne Weintrab ("Milwaukee Journal Sentinel," August 20, 2007)

Washington, USA - They've been called radicals, militants or zealots. Christiane Amanpour calls them "God's Warriors."

"Idaho congressman apologizes for remarks about Muslim colleague"
(AP, August 17, 2007)

Boise, USA - U.S. Representative Bill Sali has apologized to a Muslim colleague for remarks suggesting the United States' founders never intended for Muslims to serve in the U.S. Congress.

"A home unlike all others"
by Steffie Nelson ("LA Times," August 19, 2007)

Los Angeles, USA - Earlier this summer, almost 100 psychedelic music fans, subculture aficionados, students of the occult and local literati climbed the flower-petal-strewn steps of publisher couple Jodi Wille and Adam Parfrey's Silver Lake home for a salon celebrating the upcoming publication of "The Source: The Untold Story of Father Yod, YaHoWa 13 and the Source Family" (Process), the definitive history of a mystical cult that thrived in Los Angeles between 1970 and 1974. The book's author, Isis Aquarian (formerly Charlene Peters), had flown in from Hawaii, and Family members Omne, Magus, Electra and Orbit, all of whom are now in their 50s and 60s, had also come to share stories.

"Man Sentenced to 45 Days in Colorado City Polygamy Case"
(AP, August 17, 2007)

Kingman, UA - A member of a polygamist sect who was convicted of conspiring to commit sexual conduct with a minor was sentenced Friday to 45 days in jail, prosecutors said.

"Brazil church leaders get U.S. jail time"
by Curt Anderson (AP, August 17, 2007)

Miami, USA - A married couple who lead one of Brazil's largest evangelical churches were sentenced to nearly five months in prison Friday after pleading guilty to smuggling more than $56,000 into the United States hidden in luggage, a child's backpack and a Bible case.

"Orthodox church probing sexual misconduct allegations"
(AP, August 17, 2007)

Anchorage, USA - Orthodox Church in America officials say they are investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against the second-highest ranking church official in Alaska.

"Mormon church changes stance on homosexuality"
by Rebecca Rosen Lum ("Oakland Tribune," August 20, 2007)

Oakland, USA - The Mormon church has quietly moved further from defining homosexuality as evil and the result of faulty parenting.

"Rift Over Gay Unions Reflects Battle New to Black Churches"
by Jacqueline L. Salmon ("Washington Post," August 19, 2007)

Washington, USA - Never in a "million years" did Robert Renix think he would find a Baptist church that would accept someone like him: a black Baptist gay man. Never mind one that would allow what happened one Saturday last month, when a tuxedo-clad Renix stood in front of the pulpit at Covenant Baptist Church in Anacostia, exchanging vows with his partner, Antonio Long.

"In Training to Combat Satan"
("Washington Post," August 18, 2007)

Kelso, USA - "What's this?" roared Henry Phillips. "There's trash on the floor in here."

LifeSiteNews.com - Monday August 20, 2007

LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes August 3

* Disclaimer: The linked items below or the websites at which they are located do not necessarily represent the views of LifeSiteNews.com. They are presented only for your information.

A week ahead of the Republican straw poll, evangelicals in Iowa find themselves with no sure presidential pick.
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070803/28735_Evangelicals_Have_No_Sure_GOP_Pick.htm

Preparing for the grey-haired legions
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/preparing_for_the_grey_haired_legions/

Why Is the Teen Pregnancy Rate Dropping?
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13624/BLI/dotcommentary/index.htm

One out of every 25 children was conceived in a test-tube in some countries. Why aren't we worried?
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/everything_conceivable/

Gujarat: anti-conversion law due in days
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=10000&size=A

Priests arrested and put into solitary confinement: the governments answer to the Pope's Letter
http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=9995&size=A

No way to raise a boy
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/no_way_to_raise_a_boy/

Florida Marriage Amendment Moves Full Speed Ahead
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000005190.cfm

Is polygamy legal in Canada? It might as well be after a surprise recommendation in British Columbia
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?c..20070801_225028_11328

Hate-Crimes' Laws Ultimately Drag Christians into Court
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005189.cfm

Group Investigates Hotel Porn Provider
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005188.cfm

Making Manimals
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062201643.html

Students must remember 'God' in Texas pledge
http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5020241.html

Global Warming Skeptics Advance, Says Inhofe
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200708/CUL20070803a.html

The fastest way to a greener planet? Some think a ban on procreation is simplest and best
http://www.macleans.ca/science/environment/article.jsp?c..20070806_108079_108079

Home Depot was praised for standing up to the Sierra Club and not agreeing to pull its ads from Fox News Channel.
http://www.cnsnews.com/letterstotheeditor/letters.asp

Global Warming Myth Exposed: Soot From Cooking Fires Melting Himalayan Glaciers
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2007/08/03/global-warming-myth-exposed-soot-cooking-fires-melting-himalayan-glac

More Pastors 'Parish' the Thought of Hate Crimes
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU07H02

Gay Episcopal bishop endorses Obama
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10039

N.S. town council votes against raising pride flag
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070803/against_pride_flag_080803/20070803?hub=TopStories

A pedophile destination - Montreal is back in the news for all the wrong reasons
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?c..20070801_164022_11636


Tonsils may help transmit HIV during oral sex
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn12354&feedId=health_rss20

British lawmakers back saviour siblings
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19526153.300&feedId=health_rss20

Women planned to steal baby from womb, police say
http://www.examiner.net/stories/073107/new_188199329.shtml

Singapore Bans Gay Kissing Photos
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/01/entertainment/e113618D41.DTL&type=entertainment

The dangers of 'spare part' babies
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=472327&in_page_id=1770

Swedish Church to join Stockholm Gay Pride parade
http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070802171008.txfmbaw0&cat=null

Experts raise worries about HPV vaccine
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070801/hpv_vaccine_070801/20070801?hub=Health

Study: Marijuana Use May Cause Skin Cancer
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,291735,00.html

One joint as bad as five cigarettes, study says
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070731.wmarij0731/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

Cannabis Could Increase Risks Of Psychotic Illness By 40 Percent
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070731125526.htm

House Bill Guts Abstinence Education, Pro-Life Provision
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLtopstories/A000005168.cfm

(c) Copyright: LifeSiteNews.com, a production of Interim Publishing.
Permission to republish granted but acknowledgement of source (use LifeSiteNews.com) is *REQUIRED*

* Human Rights Complaint Dropped Against Canadian Conservative Website
* Hope in the Midst of a Culture of Fear: Parents of Family of Fourteen Reveal Their Secret
* Interview with Father of Fourteen and Co-Author of New Book "Better by the Dozen, Plus Two"
* Kevorkian Plan to Speak in Florida May be Too Soon for Parole Board
* Hundreds of Women March to Protest Illegal Female Abortion in India
* Crossroads Walkers Inspire Listeners at Several Toronto Region Speaking Engagements
* Online Video: Noted Endocrinologist Explains How the Birth Control Pill Causes Abortion
* Gutsy Mayor Exposes National 'Gay' Public Sex Scandal - Gets Support of Women's Group
* Significant Testosterone Decrease in Young Males Conceived through Fertility Treatment, Danish Study Shows
* Analysis of US Government Data Shows Abstinence Education Coincides With Teen Birth Decline
* Ultrasounds Used for Sex-Selected Abortion in Ethnic Canadian Communities
* Illinois Court Rules Pharmacists May Reject Plan B
* Attack on Pregnant Woman Should be Double Murder Attempt - Catholic Women's League
* Further Splits in the Anglican Communion Over Gay Ordinations
* Judge Forces Idaho to Fund Estrogen Treatment for Male Inmate Who Thinks He Is A Woman

Note: LifeSiteNews returns on Tuesday Aug. 7

DONATE to LifeSiteNews.com http://www.lifesite.net/contribute/lifesite/

Human Rights Complaint Dropped Against Canadian Conservative Website
Website administrators say Canadian Human Rights Commission and so-called 'hate-crime' laws are serious threat to free speech in Canada

By John Jalsevac

OTTAWA, Ontario, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The human rights complaint that accused the Canadian conservative web forum Free Dominion of "hate speech" has been dropped, Free Dominion co-founder and administrator Connie Fournier told LifeSiteNews.com today.

Fournier said that she and her husband, both of whom founded and run the website together, received a letter this afternoon, informing them that the complainant, Marie-Lines Gentes, requested the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) to drop the complaint.

Interestingly enough, said Fournier, the letter also indicated that the complainant had initially asked the CHRC to drop the complaint on July 17, before Free Dominion ever even heard about the complaint, and asked that the complaint be dropped a second time on July 23. When Fournier spoke to the CHRC on July 19, however, several days after Gentes first asked the complaint to be dropped, the CHRC made no mention of that fact, leaving Free Dominion in the dark until today. Free Dominion's lawyer will be investigating this particular issue.

"I feel like the whole world's been lifted off my shoulder," said Connie, who only married the co-administrator of Free Dominion, Mark Fournier, last weekend. "All of this happened at the same time we were getting married last weekend," she said. "So it was just one more thing. It's stressful enough. And then, trying to get everything done, and having this happen too. We're feeling a lot of relief."

Marie-Lines Gentes, who issued the complaint against Free Dominion, accused the site of allowing "hate-speech" against Muslims. Specifically Gentes took issue with a number of posts by well-known conservative activist Bill Whatcott. Gentes, however, was not herself Muslim, and in her complaint, according to the Fourniers, did not establish how Whatcott's postings had anything to do with her.

Some of the postings that Gentes said proved that Free Dominion was guilty of "hate-speech," included Whatcott saying, "I can't figure out why the homosexuals I ran into are on the side of the Muslims. After all, Muslims who practice Sharia law tend to advocate beheading homosexuals," as well as, "I defy Islamic censorship and speak about what I believe is the truth about violent Islamism and its threat to religious liberty in Canada," amongst others.

Connie, however, said that the experience, while stressful, coming as it did in the weeks leading up to her and Mark's wedding, had its benefits for Free Dominion and Canada's conservative movement on the whole. "It was a good dry run," she said, pointing to the high likelihood that Free Dominion's opponents will use the CHRC in the future to try to shut the website down.

"There're a lot of people who are still feeling a little bit like they want to do something more, because they're afraid that, you know, that they didn't decide to push through this time, but the threat's always going to be there. Everybody's discussing what to do in the future, if this happens again, and how we can be prepared."

Connie, however, said that she was very thankful for all the support from fellow bloggers, and conservative news outlets that covered Free Dominion's temporary plight. A number of blogs and other sites, she said, actually republished the remarks by Whatcott that Gentes was taking issue with so that if the CHRC went after Free Dominion, they would have to go after all the other blogs as well, which Connie said was, from their perspective, "quite touching."

The Fourniers have said that the complaint against Free Dominion only demonstrates what many in Canada have been saying all along - that the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and so-called 'hate-crime' laws, rather than protecting the rights of Canadians, are a serious threat to free speech in Canada. Last month Connie - then Connie Wilkins - told WND daily that in Canada it is a crime merely "to offend someone."

"That's the way it is here," she said. "I've made the argument many times, the 'hate crimes' laws are wrong. It puts more value on victims of crimes when somebody judges the crime was perpetrated because they hated them."

In Canada conservatives have had to become increasingly wary of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. In the past years, several pro-family advocates have had to undergo lengthy and expensive legal battles, after they were accused of "hate speech" for expressing their disapproval of homosexual behaviour.

See Free Dominion Website:
http://www.freedominion.ca/phpBB2/portal.php ;

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Canada's Human Rights Commission Used to Target Conservative Website With "Hate Speech"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07071907.html

Christian Pastor Hauled Before Human Rights Tribunal For Letter on Homosexuality
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/sep/05090204.html

Pastor Facing Gay "Hate Speech" Tribunal Allowed to Publish Prof.'s Complaint
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/may/06050807.html

Growing Support for Alberta Pastor Facing Human Rights Hearing Over Letters Against Homosexuality
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/sep/05091407.html

Homosexuals Seek to Shut Down Canadian Pro-Family Websites http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jul/06073106.html

Hope in the Midst of a Culture of Fear: Parents of Family of Fourteen Reveal Their Secret
Their book, "Better by the Dozen, Plus Two" meant to contribute to comeback of God, then family, as center of each person's life and of society.

By John Jalsevac

CHICAGO, Illinois, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At one point in the spiritual classic "I Believe in Love," written by the French priest Fr. Jean d'Elbee, the author observes that, "Evil displays itself; good remains unknown." The point that d'Elbee is making is that because evil is not the ordinary state of things it tends to stick out, to make itself obvious, whereas because good is simply the way the world was always meant to be, it tends to go about its business quietly and unostentatiously.

Sometimes reading the news can lead one to think that the world is nothing but bad. The fact is, however, that if the world was even half bad, or even a quarter or a tenth bad, it would come to a grinding halt and fall to pieces. Hopeful stories abound, but they are not typically the stuff of the news.

Those in the pro-life movement know especially that some of the most abundant hopeful stories, but the ones that are least often told, are the day-to-day stories of ordinary happy and healthy families with parents who are joyfully open to the gift of life.

One such family is the Littleton family. Until recently the story of the Littletons was little known, except perhaps for in their own immediate community in the Chicago area, where the unusual fact that they have an unusually large family must not have gone unnoticed.

Last year, however, James and Kathleen Littleton, the parents of fourteen living children, and of an additional five who passed away prior to birth, felt that they were being called to share their unique story with the world.

The result of this call is their newly released, co-authored book, "Better by the Dozen, Plus Two: Anecdotes and a Philosophy of Life from a Family of Sixteen." The point of the book, as they say in the first paragraph of the prologue, is to share "the story of how we came to be such a large family and the truths God taught us along the way."

Better by the Dozen is a deeply profound book that has about it the refreshingly sincere air of simplicity. In fact, that is much of the charm of the Littletons, and their approach to parenting and to life in general. After all, James and Kathleen are the first to say that fundamentally their story is not an extraordinary story, or rather should not be considered an extraordinary story.

Their story is as simple as the fact that they did what they were supposed to do, and the result was what is considered in the modern world to be an anomaly. For them, however, that anomaly is just their family, the family they were always meant to have. From their perspective, the absence of a single member of their family would be an irreparable loss, and utterly unthinkable.

"We don't wish to present ourselves as an anomaly, nor as an ideal example," write the couple in the prologue to the book, "but we would like to contribute in some way to the authentic comeback of God, then family, as the center of each person's life and of society."

Nevertheless, Better by the Dozen tells a tale that is as truly extraordinary as only a tale about perfectly ordinary people can be. That is, it chronicles the fascinating story of two altogether normal people, deeply in love, who are wholeheartedly living the adventure of life together, holding nothing back.

In Better by the Dozen, James and Kathleen Littleton describe a complete way of being, of which the most visible result is their large family. The size of their family, however, is but a natural consequence of the fact that James and Kathleen have developed a profound philosophy of life that is centered on hope.

James told LifeSiteNews.com, we live in a "fear driven culture," a culture without faith. This culture of fear, he said, infects everything that people do, extending especially to people's approach to love, marriage and children. People are afraid to have children, he said, for a million reasons that, fundamentally, are completely out of their control.

Faith, James said, is not only the only solution to this fear, but is the only solution that can lead to a deep and abiding happiness. Without faith the result is the impossible desire to control all circumstances, a desire that is doomed to failure, and which will only lead to despair.

Faith is something that the Littletons, who are devout Catholics, have in abundance. This faith, said James, gives them an unshakeable strength, and an outlook on life that precludes the sort of paralyzing fear that afflicts so much of the modern world. As a result, James, the father of 14 living children, when asked what the most difficult part of raising 14 children is, is able to respond with absolute honesty and humility, "I can't say it's really been difficult."

He admits, of course, that there have been difficult times, particularly financially. But these, he says, even though externally quite dire, did not seem very difficult to him and his wife at the time because of their deep trust in the truth that God is involved in every detail of their lives, and is personally concerned for their welfare. In addition, what people do not seem to understand, says James, is that, "the child doesn't just come in to sap the family's or the world's resources, but comes into the world to contribute his or her life and talents and, God-willing, productivity, if that child is blessed with good health." The world, on the other hand, "will tell you that that child is going to be demanding, is going to have a lot of needs."

In the eyes of Jim and Kathleen, the additional time and money that are invested in an additional child are a small price to pay for what that child will eventually give back to the world through his or her own talents and personality.

James told LifeSiteNews.com that part of his aim in writing Better by the Dozen was to encourage people to take risks, and in particular, for those whose vocation is marriage, that most beautiful risk of welcoming new lives into the world: "What we're encouraging people to do is to always be open to God's will, and to bring in a bigger dose of faith versus reason alone, and to be willing to take some risks knowing that God is there for them."

To order the Littleton's book, visit:
http://www.lulu.com/littleton

Interview with Father of Fourteen and Co-Author of New Book "Better by the Dozen, Plus Two"
Sees fear of having children and constant rushing as some prevalent disorders in our "fear driven culture"

By John Jalsevac

LifeSiteNews: What made you and your wife decide to write your book?

Jim Littleton: First and foremost it was, I pray and I hope and I believe, a movement of the Holy Spirit. God has blessed us with a very large family, as you know, and I think that that is a means of attracting some interest to our story and our message. We've been given much and we see our large family as a means of evangelization.

We have been moved to address some of the disorders in our culture. And we identify them, as a matter of fact, in our prologue, such as the prevalence of self-centeredness, what happens when God and his will are not our first and highest concern, etc. and the fear - and I underline the word fear - of being open to having more children.

Obviously every individual is seeking happiness. So we address the question, "Does closing the door to openness of life really bring the good and the happiness longed for?"

We also address the prevalence of haste in the dominant culture, how many are constantly rushing, but to what end? We've been moved to help our readers, and those who would listen to us speak, to step back and reevaluate why they're doing what they're doing.

In the culture there is a great prevalence of fear and a lack of real faith. We're a fear driven culture. There's a sense of wanting to be in complete control, which is of course an impossible goal, rather than a deep and abiding faith and trust in God.

The family as the centre for all members is non-existent in most families. We address that and we address the morally relativistic society, and the fact that today's religion seems to be politics. How people seem to be consumed and obsessed with politics. We maintain that no political ideology is going to solve all problems or bring the happiness that people hunger for.

Of course, we don't just identify the problems, which I've just outlined, but we're called to be a people of hope and confidence in Christ, and to be apostolic. So we also present solutions. Our primary solution is to realize that we are powerless on our own, that we need to recognize our total dependency on God, total dependency on Jesus Christ and His grace. Those graces come through prayer, and primarily, for those who are Catholic, through the Sacraments, the Sacramental life - living the Eucharistic life, and frequent Confession.

The problems in our culture are not going to be resolved simply through our intelligence and our reason as human beings. Our reason is of course perfected - as Pope Benedict tells us - by faith, by grace. And so we need that grace from God in order for the scales to be removed from our eyes and for us to be able to hear and just recognize the truth and the reality around us so that we can see truth, and live truth in our lives.

Certainly we did not go from - and the book addresses the fact that I was basically a hedonist, was Catholic in name only - we did not go from that point to attending Mass daily as a complete family. It was a gradual transition. We want to encourage people to take the next step, from where they're at now, in terms of increasing their life of grace.

We have, however, written our book for general audiences, not just Catholics - although we are staunch Catholics, and we express our Catholic faith and practices in great detail. But we're hoping that any person of good will would be able to read our book and listen to our message and come away with some positive reflections or resolutions relative to their lives.

LifeSiteNews: What has the reaction to the book been so far?

Jim Littleton: We've received nothing but positive responses thus far. Now, the book was only released to distribution roughly a couple weeks ago. So, we've heard from a handful of people who have read the book, and they were very positive responses. For example, a gentleman that I spoke with yesterday called it "transforming".

As a deeper answer to your question, my expectation is that some people are going to love the book and some are going to hate the book. And I'm happy about that, because I don't think anyone will be able to read this book and walk away indifferent, or walk away unchanged. You can't read this book without God working on you soul in some way, whether that's shaking an individual out of an indifference, or taking a soul who is well along in the path of sanctity and perhaps giving him or her some life and encouragement to, again, take the next step.

In my own experience I don't think we can win many people over to being open to life in their marriages, to not using artificial contraception, or reversing sterilizations and so on, unless we change their hearts. We have to give them the facts - that's an important and essential element - but I think what stands most in the way is the element of faith and confidence in God and trust in him, versus fear.

That fear might be stated in such a way as, "Well I'm not sure that I can handle another child, I have two, and I'm not sure how I could keep up with three; or how am I going to pay for their college education?; or our finances do not seem to able to support another child, etc." And we're encouraging others to not necessarily say, "I'm going to have all the children I possibly physically can have, regardless of circumstances".

What we're encouraging them to do is to always be open to God's will, always discerning God's will, and bringing in a bigger dose of faith versus reason alone. And being willing to take some risks knowing that God is there for them, just seeing what the value of life really is, the value of a human person, a human soul, versus what our issues, or questions or fears might be. And that kind of puts things into perspective.

LifeSiteNews: A lot of people see having as large a family as you have as a huge burden. In a few sentences can you sum up what it is that has allowed you to see such a big family not as a burden, but as a blessing?

Jim Littleton: Well, recognize certainly the value of human life, the joy that each new baby brings into the family. The family is never the same once a new person is born into the family. And another point is that we didn't just wake up one day from having no children to having 14 children. It's a gradual process, so it's one step at a time. You start with one, eventually you're at two, and so on. So that's just the way our life has evolved. Certainly our Eucharistic life, by the grace of God, our constant prayer life in the family, has given us the strength and the courage and the supernatural vision to be open to having a large family.

Certainly a large family has its practical difficulties and challenges, but they're nothing compared to the beautiful blessing of a large family. And another point is that when one has a large family, of course the young children eventually get older and they're able to help with the younger children. God's plan is perfect in that regard.

It can be overwhelming for the family that has perhaps three children now, to think of having fourteen. But it's actually much more doable than they might realize from their current perspective. Again, the older children help with the younger, and the work and the responsibilities are spread out that way, so they're not overwhelming for anyone. There's also a side benefit to that in that all of the family members grow in generosity and everyone bonds much more closely.

LifeSiteNews: What has been the most difficult thing about having as many children as you have?

Jim Littleton: I can't say that it's really been difficult. We've certainly had our financial difficulties, but that's not directly or in any way exclusively related to the large family. But we've gotten by, and God has provided. We haven't missed a meal yet, and always had a roof over our heads. And even those difficulties have brought us closer to Christ in that we've come to trust God even more. We do live on the edge financially. But having said that, that's nothing, that's just nothing compared to the joys and the benefits of a large family.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when a child is born into the world, the world will tell you that that child is going to be a demanding, is going to have a lot of needs, that we have to provide for that child. But I think the real and true Christian way to look at that is that that the child doesn't just come in to sap the family's or the world's resources, but comes into the world to contribute his or her life and talents and, God-willing, productivity, if that child is blessed with good health. And if the child wasn't blessed with good health to still contribute with the talents he or she has. Our lives are just so interdependent on others and on these new persons that are being brought into time and eternity.

LifeSiteNews: We live in a very secular, and some would argue, a very evil age. Have you had problems sheltering your children from some of the evils of the age? How have you dealt with this particular problem?

Jim Littleton: We do, for example, we made the choice of getting rid of commercial television, roughly 9 years ago. This is one example. Though we do still have a television, it's not hooked up to cable or have an antenna. So we only use it for videos or DVDs that I've approved, so we do enjoy watching good quality, wholesome movies with the family. In fact that's a good, unifying activity for a family. We'll even analyze these movies as case studies for virtue, for example. So we don't have access to commercial television, cable television, and all the immoral elements of that coming to our house.

We're not saying that the technology of television and programming is all bad or all evil. It's not. There's a lot of good there. We found as a family that it works better not to have access to it, and that we weren't able to completely control the television when we had it. Where you're flipping channels and the image is there, and once that image is absorbed into the minds of our children, it's there.

Having said that, again, we're very engaged in the culture and the society. We have children who are now college age, and they've grown into very mature, well-adjusted adults.

With the internet, we have had one computer in a public area. Through school, when our children have had to be on the internet to complete a project, one of the parents is with them to get them on that particular site, and they don't have a password to the computer, so there's not that occasion of sin, in seeking out an impure website, or to stumble upon something like that, which, to my understanding is very easy to do and very common.

We also believe that over-exposure to television, i-pods, computers and such, that over stimulation desensitizes the person, to where they're not able to reflect as well or have an interior life, or have as beneficial of an interior life because of all that over stimulation. Even for example if the television or the other media that they're being overexposed to is good materials, if it's over done even that can have a negative impact. Not to mention, our time is a great gift from God. We see that time as a gift that we have a responsibility to use well. So I don't know how we would ever find time for commercial television in our house. Our time is very full between our family and our work and our other activities.

Our family has, by the grace of God, been very family oriented. We're very united, and do things together. Older children interacting with and playing with younger children, for example. We've not permitted any dating - and we haven't even really had any challenges to that - through high-school, because we don't want our children to get into the cultural dating where it's a means of entertainment. What we encourage in our children is courting, and courting can only happen when that young person is old enough to begin discerning a spouse. And courting is done in a more public arena, with the family or with groups of other young people.

And so we try to evaluate things that are the norm in the culture and decide if this is right for us. If it's not, be willing to make the radical choice to say, "We're not going to live that, we're going to do what we believe God's will is."

LifeSiteNews: Jim, as the father of the family, you must feel a particular burden trying to support such a large family. How have you dealt with that and what would your advice be to other young men considering the possibility of starting large families?

Jim Littleton: We have to do it with a trust and dependency on God. Yes, I'm charged with the responsibility of providing. But literally I could throw out my last breath just five second from now and be gone. Just the fact that I'm alive and healthy is a great gift in itself, and it's something that we don't have control of. In other words what I'm saying is that God himself is in control. He is attending to every detail of our lives and our needs. Now, that doesn't mean that he gives us everything that we ask for when we want it, because no good father would do that with his child. He gives us what we need what he knows we need, when we need it.

Again, we have lived on the precipice financially for most of our married life. In recent years we've even had some serious financial problems, where certain business ventures of mine did not work out well. My philosophy is that I'm not called to succeed or to be able to guarantee everything my family thinks they need when they want it. My responsibility is to do my best, certainly to work hard, to use my time well, my talents, to provide for my family, and with a sense of dependency on God and trust that He's taking care of the rest.

We need to face reality that there are always going to be difficulties and challenges in life. That's part of life, and that's part of what's going to have one of the biggest effects on our souls in getting more transformed into Christ-it's called the Cross.

I would encourage other young fathers to step forward and be not afraid. What's much more important than providing financially for one's family is providing leadership for your family, and being the spiritual head of the family that we're called to be. By spiritual head that doesn't mean that we're better than our wives. The man is called the spiritual head of the family, and, to borrow someone else's statement, the wife is called to be the heart of the family. I make a comment in our book that a head without a heart is a dead head.

We have to obviously work very closely in collaboration and unity and oneness with our wives. Again, to take that spiritual leadership and to be brave and to be strong when it comes to faith and morality. When it comes to the spiritual and moral good of our children, we have to be like rocks, like brick walls. We, as men, have to be men in that sense. Again, not to be tyrants, but to be willing to stand up firm.

We believe that we have a message that's a beautiful ideal for families to live. But we do not live it perfectly ourselves. We have our fallen human nature. We're doing the best we can. We fall in short in many ways. What we're talking about here, our message isn't the Littleton family. Our message is really Jesus Christ. So, at least we have the ideal and we have the roadmap to get there, but we're on the road like everyone else.

Kevorkian Plan to Speak in Florida May be Too Soon for Parole Board

By Peter J. Smith

LANSING, Michigan, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Dr. Jack Kevorkian may have plans to speak at the University of Florida about his life's work of "mercy killing", but the Michigan Parole Board has not yet agreed to the euthanasia movement's poster-boy's request to leave the state.

Russ Marlan, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections told LifeSiteNews.com that the Parole Board has not yet approved Kevorkian's request to leave Michigan and first "wanted to give time and see how he does."

"He can't leave the state without written permission and the request is still pending," Marlan said. "[The Parole Board] didn't say when exactly they would let him go, but they told him to take [the engagement] under the advisement that the approval is pending."

Marlin added that Kevorkian is allowed to lobby for assisted suicide, but violates his parole if he gives specific details about assisted suicide, such as how he killed people, how to carry-out assisted suicide, and how to construct the machine he used.

"The analogy that his officer used was that he could advocate nuclear war, but he couldn't tell people how to make a bomb," Marlin said.

However the Michigan-based Flint Right to Life has urged pro-lifers to generate thousands of calls and spread the word that UF is allowing Kevorkian, a convicted murderer, to join its speaker's roster for the handsome sum of $50,000.

Judy Climer, president of Flint Right to Life, spoke with LifeSiteNews.com saying that what began as a local campaign in her area has gained broader attention across the nation. Climer has urged pro-life advocates to contact the University of Florida president James Machen to protest Kevorkian's appearance and express concerns that UF state and federal funds may be paying for "Dr. Death's" talk.

Mid-July, LifeSiteNews.com reported that ACCENT, the UF student government speaker's bureau, had invited Kevorkian to speak to students on October 11. (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07071703.html)

LifeSiteNews.com contacted the ACCENT Speech Bureau today and learned that Kevorkian has just signed the contract. While Kevorkian's topic has not been finalized, LifeSiteNews.com was told that Kevorkian is expected to speak at length about the topic of assisted suicide, including his past ten years and time in prison.

In July ACCENT chairman Steven Blank told LifeSiteNews.com that ACCENT is "non-partisan" and chose Kevorkian to add positive "diversity" to the roster of speakers. When pressed about whether ACCENT would give a racist the same speaking opportunity as a convicted murderer like Kevorkian for the sake of "diversity", Blank demurred, saying, "Each speaker is taken on a case by case basis."

"Why on earth would they put a convicted murderer, a felon, in front of the student body?" Climer protested. "I'm a former board of education member myself. I served 15 years and I would never approve my students bringing in a convicted murder to my student body."

Climer said she was told by UF officials that they couldn't find anyone else to debate Kevorkian, but Climer finds that assertion unsupportable. Climer said she could easily find a speaker happy to debate Kevorkian, either through her own contacts or by working with Bobby Schindler of the Terri Schiavo-Schindler Foundation.

Bobby Schindler, brother of Terri Schindler-Schiavo - the brain injured woman who perished in March 2005 after a court order removed her feeding tube at the behest of her husband - is circulating a "Say No to Dr. Death" petition for UF administrators.

Kevorkian's plans for travel and future speaking engagements seem to point to a surprising health recovery. Keorkian's lawyer had told the Michigan Parole Board in December that he expected Kevorkian had less than a year to live. Kevorkian was paroled after serving 8 years of a 10 to 25 year sentence for the second degree murder of Thomas Youk. Youk's assisted suicide was broadcast on "60 Minutes", which led to Kevorkian's arrest and the end to a "mercy-killing" career that left 130 dead.

To sign the Schiavo Foundation's petition "Say No to Dr. Death":
http://tool.donation-net.net/entrance/enter.cfm?dn=1068&source=2000&id=14905&commid=540762&CFID=3432823&CFTOKEN=30764289

To contact the University of Florida:

J. Bernard Machen
President of University of Florida
Telephone: 352-392-1311
E-mail: president@ufl.edu

ACCENT Speech Bureau
300-1 JWRU, Room 306
P.O. Box 118505
Gainesville, FL 32611-8505
Tel: 352-392-1665 ext. 306
Fax: 352-392-8072
Website: http://www.sg.ufl.edu/accent
Email: accent@sg.ufl.edu
Press/Upcoming Show Information: 352-392-1665 ext. 411

Related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:

Doctor "Death" Kevorkian to Speak at Florida University for $50,000 Speaking Fee
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07071703.html

Kevorkian Vows to Push for Assisted Suicide Laws After Upcoming Prison Release
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/may/07052301.html

Hundreds of Women March to Protest Illegal Female Abortion in India

By Elizabeth O'Brien

BHUBANESWAR, India, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Hundreds of women marched through the Eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar on Wednesday during a massive rally to protest abortion and infanticide of females based on sex-selection, Reuters reports.

The streets were thronged with protestors carrying signs, saying, "hang the murderers" and "spare the girls."

Earlier in the day, young activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a student political group, collected hundreds of signatures as part of a protest campaign against the sex-based murder of baby girls, Salem Voice News reports. Protestors demanded that the government address the illegal yet widespread practice throughout India.

The protest comes after a series of discoveries of large-scale female foeticides. In the most recent discovery on Tuesday, police uncovered the bodies of 14 babies in jars behind a private clinic in Bhubaneswar, Orissa's capital city.

In light of the discovery, Director of Salem Voice Ministries Paul Ciniraj issued the following statement: "India is being called as 'Bharat Matha (Mother India)'. There is no word in the universe greater than 'mother', except God. Such a precious personality, mother, is the fullness of a woman. According the Indian ethics, woman is the synonym of all prosperities. Then how can we kill a baby girl? Stop the killing."

The event also occurred shortly after the discovery of more than 150 fetuses outside an abortion clinic in Nayagarh. In late July, police found thirty bags of baby corpses that are believed to be females aborted because of a cultural preference for males.

Although ultrasounds and abortions based on sex-selection are illegal in India, the law is rarely enforced and has resulted in an extremely skewed sex ratio. There are only 927 girls to 1,000 boys, according to a 2006 United Nations report, whereas the normal average is 1,050 girls to 1,000 boys (see http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/dec/06121401.html).

Although the practice of "female foeticide" is common in wealthier districts, it is widespread throughout the country. The preference for male children is partly due to the traditional dowry that must be provided by the bride's family as well as a general cultural lack of the recognition of the equality of women.

Previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

"Gendercide" - Abortion and Infanticide of Girls Leading to Lop-Sided Demographics
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/nov/05112208.html

30 Bags of Baby Body Parts Found in Eastern India May be Products of Illegal "Female Foeticide"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07072409.html

Indian "Genocide" of Girls by Abortion Exposed in New Book "Disappearing Daughters"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07072309.html

Abortion Doctor in India Jailed Under Female Foeticide Law
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06032906.html

Trafficking of Women Rampant In Northern India: 8 Women for Every 10 Men
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/apr/06040602.html

Crossroads Walkers Inspire Listeners at Several Toronto Region Speaking Engagements

By Steve Jalsevac

TORONTO, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Crossroads Canada team of young pro-life walkers spent a very busy weekend in Toronto last weekend. They prayed at a Toronto abortion clinic and were well received during their speaking engagements at four Catholic churches, a Catholic lay ministry event and an evangelical church at locations all over the Greater Toronto region from Friday to Sunday.

Friday afternoon, walkers Cyril Doll, Ben Broussard, Tom Woodard, Wendy Macagno and Cheryl Gallaher also paid a visit to the main office of Campaign Life Coalition, in downtown Toronto. They were treated to a long luncheon get together with the editor of the Interim newspaper and the several summer youth students working at the office. They also spoke with and met the many workers present at the National pro-life organization's headquarters which arranged most of their speaking engagement in the Toronto region. Right after this visit the walkers continued their walk across Toronto.

Friday evening three other Crossroads team members were special guests and spoke at the Friday night gathering of the Gethsemane Ministries lay Catholic movement. Walkers Greg Roth, Jeremy Fraser and Etienne O'Toole were warmly welcomed at the gathering of about 250 adults and over 100 youth at a West Toronto Catholic High School.

Each team member took a turn addressing the attentive crowd and they impressed those present with the simplicity, pronounced humility, and strong spiritual focus of their presentation.

Greg Roth of Saskatoon said "What does pro-life mean? People ask this. We live in a free country. Freedom means having as many choices as possible but to choose abortion is not freedom." Roth compared abortion availability to illicit drugs. He said, "Abortion enslaves you as do drugs. It affects so many women's lives".

Greg noted that the group walks day and night and covers about 100 km. per day. He recalled when he was asked to participate in the event and his response was "There is no way I can walk across the country." And yet now, he said, "you would be surprised at what you can do."

Jeremy Fraser stated that the walkers "hope by our example we will inspire others to become involved in the pro-life movement." Fraser said he "had to really trust in God" that by taking the summer off for the walk and not make any money to pay for college that things would work out for him for next term. And, he reports, it has. He said, "It's amazing how people have come forward to help me with this coming year of college."

Etienne O'Toole, a University of British Columbia student in math and physics stated that it is a "love for the child in the womb that moves me and the others on this pilgrimage. We think of Jesus in the womb at 1 month, 2 months and so on." Etienne explained that he had never been involved in pro-life before college but was inspired at UBC by the witness of other pro-life students. "Crossroads is only God's work", he said. "Our hope is to put an end to abortion" and "we pray for those involved in abortion."

The Gethsemane youth responded by asking, "What can we do to help?"

Gethsemane leader Suresh Dominic reported, "we had very good feedback about them from the Gethsemane members. Many were inspired by their faith and then their commitment to the pro-life movement and they were encouraged to take part in the pro-life cause in a big way."

On Saturday the walkers prayed across the street from the Scott abortion clinic on Gerrard St. E. in downtown Toronto. Cyril Doll reported they "were there for about an hour and a half. We have a set of prayers that we always do for the people working in there and the women who go in. We stand in a row and pray the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross and so on". Doll said they "expected a lot nastier reception in Toronto but it was actually pretty tame".

Their reception at the two branches of the evangelical ChurchWithout Limits "was unbelievable" said Doll. The team members who spoke there said "they were blown away" by the enthusiastic support of the pastor at the Church's two locations, one in Don Mills and the other in Pickering.

Sunday evening, the Crossroads team continued their walk. At the time of this writing on Friday evening they had crossed the Quebec border a few hours earlier and were on their way to Montreal.

Online Video: Noted Endocrinologist Explains How the Birth Control Pill Causes Abortion

By Elizabeth O'Brien

OTTAWA, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - During the Humanae Vitae Conference "A New Beginning" last year, noted endocrinologist Dr. Maria Kraw explained how many so-called contraceptives actually result in fertilization and end in the abortion of a new human person during its early development.

Introducing her topic, the "Medical Consequences of Contraception," Dr. Kraw began by stating that she refrains from using the word "contraception." This is because it implies solely the "prevention of conception," whereas in reality many so-called contraceptives result in a myriad of other harms, including abortion.

As a practicing endocrinologist (hormone doctor) at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Kraw focused mainly on the effects of hormonal birth control. Artificial hormonal birth control works by introducing artificial estrogen and artificial progesterone (progestins), at 4 to 10 times the dosage naturally produced by the body. These dangerously high levels trick the brain into thinking that the person may be pregnant and cause ovulation to stop.

The pill also prevents conception by thickening the cervical mucous so that the sperm can't reach the egg. If this doesn't work, the pill prevents the implantation of an already fertilized egg. This occurs when a new human person has already been conceived, Kraw stated, but after the artificial hormones have thinned the uterus lining. "So rather than sort of snuggling into a nice nourishing uterus to continue development," she explained, "the uterus is hostile and the embryo is discarded."

Most pills are combined hormonal pills with both artificial estrogen and artificial progesterone. The progesterone-only pills, however, do prevent fertilization, but work primarily by thinning the uterus lining. Depo-provera, for example, is a progestin that is injected every three months and strips down the lining of the uterus. Similarly, the intra-uterine device (IUD) causes "inflammation and scarring of uterine lining," thereby preventing implantation

Barrier methods such as condoms, sterilization, diaphragm and spermicides work by aiming "to prevent a meeting of the sperm and the egg." Nevertheless, statistics published by Family Planning Perspectives note an extremely high percentage of "reproductive failures", i.e. pregnancy. The birth control pill has a 12.9% pregnancy rate; condoms have an incredibly high 23.1% pregnancy rate, diaphragm 20%, depo-provera 4.2% and spermicide 25%.

"Given on average the amount of months that a woman uses artificial birth control during her reproductive years," said Kraw, "which is a majority in the reality of North America, there will be 1.8 'reproductive failures' per woman's reproductive life."

According to previous studies, only about 50% of pregnancies in the US are intended, Kraw stated. "Among those that reported unintended pregnancies, 50% said they were using a form of artificial birth control properly at the time of the conception. So it's not like, 'Oh I was on the pill, but I missed it for a week because that wouldn't be considered being on the pill."

Finally, 50% of those "reproductive failures" end in abortion.

If abortion is defined as "any interruption in the normal development of the embryo," methods that "prevent implantation" are abortive. Breakthrough ovulation rates (fertilization occurs, but implantation fails), for example, can happen in up to one third of cycles on the pill. In combined hormonal birth control pills, this occurs from 1.7% to 28.6% per cycle, whereas with progestin-only pills, fertilization rates are from 33% to 65% per cycle.

These are relatively high rates, Kraw noted, considering that 80% of North American women have used a hormonal method for birth control by the time they finish their reproductive years.

Tragically, after discontinuing birth control, women also experience high infertility rates. Fertility rates are 26% lower after using birth control, and 29% lower after using the IUD. In addition, even the so-called "low-dose" pills cause a 2 to 6 times increased risk of blood clots throughout the body.

Kraw stated, "They started off using ten times the amount of estrogen-'We're really going to shut down that brain'-Well, what happened? Women died in the first phase trial of these medications, but they were in Puerto Rice so, (the attitude was) 'well…. we didn't really have medical ethics, so we'll just keep going and trying.'"

She concluded, "The problem is that this is still occurring even as the dose of estrogen has lowered itself to only about 4 times with the low-dose pills."

Dr. Maria Kraw: Medical Consequences of Contraception - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tKxWrNNCig

Dr. Maria Kraw: Medical Consequences of Contraception - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJYdfgjQdIc

Gutsy Mayor Exposes National 'Gay' Public Sex Scandal - Gets Support of Women's Group

WASHINGTON, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Fort Lauderdale, Florida Mayor Jim Naugle has been under assault from homosexual activists and liberal media for asking people simply to obey the law and to be responsible and respectful to families and children.

Recently, Mayor Naugle exposed a popular homosexual community website that serves as an online directory which both encourages and facilitates illegal, public and anonymous homosexual sex. The Mayor was particularly upset that this activity is taking place at two children's parks in Fort Lauderdale.

Matt Barber, Policy Director for Cultural Issues with Concerned Women for America (CWA), is both an attorney and former law enforcement officer who, in that capacity, has witnessed such behavior first-hand. While addressing the growing problem, Barber said, "We strongly suggest that local law enforcement authorities across America use this 'cruising for sex' website to identify the locations where this immoral and disease-spreading behavior is taking place."

"Such anonymous sexual liaisons create a public health problem and are reportedly occurring in public restrooms throughout communities across America in areas including, but not limited to, children's parks, Barnes and Noble book stores, Home Depot stores, Bally Total Fitness health clubs, airports and many other locations. The website lists the locations referred to as "cruisy toilets" by the homosexual community. Participants are invited to - and frequently do - comment on their sexual experiences at these locations.

"Local law enforcement officials should consider how they might feel if their own children were to walk in on such activity while visiting a family park or other public area. This whole matter is revealing of the mindset of the radical homosexual movement. Members of the activist community in Fort Lauderdale and elsewhere are actually coming out in defense of public 'gay' sex. The homosexual legal group, LAMBDA Legal calls such public sex a civil right in their 'little black book,' and encourages such behavior. And a consortium of homosexual activist groups is calling on Mayor Naugle to resign or be censured for addressing the problem. On the upside, this controversy is finally serving to expose the extreme radical homosexual activists," concluded Barber.

CWA has launched a campaign in support of Mayor Naugle, including the introduction of a YouTube support video available here:
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13545/CWA/misc/index.htm

See related coverage:

Mayor Issues Apology Demanded by Homosexuals - But Not One They Expect
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07072604.html

Significant Testosterone Decrease in Young Males Conceived through Fertility Treatment, Danish Study Shows

By Elizabeth O'Brien

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A study by Danish researchers has found that a specific type of fertility treatment significantly decreases the level of testosterone in male children.

Published in the July 2007 issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the study was conducted by Dr. Anders Juul and colleagues at the Copenhagen University Hospital. Entitled "Reduced Serum Testosterone Levels in Infant Boys Conceived by Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection," the study compared the testosterone levels of babies conceived by this fertility treatment to the levels of naturally conceived males.

The treatment is called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a procedure that involves the direct fertilization of one egg by the injection of only one sperm. The newly created human is then implanted in the womb of the mother. According to a report by the BC Health Guide, ICSI is used to treat severe male infertility problems. It is also used in about half of in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures in Canada and the United States and has a 25 to 30% successful birth rate.

The Danish study examined over a thousand male babies, including 125 boys conceived by ICSI, 124 boys conceived by IVF, and 933 naturally conceived boys. Researchers measured the levels of testosterone of the children at birth and then at 3 months of age. Blood samples were also taken when they reached 3 months.

The study found that "serum testosterone levels were significantly lower in boys conceived by ICSI" compared with naturally conceived boys (2.4 nmol/liter in ICSI babies vs. 3.3 nmol/liter in naturally conceived).

The study indicated an impaired functioning of the Leydig cell, a cell located in the testicle that secretes testosterone. The researchers suggested that in boys conceived by ICSI, this problem was inherited from the fathers.

Cautioning those who use ICSI, they concluded, "The clinical significance of our findings is uncertain. However, our findings should raise concern because ICSI is increasingly used to overcome male infertility."
These results coincide with a similar Danish study released earlier this June that found that men conceived through fertility treatment had half the normal sperm count. After examining nearly two thousand Danish volunteers, the study found that those men whose mothers had received some kind of fertility treatment had a 45% lower total sperm count and 46% lower sperm concentration than the naturally conceived group (see http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07061902.html).

Read related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Birth Control Pill May Permanently Reduce Sex Drive Study Finds http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/may/05052603.html

IVF Babies up to 40% More Likely to Suffer Severe Birth Defects
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jan/05013107.html

Higher Rate of Birth Defects in Babies Conceived Through Fertility Treatment
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07020909.html

Analysis of US Government Data Shows Abstinence Education Coincides With Teen Birth Decline
During past eight years, as funding for abstinence education increased, young, unmarried teen birth rate has been cut in half

WASHINGTON, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As Congress works today to pass HR 3162, a bill which includes opening abstinence funding to states that want to teach contraception to teens, a new analysis of government data shows that increases in abstinence education funding coincide with decreasing teen birth rates.

Young, African-American unmarried teens (ages 10-14) had the most drastic decrease, with their birth rates being the lowest in recorded history. The birth rates for all teens ages 10-14 are the lowest in 40 years. In addition, the birth rates for all teens ages 15-19 are the lowest in 20 years. Specifically, in 1995 and 1998, when abstinence education funding was significantly increased, the teen birth rate began its sharpest decline.

During the past eight years, as funding for authentic abstinence education has increased, the young, unmarried teen birth rate has been cut in half. Charts illustrating these declines can be found by clicking here (http://www.projectreality.org/pdf/contentmgmt/1014_Teen_Birth_Rate_and_Funding.pdf )
for age 10-14 chart and here (http://www.projectreality.org/pdf/contentmgmt/1517_Teen_Birth_Rate_and_Funding.pdf ) for age 15-17 chart.
"Here is yet another piece of evidence proving that authentic abstinence education IS working," stated Libby Macke, director of Project Reality. "These statistics reinforce what we've known all along, that teens respond to a positive abstinence message when it is given to them."

Project Reality and other abstinence education organizations across the country strive to reach teens with a message of abstinence until marriage. Comprehensive sex education programs claim to include abstinence in their messaging, however it has been found that less than 5% percent of comprehensive programs discuss abstinence at all.

"This national debate is about what constitutes adolescent health. If this bill passes, abstinence opponents such as Planned Parenthood could receive federal funds to teach their version of abstinence." stated Macke. Planned Parenthood's website currently recommends curricula such as Focus on Kids that includes condom relay races (p. 108), Be Proud! Be Responsible! that recommends fantasizing during class time about condom use (p. 75) and Teen Talk which encourages teachers to blow up condoms in class (p. 16).

Ultrasounds Used for Sex-Selected Abortion in Ethnic Canadian Communities

By Elizabeth O'Brien

SURREY, BC, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Evidence suggests that ultrasound ads may be targeting Indo-Canadian groups to determine the sex of their unborn babies, which in turn may lead to abortions based on sex-selection, as is happening in numerous countries throughout the world.

Two Punjabi-language newspapers, the Mississauga-based Ajit Weekly and the Hamdard Weekly, published in Toronto, New York, Vancouver, California and India, have published adds for ultrasound clinics, the CBC reports. These papers, which are distributed throughout Canada, encouraged couples to discover the sex of their unborn baby.

One ad provides a phone number for BC Punjabi as well as English speakers, who will help them to make appointments at Koala Labs, an ultrasound clinic in Blaine, Washington. According to the CBC, the ad states, "You are told the sex immediately."

Charan Gill, head of the immigrant Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society, claims that these ultrasound ads are being used to encourage sex-selection that results in female children being aborted.

Gill, who fought against newspaper ads for ultrasound clinics 15 years ago, stated, "It's really, really sad that some newspapers, for sake of money, are misleading the public. The end result is they will tell the sex of the baby so that people that don't want baby girls can abort it."

The idea that female children are less desireable is based in the Indian tradition of arranged marriages in which the bride's father must give a costly dowry to the family of the groom at his daughter's wedding. One advertisement outside of an ultrasound clinic summed it up, "Pay 500 rupees now and save 50,000 later." In India women are often still looked upon as second class citizens, receiving a lower level of education and lower quality health care.

In a 2006 article entitled "Canada's Lost Daughters," Andrea Mrozek, Manager of Research and Communication for the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, noted a significant imbalance in the male-female ratio in certain areas where there is a large ethnic group.

According to a Statistics Canada census, in Surrey, where nearly a third of the immigrant population is from India, the sex-ratio was highly imbalaced. In 2003, for example, instead of the normal ratio of 105 boys to every 100 girls, "there were 109. In 2000, it was nearly 111, in 1999, 107, and in 1998, 110."

Referring to this and other imbalances in communities with a large specific ethnic group, the report noted, "since the communities mentioned above have seen hundreds of thousands of live births in the last decade, the number of missing daughters may be somewhere in the thousands."

According to Mrozek sex-selection is a factor, the CBC reports, and female abortions may explain why.

Mrozek told LifeSiteNews.com, "Ultrasounds are obviously not the problem. Sex-selection for abortion is very difficult to combat because there is no easy way to track the connection between ultrasound clinics and abortions." Speaking about a possible solution, she stated, "cracking down on ultrasound clinics would in no way help the situation."

The real issue, she continued, is "whether we are prepared as a society to identify that certain reasons for having an abortion are not good. Are Canadians prepared to question whether there is a bad reason for abortion?"

Read related LifeSiteNews coverage:

7,000 Unborn Girls Die From Sex-Selection Abortion Daily in India
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/dec/06121401.html

China, India and Canada Kill UN Resolution Against Sex Selected Abortions
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/mar/07030811.html

INDIA'S TOP COURT BANS SEX-SELECTION ABORTION ADVERTISING
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/oct/02100906.html

BABY SEX-SELECTION HITS AMERICA
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/1998/sept/98091001.html

500,000 Girls Aborted Per Year in India new Study Finds
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jan/06010909.html

Illinois Court Rules Pharmacists May Reject Plan B

By Peter J. Smith

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Illinois pharmacists are not obligated to violate their consciences and dispense Plan-B and "emergency contraceptives" according to this week's ruling by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Jeanne Scott ruled Tuesday that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's executive order in April 2005 requiring pharmacies "without delay" to provide Plan-B and other abortifacient "emergency contraceptives" mandated store owners to provide it, but did not mean that pharmacists themselves had to violate their conscience and religious beliefs by dispensing it.

Scott's decision means that a discrimination lawsuit by pharmacist Ethan Vandersand can proceed against retail giant Wal-Mart, which contended it had a legal obligation to punish incompliant pharmacists under the executive order. Wal-Mart asked for a dismissal of the case Ethan Vandersand v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. on the basis that Illinois conscience legislation did not apply to pharmacists or exempt them from dispensing drugs that conflict with their religious views.

Wal-Mart placed Vandersand on unpaid leave after the pharmacist declined to dispense Plan B at the Beardstown Wal-Mart pharmacy to a Planned Parenthood nurse seeking the drug on behalf of a female patient in February 2006.

Justice Scott ruled in favor of Vandersand and his attorneys from the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), who claimed Vandersand was legally protected from discipline by the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act and Title VII, which requires employers to accommodate employees' religious beliefs.
"The statute prohibits discrimination against any person for refusing to provide health care because of his conscience," Scott said, adding that providing medication "constitutes health-care services."

"Any person, including Vandersand, who refuses to participate in any way in providing medication because of his conscience is protected by the Right of Conscience Act," the US district judge ruled.

Scott's ruling means that Vandersand may proceed with his case against Wal-Mart under both the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act and Title VII. Vandersand is seeking lost pay and unspecified monetary damages against Wal-Mart.

Scott's ruling leaves in place Gov. Blagovich's executive order that pharmacies provide "emergency contraception", however it clarifies that pharmacy owners, not pharmacists have to comply with carrying out the law, and the latter are not obliged to violate their consciences.

The ruling validates the objections of the more than a dozen Illinois pharmacists who have been fired or suspended for refusing to dispense the drugs on religious or ethical grounds by employers intent on complying with the executive order.

Attack on Pregnant Woman Should be Double Murder Attempt - Catholic Women's League

By Hilary White

DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Alan Bryan the Dartmouth man who assaulted his pregnant 28-year-old former girlfriend, Charlene Marie Knapp, should be charged with two counts, not one, of attempted murder says Canada's largest Catholic charitable organisation.

The president of the Nova Scotia branch of the Catholic Women's League, Shirley MacDougall, told the Halifax Chronicle Herald, "From our point of view, a foetus is a life. It should be a double attempted murder."

Alan Bryan is charged with one count each of attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault with a sword. He has been ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment at the Nova Scotia Hospital

Knapp is in hospital and listed in serious condition after she was discovered in the small hours of Tuesday morning with multiple stab wounds and deep cuts from knee to neck. Bryan and Knapp lived for about three months in a Dartmouth apartment together with Ms. Knapp's six-year-old daughter who was not present during the attack.

In Canada, no legal protection or recognition whatever exists for a child before birth, including the right to protection from assault. Under the current law, some court cases have allowed a child to sue for injuries incurred while in the womb, but only after the child is born and acquires legal existence. The law also allows an unborn child to be named as heir to an estate, but no legal repercussions will occur if he is killed by abortion.

Last year, an unborn victims of violence bill brought forward by Conservative MP Leon Benoit, was squelched in the committee at the behest of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Benoit plans to bring forward another bill in the next parliament.

C-291 proposed making it a separate offence to kill or injure an unborn child while committing a violent crime against its mother.

Further Splits in the Anglican Communion Over Gay Ordinations

By Hilary White

RICHMOND, Virginia, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A move to depose 20 clergy by Episcopal Bishop Peter Lee of Virginia has been rebuffed as irrelevant by the ministers in question, who said that Lee has no authority over them. The group representing the clergy said, "This announcement from the Diocese of Virginia is like an employer trying to fire someone who has already quit."

Lee said he was defrocking the ministers because they refused to adhere to the Episcopal Church's newly adopted acceptance of homosexuality, and over differences in "theological interpretations".

Dailypress.com quoted Rev. Jack Grubbs saying, "The reality is it doesn't have much effect on us." Grubbs is the rector of one of 19 Virginia churches that have split from the Episcopal Church and sought the oversight of more conservative Anglican bishops in Africa through the organisation CANA, a missionary branch of the Church of Nigeria.

A newly formed organisation, the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV), to which the 20 clergy belong, called Lee's move "divisive."

"We are sorry that Bishop Lee would seek to make such a public announcement when the clergy are no longer under his jurisdiction. The clergy he seeks to depose include a bishop-elect in the Province of Uganda, as well as a number of other ordained men and women who have faithfully carried out their pastoral duties as priests in the Church," said ADV Vice Chairman Jim Oakes.

Oakes quoted a decision by a meeting in February at Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania where the bishops of the Worldwide Anglican Communion declared the US Episcopal Church to be out of step with the rest of the Communion for its insistence on normalizing homosexuality. The bishops told the US and Canadian bishops to reform their views to adhere to traditional Christian understanding or be expelled.

The Worldwide Anglican Communion has been shaken to the breaking point since the US branch in 2003 approved the ordination of an active homosexual, Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire. Since then, at international meetings of bishops, clergy and laity a deep rift has been exposed in Anglicanism between traditional elements adhering to Christian doctrines, and the groups wanting to adopt the mores of postmodern secularism.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Anglican Hierarchy ~ US Anglicans Have Seven Months to Shape up or Ship Out
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07022007.html

Judge Forces Idaho to Fund Estrogen Treatment for Male Inmate Who Thinks He Is A Woman

By John Jalsevac

BOISE, ID, August 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Federal district Judge Mikel Williams ruled on Friday that the Idaho Department of Correction must provide an inmate with estrogen therapy.

The inmate believes that he is a woman trapped in a man's body. The man, who castrated himself using a disposable razor blade while in prison, demanded female hormone therapy, and also changed his name from Randall Gammett to Jenniffer Spencer.

After prison officials refused estrogen therapy, but instead offered testosterone therapy to replace the hormones lost to castration, the inmate sued, alleging he was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment and other constitutional violations.

State officials said the inmate was in prison for several years before demanding treatment. In 2004, he survived an attempted suicide. Two months later he tried to castrate himself, failing in the first attempt but later succeeding.

"There is no evidence before the court that female homrmones have, in fact, proved harmful to male subjects who are no longer producing testosterone," said Justice Williams, according to AP.

The case of Randall Gammett, now Jenniffer Spencer is yet to go to trial. Justice Williams' order is for the state to provide the hormone treatment pending trial, which is yet unscheduled.

The legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which is representing Spencer, welcomed Williams' ruling. Shannon Minter refers to the Spencer as "she", saying, "It got her the relief which she so urgently needed without any further delay. The decision is just so overwhelmingly positive that we are very hopefully the department will now work out a settlement with us without insisting on going forward with an entire trial.

Liberty Counsel, however, is a nationwide legal organization with experience in litigation of transsexual legal issues. Mathew D. Staver, the Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, pointed out the absurdity of the current case, saying, "Hormones and plastic surgery do not change a person's sex, which is an immutable trait fixed at birth. Plastic surgery and hormone treatment to alter a person's sexual appearance is no more warranted than is liposuction for an anorexic. The state should not be compelled to fund so-called sex reassignment surgery, especially when such treatment is not widely accepted, is experimental, and has not been shown to resolve the disturbed mental behavior."

Bryan Fischer, the executive director of hte Idaho Values Alliance, agreed with Staver, saying, "Whether transgenderism ought to be normalized, and whether taxpayer dollars should be spent in futile attempts to turn males into females, are decisions that should be made by Idaho's lawmakers, no by unelected and unaccountable judges."

(c) Copyright: LifeSiteNews.com, a production of Interim Publishing.
Permission to republish granted but acknowledgement of source (use LifeSiteNews.com) is *REQUIRED*

WORLDWIDE RELIGIOUS NEWS AUGUST 3

Africa:

"Christian convert seeks recognition in Egypt"
(AFP, August 2, 2007)

Cairo, Egypt- An Egyptian who converted from Islam to Christianity has launched a bid to have the change recognized officially in what is believed to be the first such case, he said Thursday.

"Lebanon cleric bans honor killings"
by Hussein Dakroub (AP, August 2, 2007)

Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanon's most senior Shiite Muslim cleric issued a religious edict Thursday banning honor killings, calling the custom of murdering a female relative for sexual misconduct "a repulsive act."

"Indian New Age guru busts stress with breathing"
by Penny MacRae (AFP, August 2, 2007)

New Delhi, India - Dozens of people are crammed into a small room, lying on the floor and breathing in rhythm to the loud whooshing sounds coming from the mouth of India's leading New Age guru, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

"Modi Govt to enforce anti-conversion law sans changes"
("Zee News," August 2, 2007)

Ahmedabad, India - With Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma having returned a controversial bill passed by Gujarat assembly amending the law to check religious conversion, the Gujarat government has decided to enforce the law without the changes.

"China Insists on Naming Living Buddhas"
(AP, August 3, 2007)

Beijing, China - Ratcheting up its control over Tibetan Buddhism, China on Friday asserted the sole right to recognize living Buddhas, reincarnations of famous lamas that form the backbone of the religion's clergy.

"Malaysia minister breaks ranks over 'Islamic state' remark"
(AP, August 3, 2007)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - A senior Cabinet Minister has broken ranks with the Deputy Prime Minister on whether Malaysia is an Islamic state or not, reported Malaysiakini.

"The ultra-Orthodox Jews on a mission to save Jerusalem from secularism"
by Rory McCarthy ("The Guardian," August 3, 2007)

Jerusalem, Israel - His office is in a dark and musty basement, the shelves laden with religious and legal texts and boxes of files. Two white shirts are slung over hangers in the corner and Yoelish Krausz is sitting at his desk. Here he works as the operations officer of his deeply religious, ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, the Neturei Karta.

"Jakhar sends MP conversion Bill to President"
("Indian Express," August 3, 2007)

Bhopal, India - Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar has sent the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill for the consideration of the President. The Act, first passed in 1968, was amended by the BJP Government in 2006, without any discussion in the Assembly.

"Catholic Church loses appeal over South Park episode"
("NZPA," August 2, 2007)

Wellington, New Zealand - The Catholic Church is "surprised, shocked and disappointed" after losing a High Court appeal over a controversial episode of the television show South Park.

"Religion in the News"
by Nicole Winfield (AP, August 3, 2007)

Vatican City - Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, the outspoken church leader who was killed in 1980 as he celebrated Mass, has become as polarizing in death as he was in life.

"Islamic creationist group launches glitzy, global blitz"
by Yigal Schleifer ("Christian Science Monitor," August 3, 2007)

Istanbul, Turkey - On a recent afternoon inside Istanbul's busiest subway station, a young man beckoned commuters into a subterranean "fossil exhibit" full of skulls and insects dating back millions of years.

"Swedish Church to join Stockholm Gay Pride parade"
(AFP, August 2, 2007)

Stockholm, Sweden - The Swedish Lutheran Church will march for for the first time in the Gay Pride parade in Stockholm under the slogan "Love is stronger that everything", the Church announced on Thursday.

"Not enough evidence to charge Bountiful members: Prosecutor"
("CP," August 01, 2007)

Vancouver, Canada - A special prosecutor has concluded there's not enough evidence to charge members of a British Columbia polygamist colony with sex offences involving minors, closing yet another door in the government's bid to find a way to levy charges against the breakaway Mormon sect.

"Off-Off-Off Broadway: Theater Comes to Church"
by Michael J. Toscano ("Washington Post," August 2, 2007)

Washington, USA - "It is 'Grease' meets 'Happy Days,' with a 'Peppermint Twist.' " That's how lawyer-turned-composer-playwright Lou Ann K. Behan laughingly describes her latest musical comedy, "Over the Boardwalk," which has its premiere tonight in Reston.

"Religion today"
by Travis Reed (AP, August 2, 2007)

Orlando, USA - Jesus Christ is crucified and resurrected here six days a week. Snarling Roman soldiers whip and drag him, and somber audience members watch. Some quietly weep at a pageant bloody and cruel. It is the grand finale at the Holy Land Experience, and not the attraction most tourists envision in an Orlando vacation.

"Doctors accused of using faith to violate gay bias laws"
by Laura Parker ("USA Today," August 2, 2007)

San Diego, USA - When does the freedom to practice religion become discrimination?

"LA minister guilty of distributing marijuana at church"
(AP, August 2, 2007)

Los Angeles, USA - A minister with mail order credentials was found guilty Thursday of distributing marijuana through his Hollywood church.

"Exorcism leaves teenager seriously injured"
("WNDU," August 2, 2007)

Bloomington, USA - An Indiana student minister faces criminal charges after investigators said he committed an exorcism on an autistic teenager.

LifeSiteNews.com - Thursday August 2, 2007

* British Columbia to Seek Supreme Court Opinion on Whether Polygamy is Constitutional
* Prominent Ontario Bishop Comments on Ontario Catholic Teachers Conference Keynoted by Abortion Advocate
* United Nations tells Hondurans that Abortion Ban is "A Crime"
* Brain-Damaged Man "Awakened" After Six Years of Semi-Consciousness
* Canada's Crossroads Walkers Prepare to Enter Ottawa: Parliament Hill Only Days Away
* Anti-life "HillaryCare" Socialized Med Scheme Back as House Passes CHAMP Bill; Senate Follows Suit Today
* Son Suing Mother and Lesbian Partner for Horrifying Abuse
* UK Bishop: Couples that Cohabit and Reject Responsibility of Marriage Should Not Receive its Legal Benefits
* Dutch Embassies Now Outposts for Spreading Homosexual Agenda

British Columbia to Seek Supreme Court Opinion on Whether Polygamy is Constitutional

By Elizabeth O'Brien

VANCOUVER, BC, August 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A private special prosecutor of the BC attorney general has requested that the top BC courts examine the constitutionality of polygamy in Canada. The decision will take into account the religious freedom and equality provisions outlined by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The request was made after BC Attorney General Wally Oppal hired Vancouver lawyer Richard Peck to investigate the community of Bountiful, a breakaway sect from Mormonism that practices polygamy. Before cracking down on the group, Oppal, who has attempted for years to bring charges against the community, wanted to see what might happen in a future court decision.

Following his investigation, Peck advised that sex-abuse charges not be laid, but rather that a reference question be addressed to the BC Court of Appeal and "a probable further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada," the Globe and Mail reports.

Located in south-eastern BC, the community has flagrantly broken the Canadian anti-polygamy law of over sixty years, and there is evidence that older men have been importing wives from the US and having sex with girls who are as young as 13. In addition, when boys reach adolescence they are removed from the community to ensure less competition for the older men.

At present polygamy is illegal in Canada under section 293 of the Criminal Code and has been so for many years, yet actual prosecutions have been extremely rare. In 1990, the Globe and Mail reports, the Crown rejected the idea of prosecuting Bountiful because they were afraid that it might result in the polygamy law being overturned. In a court case the polygamy ban could be struck down as unconstitutional under the freedom of religion and equality provisions in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

If this happened, however, it would likely open up a whole Pandora's Box of problems. As Gwen Landolt, National Director of REAL Women of Canada, explained to LifeSiteNews.com, once you allow polygamy based on the Charter there will be a whole string of minority groups demanding outrageous rights. She stated, "It's endless, the chaos this has created, and we're paying for it now."

Portions of Peck's report were released after the investigation that emphasized the importance of a definitive decision on polygamy. He wrote, "The legality of polygamy in Canada has, for too long, been characterized by uncertainty." As a result, "the integrity of the legal system suffers from such an impasse and an authoritative statement from the courts is necessary in order to resolve it."

Peck also stated, "After an extensive study of the relevant material, I have come to the conclusion that polygamy itself is at the root of the problem." Agreeing to defend his recommendations in court if necessary, Peck concluded, "Polygamy is the underlying phenomenon from which all the other alleged harms flow, and the public interest would best be served by addressing it directly."

Landolt, however, pointed out an even deeper issue that she believe is the real root of the problem. She explained that when the laws safe-guarding marriage were broken down during the same-sex "marriage" rulings, it opened the door to the ever more bizarre issues that Canadians' are presently facing.

Landolt told LifeSiteNews.com, "During the debate on same-sex marriage, when Liberal Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler adamantly testified that polygamy would not be an issue, everyone knew very well that it would be. If you can break down the laws guarding heterosexual marriage between a man and a woman, then anything can happen. If you can have a partner of the same sex, then logically you and have two or three of the opposite sex."

She continued, "If polygamy is upheld in Canada, how long will it take to be upheld around the world? As the same-sex marriage has turned out to be, it's an international problem."

See related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Canadian Government Study Suggests Legalizing Polygamy
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jan/06011301.html

Provincial Attorney-General Warns Canada's Polygamy Law Open to Legal Challenge 
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/feb/05020406.html

LifeSite Special Report: The Conspiracy to Abolish Marriage in Canada
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/060925a.html

BC Teacher's Union Urges Province: Defund Faith-Based Schools Teaching 'Religious Intolerance'
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06031604.html

Read MacLean's Magazine Article: Polygamy: Legal in Canada
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?c..20070625_106285_106285

Read REAL Women of Canada Article: Polygamy Around the Corner
http://www.realwomenca.com/newsletter/2006_jan_feb/article_5.html

Prominent Ontario Bishop Comments on Ontario Catholic Teachers Conference Keynoted by Abortion Advocate

By John-Henry Westen

TORONTO, August 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Biennial Conference of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) taking place August 23-25 in Toronto features a leading Canadian radical feminist and advocate of abortion as a keynote speaker.  Beyond that, one of the conference sessions promotes building "inclusive communities in Catholic schools" for "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two-spirited and Transgendered students."

On Saturday August 25 at 10:45am former Toronto Star columnist Michele Landsberg will deliver a keynote address to the Catholic teachers.  While Landsberg is identified in the conference brochure as a "Social Justice Advocate," she is well known as one of the nation's most vocal critics of pro-life beliefs and a severe critic of traditional Christian moral teaching.

For 25 years Landsberg wrote a column in Canada's largest paper The Toronto Star, which regularly trashed orthodox Christianity, the pro-life movement and anything else which confronted her radical feminist ideology.

Landsberg slandered the world's largest Catholic pro-life group Human Life International, as "purveyors of hate and violence" and "true fascists."  She blamed the pro-life movement for the murder of abortionists falsely claiming that the murders were the result of the "disgusting rhetoric" and "fake 'documentaries' about screaming fetuses" of the pro-life movement.  In her columns she also attacked the Catholic Church's teaching against condoms applauding the work of the pro-abortion group "Catholics for a Free Choice."

For her slanderous remarks against Evangelical Christians Landsberg was censured by the Ontario Press Council.  The council upheld a complaint by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada which concerned an article in which Landsberg blasted Evangelical Christianity for creating "the kind of parents who teach their children to hate and taunt their schoolmates who are children of lesbians or gay men."

OECTA's promotion of acceptance of homosexuality in the classroom will come as no surprise to LifeSiteNews.com readers.  In previous years the organization has proposed a resolution backing homosexual 'marriage' (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/feb/04021904.html ), and even proposed to intervene on behalf of a male high school student who was suing his Catholic school to be permitted to bring his homosexual 'boyfriend' to the school prom (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/may/02050606.html ).

Bishop James Wingle, President of the Ontario Bishops Conference commented on the OECTA situation telling LifeSiteNews.com that "The ongoing struggle is to see that the integrity of our Catholic educational system really depends on having people who are fully committed to Catholic faith in the system." It is a question "of integrity" he said.

"The mission of Catholic education depends entirely on being committed to it.  The issue within the Catholic system is assuring that all the partners within the system, the teachers, administrators, parents, the families, be in harmony with the Church and the Church's teaching."

While he said that OECTA is not directly under the supervisory control of the Bishops, Bishop Wingle did say that the term "Catholic" is reserved to those groups which adhere to Catholic teaching.  "For any association or group to call itself Catholic it does indeed have to meet certain criteria," he said.  "Any group that wishes to describe itself as Catholic it has to have a mission that is consistent and coherent with what is Catholic.  If it adamantly and flagrantly violates that then there is an issue."

"We can see that for instance in a hospital which calls itself Catholic and then would systematically and publicly violate something that is intrinsic to the nature of the Catholic faith.  It would be entirely inconsistent to continue to describe itself as a Catholic institution."

OECTA has certainly been consistent in its anti-Catholic approach at its conferences.  Last year the OECTA conference was keynoted by teacher Joanna Manning, a prominent member of 'Catholics for a Free Choice" and self-acknowledged lesbian activist. (see coverage: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06031409.html )

To see the brochure with details of the OECTA conference click here:
http://www.oecta.on.ca/pdfs/pedagogy07.pdf

To respectfully express concerns:

Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops
10 St. Mary St., Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1P9
Phone: (416) 923-1423Fax: (416) 923-1509

General Secretary 
Alphonse Ainsworth 
Email: ainswortha@occb.on.ca

Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association
P.O. Box 2064,
Suite 1804, 20 Eglinton Avenue West,
Toronto, ON
M4R 1K8
Tel: 416-932-9460
Fax: 416-932-9459
Email: ocsta@ocsta.on.ca

OECTA President Donna Marie Kennedy:
d.kennedy@oecta.on.ca

United Nations tells Hondurans that Abortion Ban is "A Crime"
Sao Paulo Catholic University prof CEDAW rep insists on abortion access, homosexual and lesbian rights

By Samantha Singson

NEW YORK, August 2, 2007 (C-FAM.org) -  At the latest round of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee meetings in New York, members of the CEDAW committee criticized Hondurans for their pro-life laws, telling their delegation that the total ban on abortions is "a crime."  Committee member Heisoo Shin told the Honduran delegation that it was necessary for the government to "create a momentum, a social force that stops the crime that allows a woman to die, to risk unsafe abortion and not have self-determination."

When the Honduran delegation responded that government efforts were aimed at prevention of early and unwanted pregnancies, CEDAW member Silvia Pimentel, faculty member at the Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo, fired back that the government had been as comprehensive as possible on prevention and that "there are situations where prevention is not enough." She continued, "Women have their reasons to seek an abortion, which should be respected."  Pimentel admitted that those reasons did not always include a threat to the mother's life, but that she could not understand the abortion ban in Honduras where "the interests of the fetus outweigh those of the mother."

In response to the statements, a Honduran representative reminded the CEDAW committee that under article 67 of the country's constitution unborn children have the same rights as born children. The head of the Honduran delegation acknowledged recommendations had been submitted to her government by other UN human rights commissions regarding the termination of pregnancy and that these were being considered as possible reform issues.

Driving home the committee's stance during Hungary's review, Silvia Pimentel criticized the content of Hungarians' planning materials. The Brazilian expressed concern over brochures entitled "Life is a Miracle," saying that conservatives often construed such material as reason for not having an abortion. Other CEDAW committee members pressed Belize, Brazil, Kenya and Liechtenstein on their abortion laws, calling on them to institute legal reform to formally permit abortions.

States regularly refute or ignore the committee's questions on abortion with the understanding that the questions are not based upon obligations of the treaty, which does not mention abortion, but rather are based on the committee's personal interpretations of the treaty. 

In a similar vein, delegations listened patiently as committee members used article 16 on marriage and family to press for homosexual and lesbian rights. Pimentel questioned Honduras on the subject, Anamah Tan questioned Brazil on whether "married homosexual couples" were protected under the country's marriage laws, and Ruth Halperin-Kaddari questioned South Korea on the name and focus of the government's "Healthy Family Act." Halperin-Kaddari said that its traditional notions of the nuclear family seemed to be "judgmental" of other forms of family, such as divorced, cohabitating, and same-sex couples.

The 2007 CEDAW sessions wrap up in New York this week. Earlier this year, the committee announced it would be moving the bulk of its meetings to Geneva starting in January 2008.

Brain-Damaged Man "Awakened" After Six Years of Semi-Consciousness

By Elizabeth O'Brien

NEW YORK, August 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A severely brain-damaged man who was in a minimally conscious state for six years has recently regained new levels of awareness and physical capabilities after receiving electrical brain implants.

The unnamed 38-year old man had his head repeatedly kicked during a mugging in 1999 and was left unable to talk or move properly. In addition, he was kept alive on a feeding tube.

In a study led by Dr. Nicholas Schiff of Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University in New York, researchers conducted a treatment on him known as "deep brain stimulation." This is a medical procedure that has been frequently used for patients with Parkinson's disease and depression. During the stimulation process, two metal electrodes are inserted deep within the brain, which then give off electrical impulses. The patient in question is the first of twelve patients to undergo the treatment as part of the study.

In a seemingly miraculous recovery, the treatment stimulated parts of the man's brain that were thought to be irrecoverable. As a consequence he can now he can watch a movie, drink from a cup, and say his parents' name, NBC10 reports.

"My son can now eat or watch a movie without falling asleep," the patient's mother said. "He can express pain. He can cry, and he can laugh. The most important part is he can say 'Mommy' and Pop.'"
According to DailyHealth News, study co-investigator Joseph Giacino, associate director of neuropsychology at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute, stated, "Hopefully, this will now begin to open doors that were closed up to this point."

He continued, "There's a very nihilistic view that when a brain is badly damaged there's not much we can do to change that. We have a very tough time getting research funded because of the need to jump higher than most other research. By demonstrating that we did move the bar in this patient this late, we hope that it's going to force people to revisit this somewhat nihilistic view."

The same treatment was also used on Terri Schiavo, but its lack of success was allegedly on account of her highly deteriorated condition. In an official statement at Terri's death, however, Terri's family, the Schindler's, referred to the opinion of Dr. William Cheshire, a neurologist from the Mayo Clinic, who agreed with them that Terri was "awake, aware, and at least minimally cognitive."

While the man in the present case was still in a semi-conscious state, he sometimes opened his eyes, moved his thumb in response to questions, and according to some reports, shifted his limbs. In contrast, while Terri Schiavo was alive, her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, testified that their daughter "reacts to them with tears and smiles and moves her head."

Similarly, Priests for Life Director Father Frank Pavone, who visited Terri frequently while she dying, stated, "She was very responsive to me, she closed her eyes when I prayed with her she opened her eyes at the end of the prayer, she laughed at jokes, she returned the kisses of people who kissed her."

Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director for Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told LifeSiteNews.com that in the case of Terri Schiavo, "she was dehydrated to death. They said she was in coma, but was she really? She was certainly brain-damaged, but she was treated as if she was a living corpse. We don't know whether Terry would have recovered."

"We shouldn't be giving up on these people," he continued. "We don't know enough about the brain to consider them dead."

Schadenberg concluded, "Society has to make a decision. Are we going to make a commitment to these most vulnerable people, or are going to treat them within cost-containment analysis?" If society makes the second choice, he said, the same thing will happen to the most vulnerable as happened to Terri Schiavo. "How hard-hearted a society are we becoming?" he asked.

Read Related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Recovered "Vegetative State" Patient Kate Adamson Speaks Before Schiavo Rally
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/mar/05031408.html

Canada's Crossroads Walkers Prepare to Enter Ottawa: Parliament Hill Only Days Away
Supporters invited to Millenium flame on Parliament Hill at 11:00am on Saturday August 11

By Elizabeth O'Brien

OTTAWA, August 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After covering approximately 4,500 kilometers to encourage pro-life awareness and pray for an end to abortion, Canada's Crossroads Walkers are just over a week away from the long-awaited goal of Parliament Hill.

Ever since they started in Vancouver this May, the first Canadian group to perform the Crossroads walk has been taking turns day and night, burning up a set number of kilometers during each shift, in order to reach the capital by August 11. They have crossed the Rocky Mountains, traversed the prairies and made their way through the wilderness of Northern Ontario. Now they are only days away from Parliament Hill.

LifeSiteNews.com interviewed Crossroads participant Cyril Doll as he was walking along Highway 2, overlooking the St. Lawrence River northeast of Brockville. When asked what has been the most challenging aspect of the 3-month long journey, Doll said that it was the physical pain. "I think everyone could attest to that. The physical challenge has definitely been the hardest."

"It would seem as if the further along the easier it would get," he said, but that isn't the case. "Everyone's pretty beat up right now-the blisters, the wear and tear, the shin-splits."

The other most difficult part of the trip, he told LifeSiteNews.com, is the "apathy we've received from Canadians from coast to capital. If we don't have people constantly asking us what we're doing, supporting us, or even detractors, it's a temptation to lose focus. If you don't have someone either fighting you or patting you on the back, you kind of forget what it's all about."

He noted, however, that seeing people's apathetic attitude "strengthens our will to keep going, to say, 'hey this is needed. We have to keep going otherwise we're just a guilty as everyone else.'"

Doll also told LifeSiteNews.com that the greatest blessing, the most rewarding aspect of the journey has been "having faith and just knowing what we're doing is going to make a difference. We may not see the fruits of our work," he said, "but as Catholics we know that our pain, our suffering, our prayers are never going to go to waste. The good Lord is distributing the graces."

"It's rewarding knowing that at the end of the day, as a group of walkers, we can all rest in comfort knowing that we are reaching our goal."

At present there are seven walkers: Cyril Doll (Calgary, AB), Jeremy Fraser (High River, AB), Greg Roth (Saskatoon, SK), Etienne O'Toole (Vancouver, BC), Ben Broussard (Sulpher, LA), Sarah Gallaher (Manassas, VA) and Wendy Macagno (Mojave, CA).

The group is planning to arrive in Ottawa on Friday, August 10 in time to join a group of pro-lifers in prayer before the Morgentaler Abortion Site on Bank Street at noon. The next morning, they will then pray for an end to abortion in front of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Supporters are encouraged to gather at the Centennial Flame at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning to give the walkers a warm welcome as they arrive at Parliament Hill. Pro-life MP Pierre Lemieux (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell) will be present and has said, "He is pleased to welcome them on Parliament Hill."

The Crossroads Walkers Ottawa Schedule:

Saturday
10:30 a.m. - pray at the Supreme Court Building
11:00 a.m. - Parliament Hill - MP Pierre Lemieux will welcome the walkers
 
Walker will speak at three churches for Mass:
St. Patrick's Basilica at 4:30 pm - corner of Kent and Nepean Streets
Divine Infant Parish at 5:00 pm - 6658 Bilberry Drive, Orleans
St. John the Apostle Parish at 5:00 pm - 2340 Basline Road, Nepean

Sunday
Morning Mass:
St. Patrick's Basilica, corner of Kent and Nepean Streets:
Time: 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.
Divine Infant Parish, 6658 Bilberry Drive, Orleans:
Time: 8 a.m., 9:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.
Annunciation of the Lord Parish, 2414 Ogilvie Road, Gloucester:
Time: 8:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.
St. John the Apostle, 2340 Basline Road, Nepean
Time: 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and Noon
 
Evening Mass:
Annunciation of the Lord, 2414 Ogilvie Road, Gloucester:
Lifeteen Mass at 6 p.m. and youth meeting, LIFE Night, afterwards from 7:15 to 9:15. (They will be speaking at the youth group meeting for 10 or 15 minutes)
Divine Infant, 6658 Bilberry Drive, Orleans at 6:30 p.m.
St. Patrick's Basilica (corner of Kent and Nepean Streets) at 9:00 p.m.

Previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

Canada's Crossroads Walkers Enter Toronto With Parliament Hill Only Two Weeks Away
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07072506.html

Students Begin Walk Across Canada to Promote Pro-Life Cause
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/may/07052207.html

Crossroads Walkers Through the Prairies, Loving the Canadian Shield
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jul/07070608.html

600 Miles Later Canada's Crossroads Walk Still Going Strong: Walkers in Calgary for the Weekend
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07060804.html

Canada's Crossroads Walkers approximate daily Schedule
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07060810.html

Anti-life "HillaryCare" Socialized Med Scheme Back as House Passes CHAMP Bill; Senate Follows Suit Today
Cuts funding for abstinence, covers abortifacient drugs, leaves Seniors with less options

By Peter J. Smith

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The advent of socialized health care and massive taxpayer abortion subsidies may take the United States by stealth, unless the new health care bill proposed by Democrats Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Rep. John Dingle (D-MI) is vetoed by President Bush.

Today the US House of Representatives voted 225-204 for a massive expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a federal block grant for the states given by Congress designed ostensibly to give health insurance to children of poor working families. In practice, however, opponents of the funding argue, the program has become a backdoor into socialized medicine.

The Children's Health and Medicare Plan (CHAMP) or H.R. 3162, was proposed earlier this year by Sen. Clinton and Rep. Dingle, and would add $50 billion to SCHIP's $25 billion budget and morph it into a new entitlement program considerably more socialist, more anti-family and more anti-life than before.

The Clinton-Dingell plan as it exists in the House would cover households with incomes up to 400% above the poverty level, raising the current ceiling from 200%. The program, therefore, would cover 71% of all children in families of four making as much as $82,000.

However pro-life advocates are concerned about the anti-life legislation in CHAMP. The House bill removes Title V abstinence education funding, funds "family planning" services including abortifacient drugs, and guts the Unborn Child Rule, a regulation that allowed states to provide prenatal care to unborn children and their mothers under SCHIP.

"The new House bill's 'pregnant woman' rule seeks to deny the existence of the child in utero while still covering the adolescent mother," stated Tony Perkins of Family Research Council. "This is a calculated move to open the door to federal taxpayer-funded abortions."

Perkins said that funding of abortions would also be massively expanded in the 17 states that currently permit taxpayer funded abortion. Pro-life Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) has submitted an amendment to codify the "Unborn Child Rule" although its addition to the Senate bill today is unlikely.

National Right to Life Committee has observed that CHAMP also will force senior citizens on Medicare to drop out of all private fee-for-service plans by 2010, which it says could lead to "involuntary euthanasia" due to certain health care rationing.

"The economic reality is that in order to provide Medicare coverage for the baby boom generation as it retires without unrealistically massive tax increases, government payments per beneficiary will not be able to keep up with medical inflation," NRLC explained.

"If the funds available for health care for senior citizens from all sources are so limited, the only possible result will be rationing."

The Senate is expected to pass its "compromise" version of the Clinton-Dingell CHAMP bill today. The "compromise bill" only expands the coverage ceiling to just 300% of the poverty line and increases the SCHIP budget by $35 billion.

Democrats plan to pay for the new SCHIP scheme by raising federal tobacco taxes to 85 cents and hiking taxes on health insurance companies by $2 per person, which Republicans charge would outrageously drive up the cost of premiums, which are already a burden on working Americans.

"The real plan here is to set the stage for a movement of the next gigantic step in the direction of what should be called Hillary-care -- national socialized medicine," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, (R-CA).

Republicans have offered family-friendly alternatives to reform health insurance laws to give working class Americans tax relief to provide health insurance of their choice for themselves and their families. The "Every American Insured Act" sponsored by Obstetrician Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is said to be able to provide "refundable, advanceable tax credits ($2000-individual/ $5,000 family) to everyone in America regardless of income or employer" in a "budget-neutral manner." President Bush also proposed a $15,000-per family tax deduction to help uninsured Americans buy health insurance on the open market, allowing rival insurers to compete to offer the best coverage at the best price.

However, Congressional Democrats seem intent on putting the United States one step further toward the same kind of unaccountable, universal, and rationed health care system that exists in Canada or in the United Kingdom.

In 1994, then First-lady, now Sen. Hillary Clinton's first foray into establishing socialized medicine - "HillaryCare" - incurred a huge public relations defeat for the Clinton administration, prompting the American electorate to sweep Republicans into control of Congress.

SCHIP must be reauthorized by September 30 or the program will expire. President Bush has vowed to veto any legislation that removes Americans options for private health insurance and increases SCHIP's budget by more than $30 billion.

To contact the White House:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Comments:   202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX:             202-456-2461

E-mail: comments@whitehouse.gov

Vice President Richard Cheney: vice_president@whitehouse.gov

To contact House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/Welcome.shtml

To contact the Senate: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Son Suing Mother and Lesbian Partner for Horrifying Abuse

By Hilary White

AKRON, Ohio, August 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -  19 year-old Darrell Shaffer is suing his mother Mary Rowles, her lesbian partner Alice Jenkins, the Summit County Children's Services Board, the agency's former director, and agency social workers for the horrifying abuse and neglect he and his brothers suffered for years.

Jenkins and Rowles pleaded guilty and were convicted in 2003 of 55 counts of abuse and neglect that included savage beatings, starvation, being locked in a closet and forced to eat animal feces. When they were apprehended by police, the boys were found to be severely malnourished; one boy was 8 years old and weighed only 28 pounds.

In January 2004, the women were each sentenced to 30 years imprisonment and are being held at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville. Shaffer is the eldest of five boys who, at the time of the two women's arrest, were aged six, eight, ten, thirteen and fourteen. Their sister, 12 years old at the time, was not harmed, police said.

Shaffer is asking for $25,000 from each of the defendants. The suit says that local child services made at least three visits to the home between July 1998 and April 2003: "During each of these home visits, there was open, obvious and overwhelming evidence of ongoing abuse of, and neglect to [Shaffer] and his siblings. Nonetheless, defendants...took no further action to protect [Shaffer] and his siblings."

Mary Rowles, the children's mother, had been in a lesbian relationship with Alice Jenkins, described as the "man" in the relationship, for seven years at the time of the arrest. The children were told to call Jenkins "dad", and police said that although they were clearly afraid of their mother, they were "terrified" of Jenkins.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said the boys told police that Jenkins beat them with a hammer, kicked one in the groin with steel-toed boots and forced them to eat dog and cat feces as punishment for sneaking out of their urine-soaked closet and stealing food.

Reports say that Rowles had "adversarial" relationships with the true fathers of her children, but at least one of the men applied for custody of two of the children and complained to Children's Services about the abuse. In May 2003 Brady Postlethwaite and his wife said they had repeatedly tried to get help for the children, but said "we were just called liars."

Testimony at a custody hearing in March 2001 revealed that Summit County Children's Services and Akron police were aware of the allegations but did nothing. Postlethwaite said he and his wife "were told if we made any more complaints we'd be arrested."

Before their convictions, Rowles and Jenkins told press they were proud to be gay.

UK Bishop: Couples that Cohabit and Reject Responsibility of Marriage Should Not Receive its Legal Benefits

By Elizabeth O'Brien

LONDON, United Kingdom, August 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Catholic Bishop's Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) recently issued a statement that said that if cohabiting couples are unwilling to accept the responsibility and commitment of marriage, they should not receive the legal benefits of marriage.

In light of newly proposed UK legislation, the president of the CBCEW's Committee on Marriage and the Family, Bishop John Hine, expressed his "special concern" for a law that "would make cohabitation equivalent to marriage," Catholic News Agency (CNA) reports.

The British Law Commission, a government advisory body, recommended on Tuesday that the government should adopt certain legal safeguards for unmarried couples that broke up after having children and living together for many years.

The Commission declared that the regulations would not give cohabiting couples the equal rights of married couples. Nevertheless, Hine strongly cautioned against the proposed law, recognizing that it would give cohabiting couples "legal recognition, with their corresponding rights and titles."

According to CNA, the CBCEW is concerned over the proposed law - which has to do with "financial consequences" involved in a break-up - because it creates a set of rules for cohabiting couples that is distinct from the rules that govern couples that divorce. In essence, this set ups cohabitation as an alternate and equally valid lifestyle to marriage.

While applauding the proposal's intention to seek the welfare of any children involved, Hine voiced the bishops' concern over the basic justification of the proposed legislation. He explained that the law stipulates a minimum cohabitation time for couples before they can receive legal benefits, thereby giving them a certain legal status.

Cutting to the core of the issue, he affirmed, "Basically, couples that cohabit and deliberately choose not to marry, forgo the responsibilities and obligations of marriage, and (therefore) they should also forgo the legal benefits of marriage. It's very important that the distinction is clearly made."

Hine underlined that it is unacceptable to "make cohabitation equivalent to marriage." He further emphasized the "duty of the state to promote, uphold and safeguard marriage as the basis of family life, the best and most stable environment for bringing up children".

Read related LifeSiteNews coverage:

Cohabitation Ends in Separation 90% of the Time
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jul/06072106.html

PENNSYLVANIA BISHOPS CITE REASONS AGAINST COHABITATION
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/1999/sep/99091603.html

Unmarried Parents Five Times more Likely to Separate than Married
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/aug/05080201.html

No Right to Adopt for Co-Habiting Northern Irish Couple
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07060410.html

Listen to the Vatican Radio Report:
http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=147758

Dutch Embassies Now Outposts for Spreading Homosexual Agenda

By Peter J. Smith

AMSTERDAM, August 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Dutch embassies will investigate homosexual rights in all of its 36 "partner countries" receiving foreign aid, and pressure many of those nations to decriminalise homosexual behaviour under a plan supported by the Netherlands Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The Dutch journal, Volkskrant, reports that Bert Koenders, Minister for Development Cooperation, has launched the inquiry, which will require embassy officials to investigate not only the legal status of homosexuality, but also the level of social acceptance of homosexuality and how possibly to increase that acceptance in the populace.

Dutch embassies will lobby governments in countries outlawing homosexual behaviour to scrap anti-homosexual legislation. Of the Netherlands 36 partner countries, 18 penalise homosexual acts in some way and 3 others permit the death penalty.

Koenders expects to conclude his investigation within a few months; however, the Minister has been quick to emphasise that the results of his investigation will not immediately lead to any sort of financial coercion on countries out-of-sync with the Netherlands pro-homosexual agenda.

"We are not going to cut development funds or halt aid just like that," a spokesman for Koenders told Volkskrant, saying the Minister prefers "to keep the dialogue open."

However the information is likely to be used by Koenders to advance the Dutch homosexualist ideology in other countries. The Minister for Development Cooperation has a history of bullying the Netherlands' "partner countries" that are at odds with Dutch social policy. Just this June, Koenders threatened Nicaragua with the prospect of cutting off foreign aid that comes from the Netherlands and the European Union if it did not reverse its total ban on abortion. (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07062805.html)

The Netherlands indomitable commitment to expanding its homosexualist influence was further underlined in April, when the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that Aruba and the Dutch Antilles must accept homosexual "marriage" despite native laws and traditional morality condemning homosexual behaviour.  (http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/apr/07041804.html)

Homosexual "marriage" has been legal in the Netherlands since 2001.

See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:

Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Threatens to Cut Funding to Nicaragua Over Abortion Ban
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/jun/07062805.html

Netherlands Forces Homosexual 'Marriage' on Aruba
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/apr/07041804.html

(c) Copyright: LifeSiteNews.com, a production of Interim Publishing.
Permission to republish granted but acknowledgement of source (use LifeSiteNews.com) is *REQUIRED*

LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes August 1

New Monthly Online Magazine from Canada focusing on bioethics from a pro-life perspective
http://www.lifeimmeasurable.com/

The False Choice Between Development and Daughters
http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=810

A Man on a Mission for Adult Stem Cell Treatment
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13542/CWA/misc/index.htm

Brownback says rival should apologize for Catholic slur
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10016

Green Groups Want Home Depot to Pull Ads From Fox
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200708/CUL20070801a.html

Genie Out of the Bottle: 'U.N. Climate Change Meeting Aims at Rich Countries'
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2007/08/01/genie-out-bottle-u-n-climate-change-meeting-aims-rich-countries

Good News from ABC: American Liberals Leaving for Canada
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2007/08/01/good-news-abc-american-liberals-leaving-canada

Malkin: Media Ignore Christian Missionaries Brutalized, Killed by Islamist Terrorists
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/ken-shepherd/2007/08/01/malkin-media-ignore-christian-missionaries-brutalized-killed-islamist-

Muslims benefiting from double standard, says Christian law firm
http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/08/muslims_benefiting_from_double.php

A new web site offers resources to students and parents on the promotion of homosexuality in our nation's public schools.
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13536/CFI/education/index.htm

The person trying to take Isabella away from her mother is entirely unrelated to the little girl and is essentially a total stranger.
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/13543/CFI/family/index.htm

Time Magazine Gets It Wrong: Boys Are Still In Crisis And Securing An Immoral Marketplace
http://www.acton.org/blog/index.html?/archives/1831-Time-Magazine-Gets-It-Wrong-Boys-Are-Still-In-Crisis-And-Securing-An-Immoral-Marketplace.html

You, Too Can Fight Pornography
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6445

More Indictments Against Pornographers
http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000005167.cfm

Homosexual bishop Gene Robinson believes the Church of England would collapse if it did away with homoerotic clergy
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6446

(c) Copyright: LifeSiteNews.com, a production of Interim Publishing.
Permission to republish granted but acknowledgement of source (use LifeSiteNews.com) is *REQUIRED*

WORLDWIDE RELIGIOUS NEWS AUGUST 1

Africa:

"Nigerian Shia base knocked down"
("BBC News," August 1, 2007)

Sokoto, Nigeria - Nigeria's security forces have demolished the headquarters of a Shia sect, whose members were accused of killing a rival Muslim cleric.

"Woman tortured for not adopting husband's religion"
("IANS," August 1, 2007)

Kendrapada, India - A Muslim woman in Orissa has alleged that she is being tortured for refusing to adopt her Hindu husband's religion.

"Charges dropped against Saudi police"
(AP, August 1, 2007)

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - A Saudi court has dropped charges against three members of the religious police and a regular police officer accused of being involved in the death of a man in custody, a relative said Tuesday.

"Church asked to Preach 'Tax Evasion is a Sin'"
(Reuters, August 1, 2007)

Rome, Italy - Thou shalt not steal...from the state.

"Decision said near on Canadian polygamy charges"
(Reuters, July 31, 2007)

Vancouver, Canada - A special prosecutor has completed his report on whether criminal charges should be filed against a Canadian polygamist community, but no decision has been made, an official said on Tuesday.

"Survey: 12 percent e-mail in church"
("UPI," July 31, 2007)

Chicago, USA - A new survey suggested that 12 percent of U.S. residents check their e-mail while in church -- but only 9 percent do the same in Chicago.

"Group to Deliver Bibles With Newspapers"
by Matt Curry (AP, July 31, 2007)

Fort Worth, Texas - Everything from detergent to computer discs is packaged with the Sunday newspaper. So why not Bibles? A Christian ministry wants to deliver custom-designed New Testaments to newspaper subscribers around the country as part of an effort to find innovative ways to spread a Christian message. But even in the Bible Belt, not everyone thinks that's a good idea.

"RUSSIA: European Court victory for Evangelical pastor"
by Geraldine Fagan ("Forum 18," August 1, 2007)

Moscow, Russia - The latest Russian citizen to win a religious freedom case at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, Petr Barankevich has told Forum 18 News Service he believes financial compensation now due from the state is "not as important" as the 26 July ruling upholding his rights. Ever since his Christ's Grace Evangelical Church was denied permission to conduct worship in a park in the town of Chekhov (Moscow Region) in 2002, it has not held any public events, the Pastor explained to Forum 18 on 27 July. "We thought there was no point in trying until the European Court resolved the issue."