“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you.” Psalm 122: 6
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The Catholic Church and the Slippery Slope to Self-Destruction
The Catholic Church is about to adopt “a more positive perspective on the relationships of cohabiting, divorced and gay couples.” Details are discussed in an article titled “Catholic Church prepares ‘pastoral earthquake’ on divorce, gays”:
PARTICIPANTS in a landmark review of Catholic teaching on the family suggested on Monday that the Church adopt a more positive perspective on the relationships of cohabiting, divorced and gay couples.
Senior clerics hand-picked by Pope Francis to draw conclusions from the discussions within an ongoing Vatican City synod of bishops from all over the world issued a working paper that said many saw “positive aspects” to relationships currently officially regarded as “irregular”. Those included same-sex partners, unmarried couples, or civilly married couples in which one or both partners is divorced.
In what one prominent Vatican expert described as “a pastoral earthquake”, the clerics suggested in the paper that the Church should reach out to these groups.
“Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community. Are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities?” asks the paper, which was produced as a kind of summing-up of a first week of discussions in the Vatican.
It adds: “Without denying the moral problems connected to homosexual unions, it has to be noted that there are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners.” The report suggests there is no appetite within the Catholic clergy for changing long-established doctrine that holds that homosexuality, sex outside marriage and divorce are fundamentally wrong.
We’ve all heard the phrase “love the sinner, but hate the sin”. That’s what the Bible teaches because every one of us has sinned, but searching for the “positive aspects” of sinful behavior is not scriptural. In fact, it’s the opposite of what the Bible teaches. Reaching out to sinners is the right thing to do, too, but that doesn’t mean accepting, condoning, or minimizing sin so that people will feel comfortable in a so-called “Christian” environment.
What is sin?
Sin is rebellion against Yahweh. It’s going our own way even though it’s wrong. It’s doing “our thing”, and worse, it’s expecting people to accept “our thing” even if it’s wrong because it’s part of who we are.
Yahweh left no room for doubt about where He stands on sin. He rejects it completely, totally, and absolutely.
Think about this: the Israelites were at the base of Mount Sinai. Moses went to the top of the mountain, and he was gone for several days. The Children of Israel got restless and thought that he might not return, so they asked his brother Aaron to make a golden calf.
Did they believe that golden calf was Yahweh?
I think they were afraid. Moses had introduced them to Yahweh, and he was their intermediary. All of the Israelites witnessed Yahweh’s mighty acts: 10 plagues in Egypt, parting of the Red Sea, walking on the floor of the sea, watching Pharaoh and his army die when they tried to do the same thing. They even saw Yahweh descend on Mount Sinai, and they heard His voice when He declared the Ten Commandments.
There is no way that they thought the golden calf that they made with their own hands was Yahweh. So what were they thinking?
I think they wanted someone or something to stand between them and Yahweh the way Moses had done. Rather than focusing on Yahweh’s boundless love for them and the fact that He had rescued them from bondage in Egypt, they focused on His awesome power and were afraid. I’ll admit that Yahweh’s power is scary, but it’s also wonderful.
In a nutshell, I think that the golden calf was supposed to be a surrogate for Moses, but I’m just guessing.
Now think about how Yahweh might have responded to what they did. He knew their hearts, and He could have said, “Their hearts are in the right place, but they are just humans. They don’t understand, so I’ll overlook their sinful rebellion.”
This is what Yahweh actually told Moses:
“Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” (Exodus 32: 7-10)
Yahweh doesn’t overlook anything and He never condones or accepts sin. His attitude toward sin is the same now as it has always been. There is no “positive aspect” of sin except in sinners’ minds. I include the Pope in that group along with the rest of us because all of us have sinned, even the Pope. In that regard, he’s just like you and me—no better and no worse.
Yahweh demonstrated His love for us by assuming a physical form so that He could shed His blood and die physically to pay the price for our sins. That’s called redemption.
Yahweh is our Savior/Deliverer and our Redeemer. He sacrificed Himself and covered our sins with His blood because His law demanded a sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice. Only Yahweh could do it because only Yahweh is perfect.
He did it so that we can live. The sheep, goats, and bulls that were sacrificed by the Jewish priests were symbolic of the sacrifice that Yahweh would make, and the only things that He demands from us in return are faith and obedience.
This is the way He explained it:
- “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3: 16)
- “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3: 36)
We live in a wicked world, and laying patriotism aside, we live in a wicked nation. How can I believe otherwise?
What about homosexuality?
We have done everything that we can to mainstream homosexuality, and we’ve done it, we say, because we think that it’s wrong to discriminate against people because of their sexual preferences. I don’t want to delve into the other things that we may be called upon to accept one day, but the list is long and loathsome. Accepting homosexuality is a step down that road, and you can rest assured that other steps will follow.
How does Yahweh view homosexuality? Take a look:
- “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.” (Leviticus 18: 22)
- “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.” (Leviticus 20: 13)
You can’t make it any clearer than that. In fact, you need help to be confused.
I have a Facebook friend who must think that accepting homosexuality is the right thing to do. He hasn’t said that explicitly in his posts, but it’s evident from the posts themselves. In one of his posts, he included a quote from former President Jimmy Carter that said, in effect, Jesus didn’t condemn homosexuality, and neither do I. That was Carter’s way of saying that he supports the legitimization of homosexuality in our society.
I commented on that post. In essence, this is what I said: “Carter doesn’t know who ‘Jesus’ is. He is Yahweh and Yahweh did condemn homosexuality.”
What about abortion?
In America today, we don’t want to debate the pros and cons of taking of an innocent, unborn human life. Instead, we want to talk about “a woman’s right to choose” what she will do with her own body. That unborn child in her womb isn’t really a child, they tell us. It’s just tissue, and no one should object to the removal of unwanted tissue. If you do object, they say that you are a Bible-thumping, right-wing Christian. In their eyes, you are no better than an ISIS terrorist. In fact, you may be worse.
In the United States alone, more than 50,000,000 unborn babies have been slaughtered legally on the altar of self-indulgence. Yahweh calls it premeditated murder. The fact that it’s legal has no bearing on it from Yahweh’s perspective.
Look at what Yahweh told Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” (Jeremiah 1: 5)
Yahweh created Jeremiah, and He knew Jeremiah before he was a twinkling in his father’s eye. In other words, Yahweh knew Jeremiah before he was born. Does that tell you anything about what Yahweh thinks about unborn children? It sure does. Those unborn lives are precious to Him, and they aren’t just tissue.
What about the Catholic Church?
Call it being politically correct or getting in tune with the times or whatever you want, the Catholic Church is about to foist upon its followers a “pastoral earthquake” just like the headline of the article said. Yahweh is not politically correct and He doesn’t adjust His principles to accommodate people’s never-ending attempts to rewrite His word in order to excuse or justify sin. He said what He meant and He meant what He said.
I am particularly concerned about the Catholic Church because roughly half of the people in the world today who call themselves Christians are Catholics. In the eyes of the world, the Catholic Church is Christianity and the Pope is the face of Christianity. When the Catholic Church speaks about an issue, the world pays attention.
The Catholic Church’s effort to modernize by accommodating sinful behavior is alarming. People are sinful enough without any help from so-called “Christian” leaders, especially the Pope. I think the Catholic Church is moving in the wrong direction and taking so-called “Christians” down the slippery slope to self-destruction.
When I read the article that I mentioned at the beginning of this editorial, Matthew 24: 22 came to mind immediately. Speaking about the End of Days, the Messiah said,
“Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
This is the point: Yahweh holds us accountable for our actions. If we blindly follow people who tell us lies, even if that person is the Pope or the president or the Führer or a television personality or a radio talk show host, we still own our sins. They are guilty too, but we aren’t innocent.
Yahweh’s word is truth. That’s what we should follow and that’s what the elect will follow.
In Matthew 24: 22, I think the Messiah was saying that at the End of Days so many people will accept lies and abandon truth that even the elect will be tempted go along. Lies are powerful. If enough people believe them, others who should know better will join the crowd. That’s a prelude to disaster, and I think that’s exactly where we are.
As I said, our world is wicked, wicked to the core. We are doing everything that we can to mainstream behavior that Yahweh explicitly condemned.
Just when I think that it can’t get any worse, something else happens to prove me wrong. It saddens me to think about what comes next.
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Jerusalem Post Editorial: The Temple Mount— On the eve of Succot, dozens of masked Muslim youths threw rocks, fire bombs, fireworks, metal pipes and concrete slabs at police officers and non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount. This vicious attack was premeditated, according to police. The rioters ascended the Temple Mount the night before and slept at one of the mosques so as to orchestrate the assault and build barricades to block police. Photos in Arabic media showed stones of different sizes stockpiled inside the mosque, some wrapped in prayer rugs. This was a protest against non-Muslim visitors, planned to coincide with the beginning of Succot. In the wake of the attack, police decided to close the Temple Mount for at least one day to non-Muslim visitors, including hundreds of Jews who planned to come during the holiday to what they consider to be the holiest place on earth.
Herb Keinon: Brickbats over Jerusalem—No one in the 44th floor suite of Manhattan’s Palace Hotel was surprised last Wednesday when the first question Israeli journalists asked during a briefing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not have to do with his address to the United Nations two days earlier, or Islamic State, or Iran, or even his just concluded meeting with US President Barack Obama. No, the first question had to do with construction beyond the 1967 lines. Or, more precisely, the White House’s sharp – some went so far as to say unprecedented – response to two developments in Jerusalem: the news that another bureaucratic hurdle in the process to build a new development in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Hamatos had been passed, and the move by a number of Jewish families a day earlier into Jewish- bought property in Silwan.
Shlomo Cesana: Hitting a Nerve— In Cinema City, the new mall in Jerusalem near the government complex, the festive holiday mood has been palpable, and not only for the city’s Jews. Eid al-Adha (the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice) has brought Arab vacationers to the mall as well, and the situation on the ground appears tranquil. Calm parents, happy children and a scoop of ice cream paints an idyllic picture. In actuality, no one seems to recall the media reports about “tension in Jerusalem” or “the rage near the government complex,” in the days following the aggressive speeches at the United Nations by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. However, a stone’s throw away, on the other side of the road at the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and the other ministry buildings, officials are preparing for the “day after” the holidays.
Caroline Glick: Benny Gantz’s Troubling Assessments—The outcome of the donor conference for Gaza reconstruction that was held in Cairo on Sunday was not surprising. Representatives of 50 countries convened to pledge funds to Hamas and the PLO. The Palestinians had hoped to receive $4 billion in pledges. They raised $5.4b. Most of the money will be transferred to the PLO-controlled Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas. But at least $1b. will go directly to Hamas, from its primary financier, Qatar. With its $1b. Hamas will be able to pay its terrorist operatives and rebuild its terrorist forces. The air force revealed last week that Hamas is rebuilding its rocket arsenal already. As for the money that will be transferred to Abbas, the billions in funding will give the PLO the money it needs to finance Abbas’s rapidly escalating political war against Israel in the international arena.
Burak Bekdil: Turkey: Jihad-Lite— In November 2013, Iran’s ambassador to Ankara, Alireza Bigdeli, said: “Just as Imam Khomeini did it in Iran, the Justice and Development Party [AKP] have paved the way for the advancement of Islam in Turkey.” Nearly a year later, the AKP’s new leader (and Turkey’s Prime Minister) Ahmet Davutoglu rephrased the Iranian diplomat’s “praise” for Turkey’s Islamists: “We have made the conservative, pious (Muslim) masses not a just a part, but the main actor, in the political system.”
Doron Ben-Atar: Professor fighting the academic boycott of Israel is investigated on secret charges—The email arrived on the last Friday afternoon of the spring term shortly before 5:00 p.m. Anastasia Coleman, Fordham’s Director of Institutional Equity and Compliance, and its Title IX Coordinator, wanted to meet with me. “It has been alleged,” she wrote, “that you may have acted in an inappropriate way and possibly discriminated against another person at the University.” I was stunned. My wife, kids and friends have been warning me for years that, in these prudish times, my outrageous sense of humor and intellectual irreverence (my last book is about bestiality) could get me in trouble. I imagined myself brought before an academic disciplinary tribunal from Francine Prose’s Blue Angel, where all my past transgressions would be marshaled to prove that I don’t belong in the classroom. My mind raced, recalling the many slips of the tongue I had in three decades of teaching. I perspired profusely and felt the onset of a stomach bug. What would I tell my mother?
Breaking Christian News: ISIS Causes Iraqis to Turn to Christ at a “Stunning Pace”— “I think of the [indigenous Christian] workers who stayed behind in Mosul and the surrounding areas because there are so many who are receptive to the Gospel. They are willing to risk being in an area under the rule of ISIS for the privilege of more and more fruit for Christ.” -Christian Aid Mission’s Middle East director. (Iraq)—Working in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region day and night to help meet the needs of people displaced by the threats and violence of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Mosul and other areas, members of an Iraqi ministry team recently came into contact with a colonel from the Kurdish forces battling ISIS. The colonel was serving as a division commander of the Peshmerga, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s armed forces, which have helped to slow the incursion of ISIS in its brutal push to establish a caliphate imposing a strict version of Sunni Islam. With the aid of U.S. airstrikes, the Peshmerga have also slowly retaken some territory. They are helping to secure the Kurdish capital of Erbil, where the ministry team assisted by Christian Aid Mission is supplying displaced people with food, clothing, beds and medicine.
Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira: The Significance of the First Hizbullah Attack against Israeli Forces since 2006—For the first time since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Hizbullah claimed responsibility for an attack against Israeli forces – in the Shabaa Farms region of the Israeli-Syrian-Lebanese border. It appears that at this stage neither Iran nor Hizbullah are interested in changing the balance of forces with Israel. It should be stressed that Hizbullah’s restraint in confronting Israel comes primarily from an Iranian decision and not because of any Israeli deterrence. Iran’s policy on the use of force by Hizbullah, based on providing clear targets for Hizbullah’s long-range and short-range missiles, is meant to deter Israel from attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. Also see “Report: Iran Ordered Hizbullah to Bomb IDF Troops”.
Zakir Hussain, Nur Asyiqin, and Mohamad Salleh: What Does ISIS Spell for Security in Asia?— For some time, the Syrian conflict has barely registered here. But in the past few months, a terror group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has seized considerable territory in those two countries, roped in some 30,000 fighters from across the globe, and sparked security concerns close to home. Insight examines the impact ISIS has had in Singapore and the region, and how the authorities and others are responding to the threat. He was a manager in a local supermarket. She was a widow who went on to marry a Malaysian. Both are Singaporeans still believed to be in Syria – sobering reminders of how a brutal three-year conflict 8,000km away hits close to home.
Khaled Abu Toameh: How the Donors Saved Hamas— It would be naïve to think that Hamas would not benefit from the billions of dollars that have just been promised to help with the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, during a donor conference in Cairo. The Palestinians were hoping for $4 billion, but the donor states pledged $5.4 billion, half of which will be “dedicated” to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, according to Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende. It is not yet clear how the second half will be spent. Qatar, a longtime supporter and funder of Hamas, promised $1 billion, while US Secretary of State John Kerry announced immediate American aid of $212 million. The European Union, for its part, pledged $568 million. Donor states said they would funnel the aid only through the Palestinian Authority [PA]. But this does not mean that Hamas, which continues to maintain a tight grip on the Gaza Strip, would fail to benefit from the financial aid.
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More Jews may still be in eastern Ukraine than previously reported, World Jewish Congress says
US national shot dead in Saudi capital Riyadh
Rivlin says that ‘price tag’ arsonists should be treated as terrorists
Syria security chiefs fired after protests by Assad loyalists
Obama, foreign military chiefs, to thrash out Islamic State plans
Egypt court signals death penalty for 7 jihadists in Sinai case
‘No discrepancy’ between US and Turkey over Islamic State, Kerry says
Kerry: Final Iran nuclear deal by November 24 ‘not out of reach’
Recognition of Palestinian state should not be only symbolic, says France
British MP resigns over parliamentary vote on Palestinian statehood
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Police to Restrict Muslim Entry to Temple Mount
Watch: Israeli Police vs. Temple Mount Rioters
Jihadist Rocket Factory Discovered in Sinai Peninsula
UK’s ‘Palestine’ Vote: ‘Hasbara’ Failure or Hollow Victory?
Police Call Center Saves Family From Ramallah Lynch
Watch: ‘Heil Hitler’ at NYC Mob Vandal Attack on Jewish Store
‘Settlers Aren’t Vacationing in Europe Anyway’
Regev: Dismiss MK Tibi for London ‘Palestine’ Trip
Video: Car Runs Over Kids in Or Yehuda
Border Policeman Injured in Bomb at Rachel’s Tomb
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Only Half of Pledged Funds to Go toward Gaza Reconstruction
More French Jews said to join Islamic State
Israel says UK Palestine vote undermines peace prospects
UK envoy says London not recognizing Palestine yet
Israel decries UK vote on Palestinian state; PLO rejoices
Talk of ‘Jewish lobby’ surfaces during UK Palestine vote
First trucks with reconstruction supplies enter Gaza
Hamas fighters ‘courageous,’ IDF chief says
Abbas: no reconciliation with Hamas before elections
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PM: Israel committed to Temple Mount status quo
Americans Abroad at “High Risk” of ISIS Kidnappings, Terrorist Attacks, U.S. Warns
Iran Warns of Risk to Israel Should U.S. Seek Overthrow of Assad
Israel Is Shifting towards Conflict Management with Palestinians
Islamic State Says It Is Selling Yazidi Women for Use as Concubines
Israel Prepares For When Syrian Jihadis Turn Their Guns South
Complaints Prompt Department Store Sears to Yank ‘Disgusting’ Nazi Swastika Rings From Website
Kosher Store Sacked by Dozens of Hooligans in New York Jewish Neighborhood (VIDEO)
‘Unilateral Palestinian steps at UN will not advance peace’
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Genesis 34: 8-12
8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage. 9 Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 Thus you shall live with us, and the land shall be open before you; live and trade in it and acquire property in it.” 11 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “If I find favor in your sight, then I will give whatever you say to me. 12 Ask me ever so much bridal payment and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; but give me the girl in marriage.”
SnyderTalk Comment: Read His Name is Yahweh.
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback. It’s also available for free in PDF format.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
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Is it legalistic to pay too much attention to God’s Name?
Click here to download the entire audio presentation for free and with no strings attached. Share it as often as you want.
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Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
