By Peter Bhandal
Psalm 46:10
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
WORSHIP (ADORATION)
Message given by Odon On 2 July 2000 (summarised and edited by Benedicte Bahjejian)
To worship is to love deeply, it is to honour something divine with fear. The worship we are talking about is respect or honour given to God. As we know from the Bible, only God is to be worshipped. Some people tried to worship other gods or even people but God was against it.
1) To worship is to receive God’s message from the heart
When we give God’s message, we can convince sinners and they can come to worship God the same way that we give the message. So worshipping is not something that you learn, it is not something you become accustomed to. It is when the message of God is given to someone and this message comes in the person and the person feels, yes I must worship.
1 Cor 14:24,25 You will never hear this in any churches because most churches don’t want to worship and they don’t know what to say to their assemblies about how to worship, but because some among you have the gift to know what is to come, I want to tell you that you will give messages from God. A message you receive can be for someone who doesn’t believe, however, never tell this message to anyone else, but only to the person himself. If the person doesn’t change you can take one more person with you and go and see this person together and for the third time you go and take two witnesses with you and if for the fourth time he/she still refuses to change, just go. The way God chooses to attract sinners to Him, is by giving you who are here the message and you will go and see the person and this person will be convinced because all his/her sins will be exposed and you will tell this person who he/she is and automatically this person will worship God.
2) Here are 7 Greek words translated as ‘worship’, so 7 ways of worshipping God
1. Proskuneo: To kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication. Used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank to the Jewish high priests, to God, to Christ, to heavenly beings or to demons.
Mat 2: 11 the 3 wise men worshipped baby Jesus who was in the manger.
“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down , and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
Rev 4:10 The 24 elders fall down and worship God who is on his throne
Jn 4:20 The Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say , that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship”
Some people who worship the sun or the moon kiss their hand and lift up to the sun or the moon and for other people especially European people, if you want to worship someone you kiss their hand. People worship but they don’t know what they worship; only God is to be worshipped.
Exodus 20:3 our God is a jealous God, when you worship something that He doesn’t like He is jealous. Many women who are not worshipped by their husbands become wicked and they fight with their husbands, the choice is clear, between God and your husband who is first? Between you parents and God, who is first? God said He is jealous and we must worship Him so watch out with the kisses we give sometimes. To kiss someone is not wrong but to kiss someone’s hand is something different.
So ‘Proskuneo’ can be a good worship if it is toward God or Christ, but not if it done for other spiritual beings, gods, or people.
2. Sebomai: this means to revere, to worship with fear or out of fear.
Mark 7:7 “But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men”
Acts 16:14 “And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened , that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”
Acts 18:7 “And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.”
If we don’t know what or who we worship, we do it is in vain, this is following human ways. For instance a catholic Dad tells his kids to go with him to a catholic church, if they don’t go he will punish them. Yet, the dad doesn’t tell his children they are going to do at church, he is only concerned with the fact that his children must be there because the priest can see them, if his children are not there he fears that the priest will ask him where they are. So this dad goes to church and worships God because he is forced to do it, because he is afraid of being condemned by the priest. As for us it is the same way, sometimes in our church some people will say, where were you last Sunday? You haven’t been to church for two weeks, you must come to church. “Do I have to go to church just to please you?” Or do I go to church to please my God? Those who fear will listen to the pastor. To worship because we fear someone in our world today and most churches have a list of people. Your name is written in a book therefore you belong to that church, for example. When your name is written in that book you must also know if your name is recorded in heaven. Because of this type of worship we can not go into other prayer groups, because we are afraid that our pastor will ask us what we are doing and where we are going
So sebomai is NOT the right way to worship God.
3. Sebazomai: 1)To fear, be afraid. 2)To honour religiously, to worship according to the doctrines of men.
Rom 1:25 “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator , who is blessed for ever. Amen.”
Churches in today’s world have inner rules which are far from the Bible. You see that elders in the church get together, each one bringing his own knowledge and understanding and they will write down some to lead the church. For example, if a pastor drinks, to protect his reputation, he will make a rule in the church saying that people can drink but not become drunk.
But those are your rules but what does the Bible say? Many Christians don’t remember that they have the Bible, they forget that this Bible is there to teach them. Jesus said that in the end times people will have their eyes covered they will have eyes but they won’t see, they will have ears but they won’t listen and when they will be told the truth they will refuse and reject it. When you show them the truth they will say, I don’t see things like that. This is God’s Word and it must be fulfulled so this type of worship (sebazomai) must happen. Some Christians go to church everyday and they comply with the churches rule and they forget that the one who created them also has rules. Romans 1:25 & Isaiah 29:13 the Word of God is modified and changed completely.
Isaiah 29:13, Most people worship God with their lips but deep inside they don’t know what they are doing. We must be very careful. When we worship does it touch our hearts, does it come from our hearts or do we worship because others worship? That’s what we must ask God as His servants, because God is preparing you for His service. If you find that there is something wrong with you or sometimes you do things because others do it, take note and ask God to give you what you need. This type of worship that I am talking about is to prepare you in what you are going to do in this world within a few hours. If you think you worship but it does not come from your heart ask God to put something in your heart and ask God to touch your heart so that you can love Him deeply and everything that you say will come from your heart. To avoid hypocrisy as we learned above, ask God to teach you how to worship Him so that you won’t do what is written in Isaiah 29:13.
So, sebazomai is NOT either the right way of worshipping God.
4. Latreuo - it means to serve and worship God according to His will.
To serve for hire, to serve, minister to, either to the gods or men and used alike of slaves and freemen. In the NT, to render religious service or homage, to worship to perform sacred services, to offer gifts, to worship God in the observance of the rites instituted for his worship of priests, to officiate, to discharge the sacred office.
Mat 4:10 “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence , Satan: for it is written , Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”
Lk 2:37 “And she (Anna, a prophetess) was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”
Lk 4:8 “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written , Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve .”
This type of worship is what it is to worship in spirit and truth. Philippians 3:3 we know the true circumcision, we belong to God and we serve by God’s spirit, we don’t serve by our natural feelings, we don’t serve because of human rules but we serve by God’s Spirit and we are proud to know who Jesus is, we have put our trust in Jesus and not in human rules.
Today many of God’s servants want to become more and more spiritual and want to discover gifts that are necessary for the church of God but God doesn’t allow them. But as for you, because God loved you, God has given you gifts and they are here and I think that you are starting to discover some of them and even to practice them. God has a plan for your lives and you will do great things for God’s glory, you already know them. Many people are looking for what God wants for their life but they can not find what it is. So you can be proud of your God and the Spirit that is in you so walk according to that Spirit and God will come and do great things among you. Also, because you will be different in this world and walk far away from human rules and people will find that you are a bit crazy and the things that you will say, you will have people against you, this is because they do not worship in spirit and truth, this will be the only reason. However, you will know how to worship in spirit and in truth and people will follow you because so far their trust is in human rules.
Latreuo IS the right way of worshipping God.
5. Eusebeo – to act piously or reverently towards God, one's country, magistrates, relations, and all to whom dutiful regard or reverence is due.
Acts 2:23 “For as I passed by , and beheld your devotions , I found an altar with this inscription , TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship , him declare I unto you.”
1 Tim 5:4 “But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home , and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.”
this is those Christians who are very serious when worshipping but they don’t know what they are worshipping, they have been brought up that way.
They are what you call extremists. Their is something wrong in their belief. Acts 17:23, this message what I am going to say was given to me 4 years ago by God and this message was one that concerns NZ. If I want to talk about worshipping it is because of this scripture in Acts. Most Christians here in NZ worship an unknown God they worship but they don’t know exactly what they worship and how can you worship without knowing who you are worshipping, this message is for you. You are the ones who are going to teach these people what God they are worshipping and where is the God that they worship and where is the place to worship God. It is hard, it is true that it is not easy but you must do it. People who worship seriously also worship wrongly, you must convince them to give up this type of worship and worship the true God, however it is not easy, you must pray a lot so that you can change the lives of these people, so that you can help them to come back to God’s plan. God’s loves NZ and the people of this country He really loves them a lot but these people don’t believe, they are proud and they want to be independent, they don’t want God’s will.
So, eusebeo is NOT the right way of worshipping God.
6. Sebasma - it is a bit different and it is what is practiced in most churches.
Whatever is religiously honoured, an object of worship of temples, altars, statues, idolatrous images.
Acts 2:23 “For as I passed by , and beheld your devotions , I found an altar with this inscription , TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship , him declare I unto you.”
2 Thess 2:4 “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”
As it is written in Revelation 2 and 3 this type of worship is like, if I worship a god I want everybody to worship the same god as me and the spirit has not started yet. As Ecclesiates 1:9 says, there is nothing new under the sun, this spirit also existed long ago, same as this worship it also existed long ago. In Daniels time the King wanted everybody to worship the same god and if anybody worshipped another god it would be a problem for them.
This type of worship is the worst type of worship because the people who are this way are in dictatorship and they dictate to everybody what to do, they are also very jealous, if you worship your god which is against his god he doesn’t think that you are doing something different no, he will sue you until you bow down and worship the same god as him. The people who worship this way don’t fear God, they fear the law a little bit but not God. It would be better to be an animal if you don’t fear God because if you don’t fear God you are ready to do anything and also with Satan. The one who doesn’t fear God has no wisdom, the Bible says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. So because you will never have spiritual wisdom you will act like an animal.
…The reason why I am telling you this is because when I read in 2 Thess 2:4 it says in the last days, satan will come and take the first place in the churches and lead them. The church will carry on worshipping the god that they don’t know. Who will have this church if it’s not us? If we have no mercy for this church, who will? If we don’t forgive those people, who will forgive them?
Everyone, put on your shoes, your belt and take your stick and go. Our goal is not to save all the pagans because there are a lot of Christians in NZ and we must show them the way that they must follow, show them how to worship in spirit and in truth. With the gifts that God has given us certain people will accept and others will refuse but on the judgement day the truth will be there.
Sebasma is NOT either the way God wants to be worshipped.
7. Ethelothreskeia - voluntary, arbitrary worship: worship which one prescribes and devises for himself, contrary to the contents and nature of faith which ought to be directed to Christ. Said of the misdirected zeal and the practice of ascetics.
Col 2:23 “Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.”
Col 2:23 & 3:2 this is the last type of worship. We must seek the things that are above and not the things which are on the earth.
And ethelothreskeia is NOT the right way either to worship God.
Conclusion
There are 7 Greek words the Bible translates as ‘worship’ and among them only one (and perhaps the first one also) is the way God wants to be worshipped; it is latreuo, to worship from the heart, with out hypocrisy or without being double minded. It is when we receive the message of God and it really touches our heart and we feel we want to worship God.
Also, in worship you give thanks to the Lord, Psalm 103. Worship is to talk about God’s greatness, Exodus 15:11, Psalm 34:4. Why do we worship? Eph 1:12 - there are many reasons that turn around this verse as to why we worship. The first 5 commandments are there for our relationship with God and this relationship is about worship, the first 5 are about worshipping giving glory to God and the last 5 are about our relationship with others.
We worship because that is what God asks us to do, Exodus 20:3. Who must worship? The birds sing and praise God in the morning. One day I heard a palm tree worshipping, so the trees worship too. Men (people) worship too and someone told me one day that he saw a hen worshipping in her house. Everything that has breath must worship. Everything that has breath must give glory to God. When do we worship? Psalm 34: 1-2, We must give glory to God at any time and worship Him at any time. Always be ready to worship at any moment. 1 Thess 5:16-18, We must thank God for everything, to thank God is also part of worship. Most Christians use God’s names when they worship Him to show Him how great He is. When we pray we should try to use God’s names.
To worship is to love deeply, it is to honour something divine with fear. The worship we are talking about is respect or honour given to God. As we know from the Bible, only God is to be worshipped. Some people tried to worship other gods or even people but God was against it.
1) To worship is to receive God’s message from the heart
When we give God’s message, we can convince sinners and they can come to worship God the same way that we give the message. So worshipping is not something that you learn, it is not something you become accustomed to. It is when the message of God is given to someone and this message comes in the person and the person feels, yes I must worship.
1 Cor 14:24,25 You will never hear this in any churches because most churches don’t want to worship and they don’t know what to say to their assemblies about how to worship, but because some among you have the gift to know what is to come, I want to tell you that you will give messages from God. A message you receive can be for someone who doesn’t believe, however, never tell this message to anyone else, but only to the person himself. If the person doesn’t change you can take one more person with you and go and see this person together and for the third time you go and take two witnesses with you and if for the fourth time he/she still refuses to change, just go. The way God chooses to attract sinners to Him, is by giving you who are here the message and you will go and see the person and this person will be convinced because all his/her sins will be exposed and you will tell this person who he/she is and automatically this person will worship God.
2) Here are 7 Greek words translated as ‘worship’, so 7 ways of worshipping God
1. Proskuneo: To kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication. Used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank to the Jewish high priests, to God, to Christ, to heavenly beings or to demons.
Mat 2: 11 the 3 wise men worshipped baby Jesus who was in the manger.
“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down , and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
Rev 4:10 The 24 elders fall down and worship God who is on his throne
Jn 4:20 The Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say , that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship”
Some people who worship the sun or the moon kiss their hand and lift up to the sun or the moon and for other people especially European people, if you want to worship someone you kiss their hand. People worship but they don’t know what they worship; only God is to be worshipped.
Exodus 20:3 our God is a jealous God, when you worship something that He doesn’t like He is jealous. Many women who are not worshipped by their husbands become wicked and they fight with their husbands, the choice is clear, between God and your husband who is first? Between you parents and God, who is first? God said He is jealous and we must worship Him so watch out with the kisses we give sometimes. To kiss someone is not wrong but to kiss someone’s hand is something different.
So ‘Proskuneo’ can be a good worship if it is toward God or Christ, but not if it done for other spiritual beings, gods, or people.
2. Sebomai: this means to revere, to worship with fear or out of fear.
Mark 7:7 “But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men”
Acts 16:14 “And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened , that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”
Acts 18:7 “And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.”
If we don’t know what or who we worship, we do it is in vain, this is following human ways. For instance a catholic Dad tells his kids to go with him to a catholic church, if they don’t go he will punish them. Yet, the dad doesn’t tell his children they are going to do at church, he is only concerned with the fact that his children must be there because the priest can see them, if his children are not there he fears that the priest will ask him where they are. So this dad goes to church and worships God because he is forced to do it, because he is afraid of being condemned by the priest. As for us it is the same way, sometimes in our church some people will say, where were you last Sunday? You haven’t been to church for two weeks, you must come to church. “Do I have to go to church just to please you?” Or do I go to church to please my God? Those who fear will listen to the pastor. To worship because we fear someone in our world today and most churches have a list of people. Your name is written in a book therefore you belong to that church, for example. When your name is written in that book you must also know if your name is recorded in heaven. Because of this type of worship we can not go into other prayer groups, because we are afraid that our pastor will ask us what we are doing and where we are going
So sebomai is NOT the right way to worship God.
3. Sebazomai: 1)To fear, be afraid. 2)To honour religiously, to worship according to the doctrines of men.
Rom 1:25 “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator , who is blessed for ever. Amen.”
Churches in today’s world have inner rules which are far from the Bible. You see that elders in the church get together, each one bringing his own knowledge and understanding and they will write down some to lead the church. For example, if a pastor drinks, to protect his reputation, he will make a rule in the church saying that people can drink but not become drunk.
But those are your rules but what does the Bible say? Many Christians don’t remember that they have the Bible, they forget that this Bible is there to teach them. Jesus said that in the end times people will have their eyes covered they will have eyes but they won’t see, they will have ears but they won’t listen and when they will be told the truth they will refuse and reject it. When you show them the truth they will say, I don’t see things like that. This is God’s Word and it must be fulfulled so this type of worship (sebazomai) must happen. Some Christians go to church everyday and they comply with the churches rule and they forget that the one who created them also has rules. Romans 1:25 & Isaiah 29:13 the Word of God is modified and changed completely.
Isaiah 29:13, Most people worship God with their lips but deep inside they don’t know what they are doing. We must be very careful. When we worship does it touch our hearts, does it come from our hearts or do we worship because others worship? That’s what we must ask God as His servants, because God is preparing you for His service. If you find that there is something wrong with you or sometimes you do things because others do it, take note and ask God to give you what you need. This type of worship that I am talking about is to prepare you in what you are going to do in this world within a few hours. If you think you worship but it does not come from your heart ask God to put something in your heart and ask God to touch your heart so that you can love Him deeply and everything that you say will come from your heart. To avoid hypocrisy as we learned above, ask God to teach you how to worship Him so that you won’t do what is written in Isaiah 29:13.
So, sebazomai is NOT either the right way of worshipping God.
4. Latreuo - it means to serve and worship God according to His will.
To serve for hire, to serve, minister to, either to the gods or men and used alike of slaves and freemen. In the NT, to render religious service or homage, to worship to perform sacred services, to offer gifts, to worship God in the observance of the rites instituted for his worship of priests, to officiate, to discharge the sacred office.
Mat 4:10 “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence , Satan: for it is written , Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”
Lk 2:37 “And she (Anna, a prophetess) was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.”
Lk 4:8 “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written , Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve .”
This type of worship is what it is to worship in spirit and truth. Philippians 3:3 we know the true circumcision, we belong to God and we serve by God’s spirit, we don’t serve by our natural feelings, we don’t serve because of human rules but we serve by God’s Spirit and we are proud to know who Jesus is, we have put our trust in Jesus and not in human rules.
Today many of God’s servants want to become more and more spiritual and want to discover gifts that are necessary for the church of God but God doesn’t allow them. But as for you, because God loved you, God has given you gifts and they are here and I think that you are starting to discover some of them and even to practice them. God has a plan for your lives and you will do great things for God’s glory, you already know them. Many people are looking for what God wants for their life but they can not find what it is. So you can be proud of your God and the Spirit that is in you so walk according to that Spirit and God will come and do great things among you. Also, because you will be different in this world and walk far away from human rules and people will find that you are a bit crazy and the things that you will say, you will have people against you, this is because they do not worship in spirit and truth, this will be the only reason. However, you will know how to worship in spirit and in truth and people will follow you because so far their trust is in human rules.
Latreuo IS the right way of worshipping God.
5. Eusebeo – to act piously or reverently towards God, one's country, magistrates, relations, and all to whom dutiful regard or reverence is due.
Acts 2:23 “For as I passed by , and beheld your devotions , I found an altar with this inscription , TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship , him declare I unto you.”
1 Tim 5:4 “But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home , and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God.”
this is those Christians who are very serious when worshipping but they don’t know what they are worshipping, they have been brought up that way.
They are what you call extremists. Their is something wrong in their belief. Acts 17:23, this message what I am going to say was given to me 4 years ago by God and this message was one that concerns NZ. If I want to talk about worshipping it is because of this scripture in Acts. Most Christians here in NZ worship an unknown God they worship but they don’t know exactly what they worship and how can you worship without knowing who you are worshipping, this message is for you. You are the ones who are going to teach these people what God they are worshipping and where is the God that they worship and where is the place to worship God. It is hard, it is true that it is not easy but you must do it. People who worship seriously also worship wrongly, you must convince them to give up this type of worship and worship the true God, however it is not easy, you must pray a lot so that you can change the lives of these people, so that you can help them to come back to God’s plan. God’s loves NZ and the people of this country He really loves them a lot but these people don’t believe, they are proud and they want to be independent, they don’t want God’s will.
So, eusebeo is NOT the right way of worshipping God.
6. Sebasma - it is a bit different and it is what is practiced in most churches.
Whatever is religiously honoured, an object of worship of temples, altars, statues, idolatrous images.
Acts 2:23 “For as I passed by , and beheld your devotions , I found an altar with this inscription , TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship , him declare I unto you.”
2 Thess 2:4 “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”
As it is written in Revelation 2 and 3 this type of worship is like, if I worship a god I want everybody to worship the same god as me and the spirit has not started yet. As Ecclesiates 1:9 says, there is nothing new under the sun, this spirit also existed long ago, same as this worship it also existed long ago. In Daniels time the King wanted everybody to worship the same god and if anybody worshipped another god it would be a problem for them.
This type of worship is the worst type of worship because the people who are this way are in dictatorship and they dictate to everybody what to do, they are also very jealous, if you worship your god which is against his god he doesn’t think that you are doing something different no, he will sue you until you bow down and worship the same god as him. The people who worship this way don’t fear God, they fear the law a little bit but not God. It would be better to be an animal if you don’t fear God because if you don’t fear God you are ready to do anything and also with Satan. The one who doesn’t fear God has no wisdom, the Bible says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. So because you will never have spiritual wisdom you will act like an animal.
…The reason why I am telling you this is because when I read in 2 Thess 2:4 it says in the last days, satan will come and take the first place in the churches and lead them. The church will carry on worshipping the god that they don’t know. Who will have this church if it’s not us? If we have no mercy for this church, who will? If we don’t forgive those people, who will forgive them?
Everyone, put on your shoes, your belt and take your stick and go. Our goal is not to save all the pagans because there are a lot of Christians in NZ and we must show them the way that they must follow, show them how to worship in spirit and in truth. With the gifts that God has given us certain people will accept and others will refuse but on the judgement day the truth will be there.
Sebasma is NOT either the way God wants to be worshipped.
7. Ethelothreskeia - voluntary, arbitrary worship: worship which one prescribes and devises for himself, contrary to the contents and nature of faith which ought to be directed to Christ. Said of the misdirected zeal and the practice of ascetics.
Col 2:23 “Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.”
Col 2:23 & 3:2 this is the last type of worship. We must seek the things that are above and not the things which are on the earth.
And ethelothreskeia is NOT the right way either to worship God.
Conclusion
There are 7 Greek words the Bible translates as ‘worship’ and among them only one (and perhaps the first one also) is the way God wants to be worshipped; it is latreuo, to worship from the heart, with out hypocrisy or without being double minded. It is when we receive the message of God and it really touches our heart and we feel we want to worship God.
Also, in worship you give thanks to the Lord, Psalm 103. Worship is to talk about God’s greatness, Exodus 15:11, Psalm 34:4. Why do we worship? Eph 1:12 - there are many reasons that turn around this verse as to why we worship. The first 5 commandments are there for our relationship with God and this relationship is about worship, the first 5 are about worshipping giving glory to God and the last 5 are about our relationship with others.
We worship because that is what God asks us to do, Exodus 20:3. Who must worship? The birds sing and praise God in the morning. One day I heard a palm tree worshipping, so the trees worship too. Men (people) worship too and someone told me one day that he saw a hen worshipping in her house. Everything that has breath must worship. Everything that has breath must give glory to God. When do we worship? Psalm 34: 1-2, We must give glory to God at any time and worship Him at any time. Always be ready to worship at any moment. 1 Thess 5:16-18, We must thank God for everything, to thank God is also part of worship. Most Christians use God’s names when they worship Him to show Him how great He is. When we pray we should try to use God’s names.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
VALENTINES DAY
By Hayley Boud
1. What is February the 14th?
Valentines Day
2. What do we do on that day?We send cards to people we love. Some people get married on this day.
3. Why is it called Valentines Day?
It is named after a Saint whose name was Valentine and who lived in the year 270 AD in Italy and was martyred for his faith on February the 14th. The story goes that this man was a priest in Rome when the city was ruled by “Claudius the Cruel”. This ruler had forbidden Christian conversion and Christian marriages but Valentine refused to surrender to Roman gods and carried on his religious duties in secret. He was imprisoned for disobedience, but even in prison he converted the convicts. While he was in prison, the jailer's daughter became his friend and was loyal to him through his ordeal. When Claudius came to know that imprisonment had not broken his enduring Christian spirit, the bishop was executed. However, on the day of his death Valentine wrote a note to his friend, 'the jailer's daughter' and signed it - 'From Your Valentine'. This great man who died for his beliefs, for his enduring love of the Christian God, was chosen as the patron Saint of lovers. 14th February has since been celebrated as Valentine's Day. Romantic souls all over the world have preferred to focus on the romantic twist of this tale, the story of the man who united lovers in the holy bond of marriage; a man who loved his jailer's daughter and started the tradition of writing love notes.
4. Should Christians celebrate it?Centuries before Christ, the pagan Romans celebrated February 15 and the evening of February 14 as an idolatrous and sensuous festival in honor of Lupercus, the "hunter of wolves"
The Romans called the festival the "Lupercalia" in honor of Lupercus - the deified hero-hunter of Rome. On this day, names of young women were put into a box and drawn out by men as chance directed." (Encyclopedia Americana, article, "St. Valentine's Day.") They were then to stay together for one year.
When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire there was some talk in church circles of discarding this pagan free-for-all. But the Roman citizens wouldn't hear of it! So it was agreed that the holiday would continue as it was, except for the more grossly sensual observances.
It was not until the reign of Pope Gelasius that the holiday became a "Christian" custom. As far back as 496, Pope Gelasius changed Lupercalia on February 15 to St. Valentine's Day on February 14." (p. 172 of Customs and Holidays Around the World by Lavinia Dobler).
But why is it called Valentines Day? Why do we use hearts as a symbol of love? And why do we see cupids and associate angels with Valentines Day?
Who Was the Original "St. Valentine"?Valentine was a common Roman name. Roman parents often gave the name of their children in honor of the famous man who was first called Valentine in ancient Rome. That famous man was Lupercus, the hunter. Also referred to in the Bible as Nimrod the mighty hunter.
Genesis 10:8,9 and 1 Chronicles 1:10. At first Nimrod was a mighty hunter of wild animals and he became so famous and the people loved him so much that they made him a prince in their region. Nimrod means he rebelled and later when he became a powerful ruler, he became a mighty one on earth (Gen 10:8) meaning he was a cruel oppressor and tyrant. In verse 9 it says that he was a mighty hunter before the Lord meaning that he did not cease to commit cruelty even in God’s presence. In another historical book written at the time it says that “Nimrod began to be a mighty man in sin, a murderer of innocent men and a rebel before the Lord”. He was a hunter of men to persecute them. He was the ruler of the Babylonians and was ruler during the time of the tower of Babel. Babel means confusion and this is what Nimrod brought to the people by setting up a new religion by force.
The Greeks called Lupercus by the name of "Pan". The Semites called Pan "Baul," according to the Classical Dictionaries. Baal - mentioned so often in the Bible - was merely another name for Nimrod. Baal is the word used by the Babylonians to describe someone or something that is a god, and is worshipped by the people.
So the original Valentine was Nimrod, the mighty hunter of wolves. Yet another of Nimrod's names was "Sanctuc" or "Santa", meaning Saint. It was a common title of any hero-god. Which is why the Roman Lupercalia is called "St. Valentine's Day"!
But why do we associate HEARTS on a day in honor of Nimrod - the Baal of the Phoenicians and Semites?
The surprising answer is that the pagan Romans acquired the symbol of the heart from the Babylonians. In the Babylonian tongue the word for heart was "bal" (Strong's Concordance Number H1168). The heart - bal - was merely a symbol of Nimrod - the Baal! or Lord of the Babylonians!
Nimrod - the original St. Valentine - was also known as Saturn, the Roman-Babylonian god who hid from his pursuers in a secret place. The Latin word Saturn is derived from the Semiticspeaking Babylonians. It means "be hid," "hide self," "secret," "conceal." The original Semitic (Hebrew) word, from which the Latin Saturn is derived, is used 83 times in the Old Testament (see Young's Concordance under "Sathar," also "sether").
According to ancient tradition, Saturn (Nimrod) fled from his pursuers to Italy. The Apenine mountains of Italy were anciently named the mountains of Nembrod or Nimrod. Nimrod briefly hid out at the site where Rome was later built. The ancient name of Rome, before it was rebuilt in 753 B.C. was Saturnia - the site of Saturn's (Nimrod's) hiding. There he was found and slain for his crimes. Later, professing Christians in Constantine's day made Nimrod - the St. Valentine of the heathen- a Saint of the Church and continued to honor him under the name of a Christian martyr.
Why February 14?But why should the Romans have chosen February 15 and the evening of February 14 to honor Lupercus - the Nimrod of the Bible? (Remember that day in ancient times began at sunset the evening before.)
Nimrod - Baal or sun god of the ancient pagans - was said to have been born at the winter solstice. In ancient time the solstice occurred on January 6 and his birthday therefore was celebrated on December 25 and now called Christmas. It was the custom of antiquity (ancient Rome) for, the mother of a male child to present herself for purification on the fortieth day after January 6 - Nimrod's original birthdate - takes us to February 15, the celebration of which began on the evening of February 14 - the Lupercalia or St. Valentine's Day.
On this day in February, Semiramis, the mother of Nimrod, was said to have been purified and to have appeared for the first time in public with her son as the original "mother and child." Not all of you know “mother and child” but it’s a picture that is seen in Catholic homes and churches and it’s supposed to be Mary and Jesus. Catholics worship Mary and so this picture reflects for them the deity of Mary and her son. But this picture was before the birth of Christ (more than 2000 years before) with Semaramis and Nimrod.
The Roman month February, in fact, derives its name from the februa which the Roman priests used in the rites celebrated on St. Valentine's Day. The febru were thongs from the skins of sacrificial animals used in rites of purification on the evening of February 14.
Another name for the child Nimrod was "Cupid" - meaning "desire" (Encyclopedia Britannica, article "Cupid"). It is said that when Nimrod's mother saw him, she lusted after him - she desired him. Nimrod became her Cupid - her desired one - and later her Valentine! So evil was Nimrod's mother that it is said she married her own son! Inscribed on the monuments of ancient Egypt are inscriptions that Nimrod (the Egyptians called him Osiris) was "the husband of his mother."
As Nimrod grew up, he became the child-hero of many women who desired him. He was their Cupid! In the Book of Daniel he is called the "desire of women" ( Dan. 11:37). Moffatt translates the word as Tammuz - a babylonian name of Nimrod. He provoked so many women to jealousy that an idol of him was often called the "image of jealousy" ( Ezekiel 8:5). Nimrod, the hunter, was also their Valentine - their strong or mighty hero! No wonder the pagans commemorated their hero-hunter Nimrod, or Baal, by sending heartshaped love tokens to one another on the evening of February 14 as a symbol of him.
Nimrod, the mulatto son of Cush the Ethiopian, was later a source of embarrassment to the pagans of Europe. They didn't want an African to worship. Consequently, they substituted a supposed son of Nimrod, a white child named Horus, born after the death of Nimrod. This white child then became a "fair Cupid" of European tradition.
5. What does this all mean for us?
Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me” Exodus 32:27,28, (3000 men died). It is important to remember that God is a jealous God and He wants us to worship Him and only Him. When the Israelites made a gold calf, God was so angry that 3,000 men died in one day. So lets be careful. If you want to send someone a love letter or card, there is nothing wrong with that but don’t say "you are my valentine" or you will be calling that person Baal (god).
We also don’t need to use hearts to show someone our love or to send pictures of cupids. If we do, we are declaring to God that we honor Nimrod the mighty hunter. Mathew 15:3, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of tradition?”
This message is also a way of making us think about things that are around us and asking ourselves why is it like that. As God has taught us through our messages on Friday, “You are supposed to know why you do something”. We should never do something without knowing why. Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”
For example Easter - I challenge you to ask yourself some questions and try to answer them. Why do we celebrate with eggs? Why do we give each other chocolate? Why does a bunnie bring eggs to children while they sleep? Why does the date change every year if it is to celebrate the death of Christ which happened at a specific date? Why is it a public holiday? Why is it that in some cultures we hide the eggs? Why do we eat hot cross buns? Why can’t we buy easter eggs in December? Why is it called Easter?
1. What is February the 14th?
Valentines Day
2. What do we do on that day?We send cards to people we love. Some people get married on this day.
3. Why is it called Valentines Day?
It is named after a Saint whose name was Valentine and who lived in the year 270 AD in Italy and was martyred for his faith on February the 14th. The story goes that this man was a priest in Rome when the city was ruled by “Claudius the Cruel”. This ruler had forbidden Christian conversion and Christian marriages but Valentine refused to surrender to Roman gods and carried on his religious duties in secret. He was imprisoned for disobedience, but even in prison he converted the convicts. While he was in prison, the jailer's daughter became his friend and was loyal to him through his ordeal. When Claudius came to know that imprisonment had not broken his enduring Christian spirit, the bishop was executed. However, on the day of his death Valentine wrote a note to his friend, 'the jailer's daughter' and signed it - 'From Your Valentine'. This great man who died for his beliefs, for his enduring love of the Christian God, was chosen as the patron Saint of lovers. 14th February has since been celebrated as Valentine's Day. Romantic souls all over the world have preferred to focus on the romantic twist of this tale, the story of the man who united lovers in the holy bond of marriage; a man who loved his jailer's daughter and started the tradition of writing love notes.
4. Should Christians celebrate it?Centuries before Christ, the pagan Romans celebrated February 15 and the evening of February 14 as an idolatrous and sensuous festival in honor of Lupercus, the "hunter of wolves"
The Romans called the festival the "Lupercalia" in honor of Lupercus - the deified hero-hunter of Rome. On this day, names of young women were put into a box and drawn out by men as chance directed." (Encyclopedia Americana, article, "St. Valentine's Day.") They were then to stay together for one year.
When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire there was some talk in church circles of discarding this pagan free-for-all. But the Roman citizens wouldn't hear of it! So it was agreed that the holiday would continue as it was, except for the more grossly sensual observances.
It was not until the reign of Pope Gelasius that the holiday became a "Christian" custom. As far back as 496, Pope Gelasius changed Lupercalia on February 15 to St. Valentine's Day on February 14." (p. 172 of Customs and Holidays Around the World by Lavinia Dobler).
But why is it called Valentines Day? Why do we use hearts as a symbol of love? And why do we see cupids and associate angels with Valentines Day?
Who Was the Original "St. Valentine"?Valentine was a common Roman name. Roman parents often gave the name of their children in honor of the famous man who was first called Valentine in ancient Rome. That famous man was Lupercus, the hunter. Also referred to in the Bible as Nimrod the mighty hunter.
Genesis 10:8,9 and 1 Chronicles 1:10. At first Nimrod was a mighty hunter of wild animals and he became so famous and the people loved him so much that they made him a prince in their region. Nimrod means he rebelled and later when he became a powerful ruler, he became a mighty one on earth (Gen 10:8) meaning he was a cruel oppressor and tyrant. In verse 9 it says that he was a mighty hunter before the Lord meaning that he did not cease to commit cruelty even in God’s presence. In another historical book written at the time it says that “Nimrod began to be a mighty man in sin, a murderer of innocent men and a rebel before the Lord”. He was a hunter of men to persecute them. He was the ruler of the Babylonians and was ruler during the time of the tower of Babel. Babel means confusion and this is what Nimrod brought to the people by setting up a new religion by force.
The Greeks called Lupercus by the name of "Pan". The Semites called Pan "Baul," according to the Classical Dictionaries. Baal - mentioned so often in the Bible - was merely another name for Nimrod. Baal is the word used by the Babylonians to describe someone or something that is a god, and is worshipped by the people.
So the original Valentine was Nimrod, the mighty hunter of wolves. Yet another of Nimrod's names was "Sanctuc" or "Santa", meaning Saint. It was a common title of any hero-god. Which is why the Roman Lupercalia is called "St. Valentine's Day"!
But why do we associate HEARTS on a day in honor of Nimrod - the Baal of the Phoenicians and Semites?
The surprising answer is that the pagan Romans acquired the symbol of the heart from the Babylonians. In the Babylonian tongue the word for heart was "bal" (Strong's Concordance Number H1168). The heart - bal - was merely a symbol of Nimrod - the Baal! or Lord of the Babylonians!
Nimrod - the original St. Valentine - was also known as Saturn, the Roman-Babylonian god who hid from his pursuers in a secret place. The Latin word Saturn is derived from the Semiticspeaking Babylonians. It means "be hid," "hide self," "secret," "conceal." The original Semitic (Hebrew) word, from which the Latin Saturn is derived, is used 83 times in the Old Testament (see Young's Concordance under "Sathar," also "sether").
According to ancient tradition, Saturn (Nimrod) fled from his pursuers to Italy. The Apenine mountains of Italy were anciently named the mountains of Nembrod or Nimrod. Nimrod briefly hid out at the site where Rome was later built. The ancient name of Rome, before it was rebuilt in 753 B.C. was Saturnia - the site of Saturn's (Nimrod's) hiding. There he was found and slain for his crimes. Later, professing Christians in Constantine's day made Nimrod - the St. Valentine of the heathen- a Saint of the Church and continued to honor him under the name of a Christian martyr.
Why February 14?But why should the Romans have chosen February 15 and the evening of February 14 to honor Lupercus - the Nimrod of the Bible? (Remember that day in ancient times began at sunset the evening before.)
Nimrod - Baal or sun god of the ancient pagans - was said to have been born at the winter solstice. In ancient time the solstice occurred on January 6 and his birthday therefore was celebrated on December 25 and now called Christmas. It was the custom of antiquity (ancient Rome) for, the mother of a male child to present herself for purification on the fortieth day after January 6 - Nimrod's original birthdate - takes us to February 15, the celebration of which began on the evening of February 14 - the Lupercalia or St. Valentine's Day.
On this day in February, Semiramis, the mother of Nimrod, was said to have been purified and to have appeared for the first time in public with her son as the original "mother and child." Not all of you know “mother and child” but it’s a picture that is seen in Catholic homes and churches and it’s supposed to be Mary and Jesus. Catholics worship Mary and so this picture reflects for them the deity of Mary and her son. But this picture was before the birth of Christ (more than 2000 years before) with Semaramis and Nimrod.
The Roman month February, in fact, derives its name from the februa which the Roman priests used in the rites celebrated on St. Valentine's Day. The febru were thongs from the skins of sacrificial animals used in rites of purification on the evening of February 14.
Another name for the child Nimrod was "Cupid" - meaning "desire" (Encyclopedia Britannica, article "Cupid"). It is said that when Nimrod's mother saw him, she lusted after him - she desired him. Nimrod became her Cupid - her desired one - and later her Valentine! So evil was Nimrod's mother that it is said she married her own son! Inscribed on the monuments of ancient Egypt are inscriptions that Nimrod (the Egyptians called him Osiris) was "the husband of his mother."
As Nimrod grew up, he became the child-hero of many women who desired him. He was their Cupid! In the Book of Daniel he is called the "desire of women" ( Dan. 11:37). Moffatt translates the word as Tammuz - a babylonian name of Nimrod. He provoked so many women to jealousy that an idol of him was often called the "image of jealousy" ( Ezekiel 8:5). Nimrod, the hunter, was also their Valentine - their strong or mighty hero! No wonder the pagans commemorated their hero-hunter Nimrod, or Baal, by sending heartshaped love tokens to one another on the evening of February 14 as a symbol of him.
Nimrod, the mulatto son of Cush the Ethiopian, was later a source of embarrassment to the pagans of Europe. They didn't want an African to worship. Consequently, they substituted a supposed son of Nimrod, a white child named Horus, born after the death of Nimrod. This white child then became a "fair Cupid" of European tradition.
5. What does this all mean for us?
Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me” Exodus 32:27,28, (3000 men died). It is important to remember that God is a jealous God and He wants us to worship Him and only Him. When the Israelites made a gold calf, God was so angry that 3,000 men died in one day. So lets be careful. If you want to send someone a love letter or card, there is nothing wrong with that but don’t say "you are my valentine" or you will be calling that person Baal (god).
We also don’t need to use hearts to show someone our love or to send pictures of cupids. If we do, we are declaring to God that we honor Nimrod the mighty hunter. Mathew 15:3, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of tradition?”
This message is also a way of making us think about things that are around us and asking ourselves why is it like that. As God has taught us through our messages on Friday, “You are supposed to know why you do something”. We should never do something without knowing why. Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”
For example Easter - I challenge you to ask yourself some questions and try to answer them. Why do we celebrate with eggs? Why do we give each other chocolate? Why does a bunnie bring eggs to children while they sleep? Why does the date change every year if it is to celebrate the death of Christ which happened at a specific date? Why is it a public holiday? Why is it that in some cultures we hide the eggs? Why do we eat hot cross buns? Why can’t we buy easter eggs in December? Why is it called Easter?
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
SAMUEL ANOINTS THE WEAKEST SON DAVID - Part III
By Odon Bulamba
I Samuel 16
So this man Samuel prayed for David and David was anointed. Are we also elected by God? And if we are, are we anointed? And if not, why not? Because the Spirit was given to everybody, especially to those who were chosen, they are the anointed of God. If you don’t have your anointing, maybe you are still in a field outside of town. Maybe you are somewhere like David was, far from his family and today God is calling you, get closer so that you can find your anointing.
As you know David means “beloved” (my love). How many times do you call your husband or children my love and how many times do you call God my love? Many people call God my Father and that is good but God is also my love because He is love. And in your prayer He likes honour so you must give to Him what He likes. And the very first thing God gave to himself in order to gain glory was love. Because He loved us he gave us His son. So love is the first thing that God needs to receive from us. Do you also give your love to God? If yes, how many times a year/week? You kiss your children or your husband; this is a sign of love. How many times did you get close to God to kiss Him? How many times did you tell God, God get close to me so that I can kiss You? I want to feel your presence in me, I want to be very close to you, I want to feel the warmth of your love in me, how many times have you done it? Maybe you have never done it. Imagine you are far from your wife for five years or even two days, you will always say that you miss her a lot. How many times do you feel that God is not with you? How many times do you miss God? You might say none. So to be a hero in the Lord you have to first show your love to God. And don’t show it only with words but show it with actions by obeying the Word of God.
Jesse himself was very humble and he was there to serve God but when God’s servant came to choose, he was the first one to introduce his oldest son, because he thought that everything would come back to his oldest son. But God’s love wasn’t there; God’s love was with David. And David would love God a lot. He was the smallest in the family but God made him greater. You might be the smallest in your church or the youngest in your family, but God is able to raise you up to become more powerful. David was very small and young and weak but God did something with this young man because he would keep the sheep and from this he became a king.
II Sam 7:8
David wasn’t a farmer, he was simple and mere shepherd and looked after his sheep and from there he became a king. With your little faith, God is able to take you from there and raise you up. God is able to change your life and give you a glorious life. God is able to solve your little problems and you will become the solution for others. God is able to take your little weaknesses to transform you so that you will be the comfort of others. God might take your stupidness and give you eternal wisdom to lead others because everything is possible with God. The only condition is that you humiliate yourself and acknowledge where you are up to. If I have committed something, I have to admit it and God will raise me up. David was a shepherd and he had admitted he was a shepherd and God raised him up.
And because David was a shepherd he learnt to play the harp and the flute because during the night it was very cold and the only distraction to not fall asleep was to play the harp. And when you play the flute or harp the animals around will know that a man is there and they cannot attack the flock. Be careful when you play the flute because snakes can come (just remember that). So the way we live now we must learn something and this thing will help us later. If David didn’t play the flute he wouldn’t have been able to help Saul calm down. If David hadn’t played the harp, he wouldn’t have been able to write the psalms that we still read today. Many people use the psalms to glorify God today. And you what do you use today? What are you using now that will help people to glorify God later? Is it your prayer? Is it your exhortation, encouragement, advice, forgiveness, love?
I think that this is the second stage to enter spiritual maturity and we start by learning who David is, the good points he has, and we will try to see if we have them. After David, we will try to talk about another king and so on. So we must try our best as soon as we see there is something wrong or there is something for us when we hear a message please write it down and ask God to help you so for each message you will have something from it. If the Bible were not written we could not read it today and if you don’t write what you have learnt you might forget it. So let’s try so that God will call us beloved. Lets change our lifestyle and improve our behaviour, let’s open our eyes and not accept the wind to come. Don’t close our nose and mouth spiritually or we will lack oxygen. We must take out the hardening of our heart and put aside everything that hardens our heart because that is what stops oxygen for our souls.
I Samuel 16
So this man Samuel prayed for David and David was anointed. Are we also elected by God? And if we are, are we anointed? And if not, why not? Because the Spirit was given to everybody, especially to those who were chosen, they are the anointed of God. If you don’t have your anointing, maybe you are still in a field outside of town. Maybe you are somewhere like David was, far from his family and today God is calling you, get closer so that you can find your anointing.
As you know David means “beloved” (my love). How many times do you call your husband or children my love and how many times do you call God my love? Many people call God my Father and that is good but God is also my love because He is love. And in your prayer He likes honour so you must give to Him what He likes. And the very first thing God gave to himself in order to gain glory was love. Because He loved us he gave us His son. So love is the first thing that God needs to receive from us. Do you also give your love to God? If yes, how many times a year/week? You kiss your children or your husband; this is a sign of love. How many times did you get close to God to kiss Him? How many times did you tell God, God get close to me so that I can kiss You? I want to feel your presence in me, I want to be very close to you, I want to feel the warmth of your love in me, how many times have you done it? Maybe you have never done it. Imagine you are far from your wife for five years or even two days, you will always say that you miss her a lot. How many times do you feel that God is not with you? How many times do you miss God? You might say none. So to be a hero in the Lord you have to first show your love to God. And don’t show it only with words but show it with actions by obeying the Word of God.
Jesse himself was very humble and he was there to serve God but when God’s servant came to choose, he was the first one to introduce his oldest son, because he thought that everything would come back to his oldest son. But God’s love wasn’t there; God’s love was with David. And David would love God a lot. He was the smallest in the family but God made him greater. You might be the smallest in your church or the youngest in your family, but God is able to raise you up to become more powerful. David was very small and young and weak but God did something with this young man because he would keep the sheep and from this he became a king.
II Sam 7:8
David wasn’t a farmer, he was simple and mere shepherd and looked after his sheep and from there he became a king. With your little faith, God is able to take you from there and raise you up. God is able to change your life and give you a glorious life. God is able to solve your little problems and you will become the solution for others. God is able to take your little weaknesses to transform you so that you will be the comfort of others. God might take your stupidness and give you eternal wisdom to lead others because everything is possible with God. The only condition is that you humiliate yourself and acknowledge where you are up to. If I have committed something, I have to admit it and God will raise me up. David was a shepherd and he had admitted he was a shepherd and God raised him up.
And because David was a shepherd he learnt to play the harp and the flute because during the night it was very cold and the only distraction to not fall asleep was to play the harp. And when you play the flute or harp the animals around will know that a man is there and they cannot attack the flock. Be careful when you play the flute because snakes can come (just remember that). So the way we live now we must learn something and this thing will help us later. If David didn’t play the flute he wouldn’t have been able to help Saul calm down. If David hadn’t played the harp, he wouldn’t have been able to write the psalms that we still read today. Many people use the psalms to glorify God today. And you what do you use today? What are you using now that will help people to glorify God later? Is it your prayer? Is it your exhortation, encouragement, advice, forgiveness, love?
I think that this is the second stage to enter spiritual maturity and we start by learning who David is, the good points he has, and we will try to see if we have them. After David, we will try to talk about another king and so on. So we must try our best as soon as we see there is something wrong or there is something for us when we hear a message please write it down and ask God to help you so for each message you will have something from it. If the Bible were not written we could not read it today and if you don’t write what you have learnt you might forget it. So let’s try so that God will call us beloved. Lets change our lifestyle and improve our behaviour, let’s open our eyes and not accept the wind to come. Don’t close our nose and mouth spiritually or we will lack oxygen. We must take out the hardening of our heart and put aside everything that hardens our heart because that is what stops oxygen for our souls.
Monday, December 14, 2009
SAMUEL ANOINTS THE WEAKEST SON DAVID - Part II
By Odon Bulamba
I Samuel 16
God said to Samuel, “that is not him, you man look at the outer appearance but I look at the heart”. Try to imagine what you look like. Here everybody is pretty but if we had someone really ugly among us, everybody would say, oh this person is really ugly. And I saw someone who was really ugly and kids would flee from this person. He had a big stomach and big ears and eyes. He was really black and when he walked you might think that he is a robot. And as he was walking around children would even cry and scream. One day I invited this man to church and because I was talking, I asked him to come to the front and as he was walking to the front, everybody was looking and nobody wanted to touch him.
In our church we had an old mum and I asked her (because I would joke with her a lot) Mum can you marry this man? And she said no, better to die single. And I said to this man, how do you feel about it? He said I feel really bad because everybody hates me. And I asked a young woman, I’ll give you about US$600 and we can bless your wedding with this money. She said, keep your money and keep your man too and she stood up to leave the church, she was furious. Why did she react like that? Because his appearance wasn’t good.
But God did something for this man and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he started to talk and to prophesy and he said to someone, “you, in ten minutes you will hear that your child is dead and God will show his hand on you. And you, the lady over there, in two days God will show you a miracle in your life and you will not be a refugee anymore. And anyone who wants prayer can contact me later”. And after this someone came to the first man to tell him that someone had died at home. And the man said, this is not possible, so pray for me because God promised and the big ugly man prayed and after 10 minutes someone came back to say that the child had come back to life. Two days later the woman also came in touch with the Australian immigration service and she could go. And after that a woman came to see this man, and said to this man, I have a financial problem and they prayed together and after praying the lady went and four hundred metres from home, someone met this woman and this person gave this lady maybe three times as much as this lady needed. And on Sunday these were testimonies in this church, praise the Lord.
So I said, so who wants to marry this man? Everybody looked around and smiled and I pointed out someone and she was a really pretty girl and she rubbed her hands and said, If God wants I can. And you old mum, who said no last time? She said, “I was just joking, but I can look after this man because I know that he is a Godly man. And through him God did miracles so I want this man”.
Why do I give this example? Because our way to see things is not God’s way to see things. We just look at the appearance but whoever wants to be a hero for God must also see man’s heart. And Samuel prayed for Jesse’s children and there was nobody. David had to come and when he came, God said, “this is him”. And how were David’s eyes? What does the Bible say? He had beautiful eyes but it was not only physical but on the inside his eyes were also beautiful. His eyes were always open and he could see clearly so that he could not be confused and whoever wants to serve God in every situation he must first see what God wants. If my eyes please God, so will my actions. Before doing everything think first spiritually and think first, what does the Bible say? And if you know what the Bible says, God will see your eyes as beautiful.
And the bible says that his face was also very pretty. For the Lord, his face was attractive. It’s not about wearing make up. When there is too much make up we become ugly. If you are black and put green blusher on your cheeks and red lipstick on your lips and orange eye-shadow on your eyelids, you become like a little devil. Whoever will see you will think that it is too much. God wants us to have beauty. So we must look after our souls so that they will be acceptable for God and it must not be an artificial beauty but a natural beauty. And how do we do that? What is the secret for becoming pretty for the Lord? There is only one thing and that is obedience. If you want to attract God to you, obey. There is nothing else. And what is obedience? Before doing anything, you think first what does the Word of God say and this is obedience. Before doing anything, observe and think what the Bible says.
I Samuel 16
God said to Samuel, “that is not him, you man look at the outer appearance but I look at the heart”. Try to imagine what you look like. Here everybody is pretty but if we had someone really ugly among us, everybody would say, oh this person is really ugly. And I saw someone who was really ugly and kids would flee from this person. He had a big stomach and big ears and eyes. He was really black and when he walked you might think that he is a robot. And as he was walking around children would even cry and scream. One day I invited this man to church and because I was talking, I asked him to come to the front and as he was walking to the front, everybody was looking and nobody wanted to touch him.
In our church we had an old mum and I asked her (because I would joke with her a lot) Mum can you marry this man? And she said no, better to die single. And I said to this man, how do you feel about it? He said I feel really bad because everybody hates me. And I asked a young woman, I’ll give you about US$600 and we can bless your wedding with this money. She said, keep your money and keep your man too and she stood up to leave the church, she was furious. Why did she react like that? Because his appearance wasn’t good.
But God did something for this man and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he started to talk and to prophesy and he said to someone, “you, in ten minutes you will hear that your child is dead and God will show his hand on you. And you, the lady over there, in two days God will show you a miracle in your life and you will not be a refugee anymore. And anyone who wants prayer can contact me later”. And after this someone came to the first man to tell him that someone had died at home. And the man said, this is not possible, so pray for me because God promised and the big ugly man prayed and after 10 minutes someone came back to say that the child had come back to life. Two days later the woman also came in touch with the Australian immigration service and she could go. And after that a woman came to see this man, and said to this man, I have a financial problem and they prayed together and after praying the lady went and four hundred metres from home, someone met this woman and this person gave this lady maybe three times as much as this lady needed. And on Sunday these were testimonies in this church, praise the Lord.
So I said, so who wants to marry this man? Everybody looked around and smiled and I pointed out someone and she was a really pretty girl and she rubbed her hands and said, If God wants I can. And you old mum, who said no last time? She said, “I was just joking, but I can look after this man because I know that he is a Godly man. And through him God did miracles so I want this man”.
Why do I give this example? Because our way to see things is not God’s way to see things. We just look at the appearance but whoever wants to be a hero for God must also see man’s heart. And Samuel prayed for Jesse’s children and there was nobody. David had to come and when he came, God said, “this is him”. And how were David’s eyes? What does the Bible say? He had beautiful eyes but it was not only physical but on the inside his eyes were also beautiful. His eyes were always open and he could see clearly so that he could not be confused and whoever wants to serve God in every situation he must first see what God wants. If my eyes please God, so will my actions. Before doing everything think first spiritually and think first, what does the Bible say? And if you know what the Bible says, God will see your eyes as beautiful.
And the bible says that his face was also very pretty. For the Lord, his face was attractive. It’s not about wearing make up. When there is too much make up we become ugly. If you are black and put green blusher on your cheeks and red lipstick on your lips and orange eye-shadow on your eyelids, you become like a little devil. Whoever will see you will think that it is too much. God wants us to have beauty. So we must look after our souls so that they will be acceptable for God and it must not be an artificial beauty but a natural beauty. And how do we do that? What is the secret for becoming pretty for the Lord? There is only one thing and that is obedience. If you want to attract God to you, obey. There is nothing else. And what is obedience? Before doing anything, you think first what does the Word of God say and this is obedience. Before doing anything, observe and think what the Bible says.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
SAMUEL ANOINTS THE WEAKEST SON DAVID - Part I
By Odon Bulamba (15 August 2003)
I Samuel 16
We thank God because He is good and He is always there and He is still leading us and protects us from all danger and He gives us everything we need and especially what is necessary. .
If you have a nose you need to breath and each person needs this breath so the body will function. God has put life in the wind and in the air and if there is no air anymore everybody will lose his life, so we must thank God for this oxygen. Imagine God has put life in the air, He didn’t put life in the sun or anything else but in the air around us and He said who ever will breath this air will live. To prove it I’ll ask every one of us to close your mouth and nose and we will try to see how many seconds we can hold our breath and you will feel how the body reacts. We will see that it is not easy, for a short time you will feel your body swell, you feel you want to explode. Sometimes we collapse, so we can’t even go 20 seconds without air.
Our souls also needs to breath and when we cut it off, our soul feels the same way the body feels. Our soul also feels it lacks oxygen, so imagine if you sin now and you stop the oxygen for your soul and you repent after three hours. Do you think you can stop breathing for three hours, I think it is impossible. Why do I say that? Because God is doing something for our souls and He asks us that our souls have life in abundance and God is not only our shepherd for our bodies but also for our souls. Dying animals don’t need a shepherd anymore. For example if you are a farmer and you wake up in the morning and you see that your sheep is dead, you will not look after this sheep anymore, you might throw it away. Every soul that goes far from life, it is a dying soul and God puts them aside. So whatever has no life for the Lord cannot live because the Lord is life himself.
I want to give you another example; I want to ask you to open your eyes wide and don’t move your eyelids. Open them wide and we’ll see what will happen. Blow in that persons eyes and see how they will react. You’ll see that because of the air the eyes move, whether you want to or not, your eyes will tend to close because a danger is coming. This is an invisible danger. And our souls too when they are attacked by the devil (if they are living souls) they always need to cover themselves and protect themselves. When the devil comes you can’t see him, he comes like the air but our souls must feel its presence.
Let’s say that I am dead and Colleen blows in my eyes, what will my eyes do? Nothing. They can’t move because there is no life in me. And a soul that doesn’t feel satan is like a dying body. Someone might sin and not even notice it and if you come to that stage you must know there is a danger. You might not see life in you. For God what counts is the soul. Whatever we do, for God the soul is essential. Do you know what is the height of a soul? It is different from the height of a body. God wants our soul to be alive because our soul needs life and if there is life then our souls will be able to protect ourselves against the devil. When we have life we become heroes for the Lord.
I Sam 16:6-13.
This is David’s story and many people know this story. David was a hero in the Lord because he would always obey the Lord and he would always have life in him. David was the youngest in his family and it seems like his dad didn’t like him very much. This is a family with eight boys and David was sent to be a shepherd. Maybe the dad asked first the oldest ones to look after the sheep but they refused so he forced David to go because he was the youngest and David couldn’t say anything. Maybe his brothers said something and maybe his dad said something or maybe because he was obedient. And as Christians we have two things on this earth, we are either intoxicated by our friends or family or number two we have obedience. In intoxication there is no life. Many people do things because of what others are doing. Many people do things because they are influenced by others and if you are not influenced by God but you are influenced by man, then you will get lost.
So this young man accepted to look after his Dad’s sheep although he was short and young. So after some time God visited Samuel and he said to Samuel, I want to give you someone who will rule over my people. Go there and I will anoint the one that I tell you. Samuel was a prophet and a servant of God and he would always listen to God’s voice and He respected Gods voice and went. But once he got to Jesses, I would say that life wasn’t in Samuel anymore because Samuel looked at all these children and when he saw the first-born, deep in his heart he thought, this must be the one. And God said, “no this is not the one”. Samuel was 100% sure that he was the one, so he was in confusion. Although he was a man of God, he also had human thoughts in his life. And many people today who serve God, because they are influenced by their surroundings or by appearance, these people make bad decisions.
Once when we were in Kenya and we had a big church with hundreds of people, there was a young man who had sinned. Everybody knew that he had sinned but what the others would do, no body could see. One man stood in front of everybody and said, “Look this man sinned and we must excommunicate him from the glory of God. We must put him aside because he doesn’t belong with us. We must not eat with him and we must not walk with him. There is no right for him to go to church, or to pray with us or to be beside us”. And I asked this man, if Jesus has forgiven us, why can’t we forgive this man? If you were forgiven for your sins and maybe you did worse than him, or maybe you hide your sins, why can’t you forgive this man? “Oh because this is the law.” So we opened the Bible to I Cor 5, it is written that if someone sins you will give the body to the devil but be careful with the soul because a soul has great value in God’s eyes. We had a big debate around this issue. In my other Bible I wrote the date and how things went. And in the end we found out that to excommunicate someone is not biblical and we could not find this word in the Bible. I had more than fifteen different versions and we couldn’t find this word. For our God there are no great sins or little sins so when you forgive you forgive, that is all. If someone killed your father, if it’s about forgiveness then you must forgive. If someone did something wrong to you then you must always be ready to forgive.
So Samuel used his thoughts instead of God’s thoughts and if Samuel made this mistake, who are we, will we be greater than Samuel? So we must be careful with our thoughts sometimes. Sometimes God can send us and when we get to the thing that God shows us, we put our thoughts first and they lead us astray. God said to Samuel, “that is not him, you man look at the outer appearance but I look at the heart”.
I Samuel 16
We thank God because He is good and He is always there and He is still leading us and protects us from all danger and He gives us everything we need and especially what is necessary. .
If you have a nose you need to breath and each person needs this breath so the body will function. God has put life in the wind and in the air and if there is no air anymore everybody will lose his life, so we must thank God for this oxygen. Imagine God has put life in the air, He didn’t put life in the sun or anything else but in the air around us and He said who ever will breath this air will live. To prove it I’ll ask every one of us to close your mouth and nose and we will try to see how many seconds we can hold our breath and you will feel how the body reacts. We will see that it is not easy, for a short time you will feel your body swell, you feel you want to explode. Sometimes we collapse, so we can’t even go 20 seconds without air.
Our souls also needs to breath and when we cut it off, our soul feels the same way the body feels. Our soul also feels it lacks oxygen, so imagine if you sin now and you stop the oxygen for your soul and you repent after three hours. Do you think you can stop breathing for three hours, I think it is impossible. Why do I say that? Because God is doing something for our souls and He asks us that our souls have life in abundance and God is not only our shepherd for our bodies but also for our souls. Dying animals don’t need a shepherd anymore. For example if you are a farmer and you wake up in the morning and you see that your sheep is dead, you will not look after this sheep anymore, you might throw it away. Every soul that goes far from life, it is a dying soul and God puts them aside. So whatever has no life for the Lord cannot live because the Lord is life himself.
I want to give you another example; I want to ask you to open your eyes wide and don’t move your eyelids. Open them wide and we’ll see what will happen. Blow in that persons eyes and see how they will react. You’ll see that because of the air the eyes move, whether you want to or not, your eyes will tend to close because a danger is coming. This is an invisible danger. And our souls too when they are attacked by the devil (if they are living souls) they always need to cover themselves and protect themselves. When the devil comes you can’t see him, he comes like the air but our souls must feel its presence.
Let’s say that I am dead and Colleen blows in my eyes, what will my eyes do? Nothing. They can’t move because there is no life in me. And a soul that doesn’t feel satan is like a dying body. Someone might sin and not even notice it and if you come to that stage you must know there is a danger. You might not see life in you. For God what counts is the soul. Whatever we do, for God the soul is essential. Do you know what is the height of a soul? It is different from the height of a body. God wants our soul to be alive because our soul needs life and if there is life then our souls will be able to protect ourselves against the devil. When we have life we become heroes for the Lord.
I Sam 16:6-13.
This is David’s story and many people know this story. David was a hero in the Lord because he would always obey the Lord and he would always have life in him. David was the youngest in his family and it seems like his dad didn’t like him very much. This is a family with eight boys and David was sent to be a shepherd. Maybe the dad asked first the oldest ones to look after the sheep but they refused so he forced David to go because he was the youngest and David couldn’t say anything. Maybe his brothers said something and maybe his dad said something or maybe because he was obedient. And as Christians we have two things on this earth, we are either intoxicated by our friends or family or number two we have obedience. In intoxication there is no life. Many people do things because of what others are doing. Many people do things because they are influenced by others and if you are not influenced by God but you are influenced by man, then you will get lost.
So this young man accepted to look after his Dad’s sheep although he was short and young. So after some time God visited Samuel and he said to Samuel, I want to give you someone who will rule over my people. Go there and I will anoint the one that I tell you. Samuel was a prophet and a servant of God and he would always listen to God’s voice and He respected Gods voice and went. But once he got to Jesses, I would say that life wasn’t in Samuel anymore because Samuel looked at all these children and when he saw the first-born, deep in his heart he thought, this must be the one. And God said, “no this is not the one”. Samuel was 100% sure that he was the one, so he was in confusion. Although he was a man of God, he also had human thoughts in his life. And many people today who serve God, because they are influenced by their surroundings or by appearance, these people make bad decisions.
Once when we were in Kenya and we had a big church with hundreds of people, there was a young man who had sinned. Everybody knew that he had sinned but what the others would do, no body could see. One man stood in front of everybody and said, “Look this man sinned and we must excommunicate him from the glory of God. We must put him aside because he doesn’t belong with us. We must not eat with him and we must not walk with him. There is no right for him to go to church, or to pray with us or to be beside us”. And I asked this man, if Jesus has forgiven us, why can’t we forgive this man? If you were forgiven for your sins and maybe you did worse than him, or maybe you hide your sins, why can’t you forgive this man? “Oh because this is the law.” So we opened the Bible to I Cor 5, it is written that if someone sins you will give the body to the devil but be careful with the soul because a soul has great value in God’s eyes. We had a big debate around this issue. In my other Bible I wrote the date and how things went. And in the end we found out that to excommunicate someone is not biblical and we could not find this word in the Bible. I had more than fifteen different versions and we couldn’t find this word. For our God there are no great sins or little sins so when you forgive you forgive, that is all. If someone killed your father, if it’s about forgiveness then you must forgive. If someone did something wrong to you then you must always be ready to forgive.
So Samuel used his thoughts instead of God’s thoughts and if Samuel made this mistake, who are we, will we be greater than Samuel? So we must be careful with our thoughts sometimes. Sometimes God can send us and when we get to the thing that God shows us, we put our thoughts first and they lead us astray. God said to Samuel, “that is not him, you man look at the outer appearance but I look at the heart”.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The taboo subject - Homosexuality
By Angela Bhandal
1. What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
2. Can some who is gay also be a Christian?
3. What should our attitude be toward gay people?
1. What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”
Romans 1:26-27 “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
Genesis 13:13 “ Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.:
Genesis 18:20 “And the Lord said “the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great and their sin is exceedingly grave.”
2 Peter 2: 6& 7 “…and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if he rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men…”
Jude 7 “…Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and their cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh and reject authority and revile angelic majesties.”
1 Corinthians 6:9 “ Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornications, nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate or homosexuals…”
So the Bible shows us clearly how God feels towards homosexuality - it is sin, an abomination and the consequences are spiritual death and God giving them over to their depraved ways.
Homosexuality goes completely against the natural order of what God created - in Genesis 1:27-28 “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them “Be fruitful and multiply , and fill the earth and subdue it…”
Within a gay relationship, the one thing God commanded right from the beginning of time, cannot be fulfilled. Two men cannot conceive and create a baby; two women cannot conceive and create either.
2. Can some who is gay also be a Christian?
Based on the above verses I think it is pretty clear that one cannot claim to practice homosexuality and also claim to be a christian. I do believe however, after reading numerous testimonies of gay men and women who came out of that lifestyle and became born-again Christians, that it is possible to be saved if you repent and turn away from that lifestyle and sin.
These people need a lot of support and counselling. As with any sin, they need God’s help and strength to overcome and not give in to temptation. They need to pray pray pray!!! And draw strength from God’s word.
God wants us to glorify Him through our bodies and how we live
1 Corinthians 6:9-11/15-20
Philippians 4:8
Colossians 2:13-14
Romans 12:1-2
1 Corinthians 10:13
3. What should our attitude be toward gay people?
Love your neighbour as yourself even if they are gay and proclaiming God. They need the truth of God revealed in their lives and this comes through praying for them and sharing the Word of God with them.
Proverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.”
Ephesians 4:15 a “…but speaking the truth in love…”
Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
When we stand up for God’s ways and commandments, I can assure you people will be offended and hate you but the only thing that will set them free from this lifestyle is God’s truth.
Conclusion:
So the Bible speaks clearly about homosexuality being a sin and not what God intended - satan has perverted something really good that God created between a man and his wife - a gay person cannot claim to be a born-again, spirit-filled Christian while living a homosexual lifestyle just as a practising murderer or rapist cannot claim to be a Christian - our attitude as Christians toward gay people should be one of concern for their soul and to reach out in Godly love and kindness towards them and when the opportunity presents itself, to speak the truth - people might hate us for this but maybe one soul might be plucked from hell?
1. What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
2. Can some who is gay also be a Christian?
3. What should our attitude be toward gay people?
1. What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”
Romans 1:26-27 “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
Genesis 13:13 “ Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.:
Genesis 18:20 “And the Lord said “the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great and their sin is exceedingly grave.”
2 Peter 2: 6& 7 “…and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if he rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men…”
Jude 7 “…Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and their cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh and reject authority and revile angelic majesties.”
1 Corinthians 6:9 “ Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornications, nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate or homosexuals…”
So the Bible shows us clearly how God feels towards homosexuality - it is sin, an abomination and the consequences are spiritual death and God giving them over to their depraved ways.
Homosexuality goes completely against the natural order of what God created - in Genesis 1:27-28 “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them “Be fruitful and multiply , and fill the earth and subdue it…”
Within a gay relationship, the one thing God commanded right from the beginning of time, cannot be fulfilled. Two men cannot conceive and create a baby; two women cannot conceive and create either.
2. Can some who is gay also be a Christian?
Based on the above verses I think it is pretty clear that one cannot claim to practice homosexuality and also claim to be a christian. I do believe however, after reading numerous testimonies of gay men and women who came out of that lifestyle and became born-again Christians, that it is possible to be saved if you repent and turn away from that lifestyle and sin.
These people need a lot of support and counselling. As with any sin, they need God’s help and strength to overcome and not give in to temptation. They need to pray pray pray!!! And draw strength from God’s word.
God wants us to glorify Him through our bodies and how we live
1 Corinthians 6:9-11/15-20
Philippians 4:8
Colossians 2:13-14
Romans 12:1-2
1 Corinthians 10:13
3. What should our attitude be toward gay people?
Love your neighbour as yourself even if they are gay and proclaiming God. They need the truth of God revealed in their lives and this comes through praying for them and sharing the Word of God with them.
Proverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.”
Ephesians 4:15 a “…but speaking the truth in love…”
Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
When we stand up for God’s ways and commandments, I can assure you people will be offended and hate you but the only thing that will set them free from this lifestyle is God’s truth.
Conclusion:
So the Bible speaks clearly about homosexuality being a sin and not what God intended - satan has perverted something really good that God created between a man and his wife - a gay person cannot claim to be a born-again, spirit-filled Christian while living a homosexual lifestyle just as a practising murderer or rapist cannot claim to be a Christian - our attitude as Christians toward gay people should be one of concern for their soul and to reach out in Godly love and kindness towards them and when the opportunity presents itself, to speak the truth - people might hate us for this but maybe one soul might be plucked from hell?
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