Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia fired Fr. Jim St. George when it learned he was gay

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Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia fired Fr. Jim St. George when it learned he was gay

http://chestnuthilllocal.com/blog/2011/02/26/update-college-says-it-acted-independently-to-fire-jim-st-george-when-it-learned-he-was-gay/

COMMENT: Let me see if I have this straight (pun intended). This openly gay priest who taught at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia got fired because he was gay.  Yet there are tens, hundreds(?), thousands(?) of Catholic priests who have credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors lodged against them and who are free to commit mathem on kids throughout the world and the Sisters of St. Joseph who run Chestnut Hill fire a faculty member because he’s openly gay. Wait until Bill Maher or Kathy Griffin or Jay Leno or David Letterman get wind of this. Who the hell is calling plays from the sidelines in the Vatican?

UPDATE: College says it acted independently to fire Jim St. George when it learned he was gay

Posted on 26 February 2011

http://chestnuthilllocal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/jim_stgeorge12.jpeghttp://chestnuthilllocal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/jim_stgeorge12.jpeg Father Jim St. Georgeby Pete Mazzaccaro by Pete Mazzaccaro

Late Friday night, Chestnut Hill College President Carol Jean Vale released a statement explaining the college’s decision to fire Father Jim St. George. The openly gay priest who has taught theology courses at the school since January 2010 learned he was fired late last week. See our story here.

In her statement, Vale confirms that the St. George’s sexual orientation was the reason he was terminated. It  was, she writes, incompatible with the college’s Roman Catholic principles. She also states that the decision to fire St. George was not the result of pressure from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia or a letter from attorney James Pepper, but rather revelatory statements made by St. George on his personal blog.

According to Vale, the college did not know when it hired St. George  anything about his sexual orientation or that he belonged to St. Miriam Church in Blue Bell, a church affiliated with the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of America, which allows its priests to be gay, straight, celibate or married.

Vale’s complete statement:

“As president of Chestnut Hill College, a private Catholic institution, it is imperative that I clarify the conditions of our College’s decision not to issue a new part-time teaching contract to Jim St. George. St. George served as adjunct instructor in our School of Continuing and Professional Studies from January 2010 to February of this year teaching a variety of courses in religion and scripture.

“At the time St. George joined our faculty, he presented himself as Father St. George and openly wore a traditional Catholic priest’s collar. While St. George appears to be an ordained pastor-he leads St. Miriam, an independent and self-described reformed Antioch-rite Catholic house of worship located in Blue Bell, Pa.–his church allows priests the option to engage in same-sex partnerships.  This is contrary to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.

“It was with great disappointment when we learned through St. George’s public statements of his involvement in a gay relationship with another man for the past 15 years. It is important to note that this information came to our attention only after St. George chose to make his private life public information on his blog. “While we welcome diversity, it is expected that all members of our College community, regardless of their personal beliefs, respect and uphold our Roman Catholic mission, character and values both in the classroom and in public statements that identify them with our school.  For this reason, we chose not to offer an additional teaching contract to St. George.” Read more at reform-network.net

 

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I was raised a Catholic and served as an altar boy at a parochial school in Indiana…

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I was raised a Catholic and served as an altar boy at a parochial school in Indiana…

Received by e-mail by Mark Gehring, 2.27.2011..

Published here with his permission.

I was raised a Catholic and served as an altar boy at a parochial school in Indiana when I was in 4th -5th and 6th grade. I was never molested, thank God, but I decided to go to interdenominational churches now for many years partly because of the priest moloestation scandals. I could support the Catholic Church until I heard that the offenders were just sent to another diocise!! When I heard that, I knew I had made the right decision to leave the Catholic church. I still have relatives that are devout Catholics, but I really can’t understand how they can still support it, given what we know. Read more at reform-network.net

 

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Organization Looking For People Sexually Abused By Clergy

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SNAP in Springfield, Missouri

http://www.ktts.com/news/117026403.html

Organization Looking For People Sexually Abused By Clergy

Members of the “survivors network of those abused by priests” stood outside the catholic diocese in Springfield this weekend with a call for help.  A predator priest, Father Thomas J. O’Brien, worked at a Springfield church in the 1950s and could have abused some people.  A spokesman hopes the area catholic bishop will aggressively look for victims that were hurt.  More than 2 dozen lawsuits have been filed against the priest and another was added recently.

You can contact SNAP at SnapNetwork.org or by calling 888-Snap Hea Read more at reform-network.net

 

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Why I Left the Catholic Church

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Why I Left the Catholic Church

The man who wrote this statement lives in Tucson and is a great guy. Lorraine and I are fortunate to have him as a friend. I’m happy to publish this for him.

Frank Douglas | Tucson, AZ | February 27, 2011

Why I Left the Catholic Church

I grew up in a Catholic family. I went to a Catholic school. I married a Catholic girl in the Catholic Church. I sent my son to Catholic schools. I attended mass regularly.

I was a member of the local diocese Catholic Social Service Board of Directors for four years and then served as President for two more years. I worked on the building Fund Committee of two churches; I also contributed to the building fund of a local seminary no longer in use. Then at 80 plus years, I stopped going to church. My decision to leave the Catholic Church wasn’t made overnight. The change in me gradually began to enter my mind as I slowly was losing respect for the church leaders that I had been taught all my life to trust.

Priests raping, sodomizing and molesting God’s children. Bishops secretly moving these sexual abusers from parish to parish without making it known to anyone, thereby placing more unsuspecting children in harms way. These actions by the bishops had to be made with the knowledge that other children would be molested, yet their choice was made to protect the abusers and the reputation of the Catholic church. Unforgivable. There is no possible justification for bishops to even have considered such a criminal action.

Rape, sodomy and molestation of children are crimes punishable by law. Anyone complicit in the protection of a sexual abuser is also committing a crime punishable by law.

More than fifty percent of the bishops in the United States were involved in the movement of pedophiles. Bishops were involved in making large financial settlements in order to keep known sexual abusers from being prosecuted. Then, they removed these priests from the ministry but allowed them to enter the general population without having to register as sex offenders. Again, knowing full well that these pedophiles could possibly molest other children. Unforgivable.

It also was learned that a large number of these sex abusers were secretly placed in other jobs within the Catholic organization. All this has been made public knowledge. Priests sexually abusing children, bishops moving them from parish to parish, billions of dollars of church funds used to make large financial settlements including the payment of high-priced law firms advising the bishops.

Almost ten years has gone by since the sex scandal within the Catholic Church received national attention. No bishop has been removed or reprimanded by the pope. The sex scandal has surfaced in a number of other countries. Still the pope has not held anyone accountable.

Not only have none of the hierarchy been held accountable for their actions but they are still in complete control of everything Catholic.

These criminals continue to run every parish and every diocese in this country as though they believe all is forgiven. They continue to apologize for the harm that has been done to the Catholic Church without any indication what-so-ever as to having been the persons responsible. Without ever admitting that their actions have been criminal. Sins maybe but nothing criminal.

There is also another problem within the Catholic Church that the bishops have failed to resolve. Millions of dollars are being stolen from Sunday collections and the procedures they installed in most parishes were not made mandatory.

I am not the only Catholic leaving the Catholic Church. Millions have left. More will continue to leave if and when it dawns on parishioners that by remaining they are condoning failed leadership and leadership that is never going to be held accountable.

The only other possibility for change is if the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is taken to the highest court in the land and charged for their crimes. At the present time, it appears that the USCCB is above the law.

Tomasso Tucson

Advocate for Bishops Accountability

Tomassotucson@cox.net Read more at reform-network.net

 

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Priests in Sweden join the ranks of paedophiles

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Priests in Sweden join the ranks of paedophiles

http://www.thelocal.se/32286/20110227/

Priests in Sweden join the ranks of paedophiles

Published: 27 Feb 11 09:10 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation

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The Catholic Church of Sweden confirms three priests are believed to have sexually abused children over the span of 30 years.

Swede charged for sex crimes against 13 girls (7 Feb 11) Paedophile boasts of bribing himself free (11 Aug 10) Sweden probes webcam paedophile suspect (17 Jan 10)

It is reported that the paedophile priests, one of whom is dead, sexually abused a collective of five children between 1940 and 1970, thus falling under that statute of limitation.

Stockholm Bishop Anders Arborelius said Saturday there could “be no redemption” for the three.

One priest molested two boys, another abused a girl for four years before she complained.

The third priest molested two girls, who were sisters, while in a relationship with their mother.

The information was gathered and confirmed during an internal investigation, according to a press release from the Catholic Church.

One of the three priests has died, another is no longer a priest and the third could not be identified, the Church said.

The former priest, who is alive, denies “in essence” what’s written in the investigative report.

The church dismissed a fourth accusation of rape during ritual practices with multiple offenders, claiming the complaint was unreasonable.

”For the fourth priest, the accusations could not be corroborated by the investigation,” said the report, adding that investigators had been unable to speak to the alleged victim.

Sweden’s small Catholic Church opened a probe in April last year into allegations that four priests had committed paedophile acts.

A Church report dated February 25 and put online on Saturday said that the responsibility of the three had been confirmed.

”To molest a minor is a heinous crime which causes a lifetime of suffering. For me there is no statute of limitations for child abuse,” said Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm Catholic Diocese, in a statement.

”The Catholic Church can never make amends to the victims, but we want this investigation to give the victims the restitution they deserve,” he added.

As the crimes took place between 1940 and 1970 they can no longer be prosecuted and the Church was not planning to take any further legal action.

The Roman Catholic Church numbers about 100,000 members in a population of more than nine million who are predominantly Lutheran.

TT/AFP/The Local (news@thelocal.se) Read more at reform-network.net

 

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Dogmas

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Dogmas

This quote by Eckhart Tolle is from Stillness Speaks:

Dogmas—religious, political, scientific—arise out of the erroneous belief that thought can encapsulate reality or the truth. Dogmas are collective conceptual prisons. And the strange thing is that people love their prison cells because they give them a sense of security and a false sense of “I know.” Nothing has inflicted more suffering on humanity than its dogmas. It is true that every dogma crumbles sooner or later, because reality will eventually disclose its falseness; however, unless the basic delusion of it is seen for what it is, it will be replaced by others. Read more at reform-network.net

 

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Time to Drag Sextortion into the Light

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Time to Drag Sextortion into the Light

Time to Drag Sextortion into the Light

By Cléo Fatoorehchi

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 27, 2011 (IPS) – In their 2010 book “Half the Sky,” Pulitzer-Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn write about a disturbing but not uncommon problem in Southern Africa – male teachers who trade good grades for sex with students.

The authors note that “half of Tanzanian women, and nearly half of Ugandan women, say they were abused by male teachers.”

There’s a word for this – “sextortion”.

The main characteristic of sextortion cases is that they involve a perpetrator in a position of influence or authority, Joan Winship, executive director of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), told IPS.

This includes teachers, but also policemen, priests or employers, for example

“There is (also) an element of quid pro quo, where, if you agree to have sex, then I will be able to give you a promotion, or a raise, or your visa, or I will not give you a traffic ticket. So there is an element of exchange there, which can be either explicit or implicit,” she explained.

These elements of exchange and power imply consent from the victim, and “that makes it a challenge (to prosecute),” said Winship. “It’s part of the problem why it hasn’t been defined, and this is what we’re trying to do.”

With the annual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women taking place this week in New York, the IAWJ is using the opportunity to shed light on sextortion.

Sextortion is a widespread phenomenon found in all countries of the world. But since it is mostly unreported, impunity is common for perpetrators.

It is with the goal of ending this impunity that IAWJ launched a programme entitled “Stopping the Abuse of Power for Purposes of Sexual Exploitation: Naming, Shaming, and Ending Sextortion” in March 2009 in The Hague.

Aided by the government of the Netherlands through its MDG3 Fund, the programme pulls together three of IAWJ’s partners from Tanzania, the Philippines, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The concrete outcome of this initiative will be the creation of a toolkit by June 2011, which will provide judges with a range of current laws that can be applied to cases of sextortion.

As Hon. Teresita de Castro, from the Supreme Court of the Philippines, highlighted during a panel on the issue this week, when people understand that sextortion is a crime, then justice can be done.

Victims of sextortion also need to see it as a crime and overcome their fear of speaking out, even though “when they do come forward, there are other obstacles (for prosecution),” said Nancy Hendry, IAWJ senior legal advisor.

”She or he stands alone not only against the individual defendant, but also against the entire institution that the defendant represents – and historically, the community that has invested its trust in the defendant,” Anne Goldstein, IAWJ human rights education director, told IPS.

IAWJ is not advocating for a new legal framework on this issue, either at the country or international level. “The problem is not an absence of law, the problem is the absence of will to enforce [existing] laws,” Goldstein said.

IAWJ considers sextortion “a form of corruption”, where it is not money but sex that is at stake. But while reparations can be made for financial corruption, sextortion brings psychological and physical damage, and overall is much more dangerous, Hon. de Castro underlined.

IAWJ is lobbying to have existing anti-corruption laws used to prosecute sextortion perpetrators. Goldstein told IPS their purpose is to “draw together in one place both the anti-Gender Based Violence laws and the anti-corruption laws that are generally looked at separately but – IAWJ believes – need to be integrated.”

”A successful strategy against sextortion would mainstream anti-corruption efforts into gender – and vice versa,” she said. And for Winship to conclude: “we want to change the thinking, that the currency does not have to be only money; the currency can be asking for sex.”

Using the Internet to fight back

The Internet is viewed as increasing the potential for various forms of sexual abuse, such as by the hacking of webcams or computers in search of compromising photos. Teenagers are the most affected by this new trend, since they are easily intimidated.

However, IAWJ considers the Internet a useful tool “for victims (of sextortion) to find each other, share stories and offer support,” Goldstein told IPS. “Thus, you have groups springing up such as SNAP (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests”) and STAMP (Survivors Take Action against Military Personnel).”

She also pointed out that if “it’s easy to brush aside a single allegation of sexual abuse/sexual harassment/sextortion, it’s much harder to ignore thousands.”

She cited the examples of the 2004 John Jay College of Criminal Justice report, “The Nature and Scope of the Problem of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests and Deacons in the United States,” (which) brought together 10,667 complaints against 4,392 individual priests.”

In addition, “sexual harassment – the quid pro quo form of which is a canonical example of sextortion – went from being something that “just happened” to women, to “a violation of the law.”

Finally, new technologies represent a tremendous tool for proving allegations of sexual extortion.

”It is no coincidence that many of the sextortion cases that have led to actual court convictions involved compromising e- mails, texts, audio or video recordings,” said Goldstein.

Thanks to these new tools, “at least we have been able to move from denial or blaming a few rotten apples to the acknowledgment that sexual abuse/harassment/sextorti on are serious problems embedded in institutional cultures – and they need to be addressed,” she concluded. Read more at reform-network.net

 

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Christian Broadcasters Urged to Fight 'Gay is the New Black' Agenda

By Katherine T. Phan|Christian Post Reporter

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Pastor and cultural apologist Voddie Baucham challenged Christian broadcasters at their annual convention on Saturday to not buy into the "gay is the new black" propaganda, but instead to remain committed to defending biblical marriage on the airwaves.

(Photo: The Christian Post)

Voddie Baucham, pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, challenges Christian broadcasters at the 2011 National Religious Broadcasters convention to not equate the homosexual agenda with the civil rights movmement on Saturday, February 26, 2011, in Nashville, Tenn.

Baucham, who preaches at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, knew that he would make a lot of people uncomfortable or squirm in their seats by raising the issue of homosexuality at the opening session of the 2011 National Religious Broadcasters.

"When it comes to Christian broadcasters, we are nervous, even afraid to deal with this subject matter," he told NRB attendees at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.

The African-American minister pointed out that Christian broadcasters feel the need to apologize several times to the public before speaking about homosexuality on their shows. They will try to prove they don't hate gay people by saying they have many gay friends or gay family members, he said.

"The reason is the homosexuals have effectively co-opted blackness…to where now, we actually believe gay is the new black and we actually believe homosexual marriage is a civil rights issue,” he explained.

He stressed, however, that being gay is not the same as being black.

"I'm insulted that people equate not just a sinful behavior but a behavior that's a special category of sin called abomination with the level of melanin in my skin," he said.

That discomfort, according to Baucham, is an intentional result of an aggressive homosexual agenda that started over 2 decades ago.

Back in 1989, a meeting took place among 144 of the nation's leading homosexual activists to figure out how to leverage the AIDS crisis to their advantage and to outline a strategy for advancing the LGBT movement.

One of the end products of that meeting was "After the Ball," a propaganda campaign based on principles of psychology and advertising to get America to accept homosexuality, said Baucham.

The campaign was a three-prong approach involving "desensitizing," "jamming," and "conversion," he explained.

Desensitizing meant getting homosexuality in front of the culture in attractive forms such as portraying a gay character in a movie to be the smartest and best-dressed character. Jamming is about equating the idea of being against homosexuality with the idea of being a Nazi or a member of the KKK in order to breed discomfort among people who don't accept homosexuality. Conversion is getting people to advance their cause.

Baucham provided several examples of how this strategy is carried out by not just homosexual activists but by black leaders, judges, business leaders, and religious leaders.

He lamented that black leaders were providing "cover" for homosexual activists to play the "race card" instead of giving a legitimate reason for their demands.

To religious leaders, he cautioned them against falling victim to three common attacks in the homosexual agenda: the ad hominem attack, the question-begging logic and genetic fallacy.

With the ad hominem attack, homosexual activists attack the man and label them a "homophobe" or "bad person" and with the question-begging logic tactic they only assume gay marriage is a fundamental right without ever proving it. Genetic fallacy is used when homosexual activists say, "you are using your religion to impose your morality on me," thereby rejecting the argument simply based on where it comes from, not based on the logic of that argument.

Reading from several Bible verses, Baucham contended that Christians should respond to homosexuality with biblical truth. Some Christians may point to the verse that says not to judge others to justify their silence, he acknowledged, but they should also read the part where Jesus tells us to judge ourselves so that we can judge others.

"Take the log out of your own eye so that you can see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. We're commanded to judge," said Baucham.

Referring to Ezekiel 33, the pastor reminded the Christian media professionals that the blood will be required on their hands if they don't tell the wicked man to turn from his ways.

Showing true love, argued Baucham, is not to just allow homosexuals to live in sin but to call them to repent and speak of what Christ has done on the cross.

"There is nothing more loving than calling a person to repent of their sins."

During the evening session on Saturday, Frank Wright, president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters, also addressed the crowd to give the status of the association report. He outlined the three main challenges facing Christian broadcasters today: media access, viewpoint discrimination and biblical fidelity.

Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, gave updates on how his legal group is defending religious freedom around the world from Pakistan to New York to Zimbabwe.

Music artist Nicole C. Mullen also delivered a performance during the session.

National Religious Broadcasters is the nation’s largest association of Christian media professionals. Its annual convention draws thousands of professionals from Christian radio, television, films and other communication companies for training workshops and networking. The NRB Convention and Exposition this year will conclude on March 1.

Related Tim Tebow Ad Wins NRB Best Commercial Award Faith-Based Hiring Bill an 'Assault' on Religious Charities, Says NRB Leader From Radio to the Internet: Christian Broadcasting at 90 Record Numbers Flock to World's Largest Christian Communications Conference Christian Broadcasters Cite Problems in Net Neutrality Read more at www.christianpost.com

 

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The Exhaustless Word of God

by Sabbath Sermons

By Paul Godfrey

You can’t exhaust the word of God. There’s a temptation for us to not to meditate on things long enough, because we think that the Bible is exhaustless. Do you find fresh thoughts on texts?

Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

In our heads thoughts come out. Your brain can never really be quiet thinking nothing. Something needs to come out of it. Either good or evil. There’s only so many times you can repeat the words of the gospel of Jesus. But if we find that those thoughts are old, I already know that, then we stop thinking about it and then what happens? You start thinking something evil.

The mind is so constituted that it must be occupied with either good or evil. If it takes a low level, it is generally because it is left to deal with commonplace subjects. . . . Man has the power to regulate and control the workings of the mind, and give direction to the current of his thoughts. But this requires greater effort than we can make in our own strength. We must stay our minds on God, if we would have right thoughts, and proper subjects for meditation. {OHC 111.2}

What is our mind meant to be on? The facts and events of God. Our mind has to be on God, the person. That person is exhaustless. Can you work out God? Do you think you’ve worked him out? Then we’ve got more to learn. If we stay our mind on him, then he will teach us things that we thought we knew but didn’t realise how much there was in it.

Few realize that it is a duty to exercise control over their thoughts and imaginations. It is difficult to keep the undisciplined mind fixed upon profitable subjects. But if the thoughts are not properly employed, religion cannot flourish in the soul. The mind must be preoccupied with sacred and eternal things, or it will cherish trifling and superficial thoughts. Both the intellectual and the moral powers must be disciplined, and they will strengthen and improve by exercise. {OHC 111.3}

When you study for so many hours you go past the barrier of just reading information and God starts connecting the Bible texts together for you. The problem why many Christians don’t find much joy in studying the Bible is because they don’t spend enough time studying it. They just read a text. We don’t discipline the mind to stay there and keep doing it. What is the danger that people who don’t really like the Bible can fall into?

Collosians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

In Bible studies you can go three ways. You can read it and consider it old and leave it or you can read it, dissect it and start to say what you think about the text. That’s philosophy, higher criticism. Dissecting it according to your own head. To put a construction on the text, that the text isn’t saying. That is very close to proper Bible study but there is a big difference in results.

Satan often finds a powerful agency for evil in the power which one human mind is capable of exerting on another human mind. This influence is so seductive that the person who is being molded by it is often unconscious of its power. God has bidden me speak warning against this evil, that His servants may not come under the deceptive power of Satan. The enemy is a master worker, and if God’s people are not constantly led by the Spirit of God, they will be snared and taken. For thousands of years Satan has been experimenting upon the properties of the human mind, and he has learned to know it well. By his subtle workings in these last days, he is linking the human mind with his own, imbuing it with his thoughts; and he is doing this work in so deceptive a manner that those who accept his guidance know not that they are being led by him at his will. The great deceiver hopes so to confuse the minds of men and women, that none but his voice will be heard. {OHC 110.2}

You find this with scholars of the Bible. They read the exact same Bible that you do but as they read it, Satan is telling them his thoughts on the Bible. It’s so deceptive that we think that is an angel of light. The principle is that it changes the meaning of the whole fabric. Faith and works has been one subject that Satan has changed how we read the Bible and interpret the words of the scriptures. Satan has changed the meaning of faith to the opposite of what the Bible says. That’s why there are so many versions of the Bible. He has also changed the way that we use the words. The definition faith from dictionary.com is “belief that is not based on proof”. The Bible says faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. So when we read the word faith, whose thoughts are we picking up? Those who wrest the scriptures from their meaning also used Bible texts but they always rely on the wrong meaning of the word all the way through. That way they can prove their point. The Bible has to tell you how the word is used. When you know how the word is used then you use it the way the Bible used it. The dictionary describes a word by other words. The Bible does that also. It will say a word in a structure and in another place it will use that same structure but use a different word. When you find those situations, take those meanings and put them where they belong and all the sudden it all means something different. Galatians says the law was added because of transgression. But ‘added’ means the law was spoken because of transgression. This text is always used to say that the law was only given at Sinai. We don’t use the language of the Bible any more. The meanings of words has changed and then you get problems.

The controversy between Christ and Satan is not yet ended. The latter is constantly seeking to establish his own power and authority. If he can entangle minds, he will do it. . . . The deceptions of Satan are manifold, but the Lord will be our helper if we seek him earnestly. {OHC 110.5}

As Satan has mastered this you can see why the Lord had to give a prophet in these last days otherwise we would go off on such a wrong track.

2 Corinthians 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Any doctrine that comes out of the Bible that presses itself against the knowledge of God and pulls down his law in any way is wrong. They speak not according to the law or the testimony and there’s no light in them. These ideas that pop into our heads we need to be careful. There are some brilliant ideas but if they aren’t founded on thus saith the Lord we have to lay them down.

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

There needs to be strict guidelines when we study the Bible. We can’t take our thoughts and put them into the Bible. If it’s unclear, we need to find other texts that explain it. If you’re unsure, don’t conclude and say, I think it must mean that. Leave it and study other clearer texts that say what they say. If man did that we wouldn’t have all the doctrinal issues we have today. Let the clearer texts explain the confusing texts. When you study and harmonise what the Bible is saying without construing, then you’ll be fine. Every doctrine that is wrong uproots some texts. We cannot put our interpretation on the Bible. Anywhere that is really vague then we have the prophet someone who has been proven to have the Spirit of Prophecy. Ellen White is more than a prophet, she’s a messenger. Just like John the Baptist. We need to understand what God is trying to show us in the Bible. Not to prove someone wrong. When you study that, things become deep. There’s no scriptures that would make you go wow. It would have to be line upon line until you see the picture.

The thoughts must be trained. Gird up the loins of the mind that it shall work in the right direction, and after the order of well-formed plans; then every step is one in advance, and no effort or time is lost in following vague ideas and random plans. We must consider the aim and object of life, and ever keep worthy purposes in view. Every day the thoughts should be trained and kept to the point as the compass to the pole. {OHC 112.3}

Why not keep your minds fixed on the unsearchable riches of Christ, that you may present to others the gems of truth? In the Word of God there are rich mines of truth that we may spend our whole lifetime in exploring, and yet we shall find that we have only begun to view their precious stores. Sink the shaft deep, and bring up the hidden treasures. But it is impossible to do this while we indulge an idle, restless spirit, seeking constantly for something that will merely gratify the senses, something to amuse, and cause a foolish laugh. . . . {OHC 115.2}

It’s impossible to do Bible studies while we’re engaged in media. TV makes the brain dull. It takes mental effort to apply the mind. If you read a bit and then walk off, you’ve missed the blessing. You don’t know what you’re about to find if you leave.

Minds that are occupied with frivolous reading, with exciting stories, or with seeking after amusement, do not dwell upon Christ, and cannot rejoice in the fullness of His love. The mind that finds pleasure in foolish thoughts and trifling conversation, is as destitute of the joy of Christ as were the hills of Gilboa of dew or rain. {OHC 115.2}

What are some good subjects that we need to pursue. What do you Bible study?

There are, in the Christian faith, subjects upon which every one should accustom his mind to dwell. The love of Jesus, which passeth knowledge, His sufferings for the fallen race, His work of mediation in our behalf, and His exalted glory–these are the mysteries into which angels desired to look. Heavenly beings find in these themes enough to attract and engage their deepest thoughts; and shall we, who are so intimately concerned, manifest less interest than the angels, in the wonders of redeeming love? {OHC 111.5}

Christ’s humiliation in clothing His divinity with humanity is worthy of our consideration. {OHC 114.4}

Faith in Christ is not the work of nature, but the work of God on human minds, wrought in the very soul by the Holy Spirit, who reveals Christ, as Christ revealed the Father. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. With its justifying, sanctifying power, it is above what men call science. {OHC 117.2}

There’s more to faith than what the scientists have to study.

It is the science of eternal realities. Human science is often deceptive and misleading, but this heavenly science never misleads. It is so simple that a child can understand it, and yet the most learned men cannot explain it. It is inexplainable and immeasurable, beyond all human expression. {OHC 117.2}

Why study it? If it’s so simple yet no one can explain it, why study it? You can experience it. When you experience it and come back to the science plan you can identify where you are, where others are and where God is in relation to you.

The acceptance of Christ’s atonement is the groundwork of true faith. . . . Those who will look long enough into the divine mirror to see and despise their sins, their unlikeness to the meek and lowly Jesus, will have strength to overcome. {OHC 117.3}

This isn’t just about theory. It’s about looking at it to experience it. When we look at the law of God long enough what do you see? Love and what do you see in yourself? The condition that you’re in. Failure. Then you can see the love of God even better. Depth is always related to contrast.

All who truly believe will confess and forsake their sins. They will cooperate with Christ in the work of bringing their hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong under the control of the divine will, so that sin shall not have dominion over them. {OHC 117.3}

You need to understand what your hereditary and cultivated tendencies are. Look to your ancestors and understand them. Then you can understand Christ, and God.

Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith, they will be changed into His likeness. They will grow up into the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. . . . Those who truly believe, who confess and forsake their sins, will grow more and more like Christ, until of them it can in heaven be said, “Ye are complete in him.” Colossians 2:10. {OHC 117.3}

The Christian should possess more intelligence and keener discernment than the worldling. The study of God’s word is continually expanding the mind and strengthening the intellect. There is nothing that will so refine and elevate the character and give vigor to every faculty as the continual exercise of the mind to grasp and comprehend weighty and important truths. {CH 257.1}

Some say the incarnation of Christ is a mystery so don’t look, it’s a mystery. Christ in you, this mystery, the hope of glory, don’t think about it. Is that correct? No. If we will exercise our mind to grasp the weighty and important truths to understand how Jesus is our saviour, that is important. If we will use the Bible and the spirit of prophecy to understand the law, our natures and what Christ did, all those things strengthen the mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

That will save you from going insane. When the mind doesn’t understand things there is a problem. When children don’t know what is going on and they panic but the parents don’t. Because they know what’s going on. If we study the Bible and when things come, we won’t be surprised by it. Learn of the waymarks of the spiritual walk to heaven and then when those things happen you’ll be strengthened. There will only be 144000 sane people on the earth. If we understand it right everything will have its place. You’ll know what is going on and you will have a sound mind. Study the Bible long enough to understand the truth and let the Bible interpret itself for us.

The Scripture declares, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” The knowledge of what the Scripture means when urging upon us the necessity of cultivating faith, is more essential than any other knowledge that can be acquired. We suffer much trouble and grief because of our unbelief, and our ignorance of how to exercise faith. We must break through the clouds of unbelief. We can not have a healthy Christian experience, we can not obey the gospel unto salvation, until the science of faith is better understood, and until more faith is exercised. There can be no perfection of Christian character without that faith that works by love, and purifies the soul. {RH, October 18, 1898 par. 7}

If faith is belief in something that has no proof, how can you understand it? It’s pure imagination but faith is the substance of things hoped for.

Amen.

About Sabbath Sermons Australasia is a divinely appointed center, from which the light of present truth is to radiate to many lands. {AU Gleaner, June 17, 1903 par. 8} Read more at sabbathsermons.com

 

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