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Is Halloween Harmless?article by Jerold Aust Every year at Halloween, well-meaning parents dress their children in grotesque and ghoulish costumes. Is Halloween really harmless? Who and what's behind this bizarre holiday? It all looks like so much fun and seems so harmless: jack-o'-lanterns, grotesque grinning masks, long black witch attire with pointed black hats, costumes painted like skeletons, outfits that represent demons and goblins, and children going door to door, soliciting treats from compliant neighbors.But when Halloween comes around, do you find yourself yearning for the hours to pass until the whole trick-or-treat farce is over? If you don't, you should!Halloween's...

Critics have long leveled the charge of “divisive” and “negative” against those who would warn the church of unbiblical teachings and practices. I prayerfully consider such accusations, for my heart echoes the same concern. I long just to preach the gospel and to put behind me the controversy that has become such an unwelcome part of my life. Yet in preaching the pure gospel one must carefully distinguish it from the clever counterfeits all around. How negligent it would be not to warn the sheep of poisoned pastures and false shepherds who promote lies in the name of truth. Yet...

A Different Spirit Today's Scripture “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.” (Numbers 14:24, NASB) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria One time in Scripture, Moses sent twelve men to spy out the Promised Land. The people of Israel were camped right next door and excited about possessing the land. But after 40 days, ten of the men came back with a negative report. They said, “Moses, there are giants in the land,...

Faith "Without faith it is impossible to please Him . . ." —Hebrews 11:6 Faith in active opposition to common sense is mistaken enthusiasm and narrow-mindedness, and common sense in opposition to faith demonstrates a mistaken reliance on reason as the basis for truth. The life of faith brings the two of these into the proper relationship. Common sense and faith are as different from each other as the natural life is from the spiritual, and as impulsiveness is from inspiration. Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common...

October 30, 2012 Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Eph 5:21-33 Brothers and sisters:Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.For the husband is head of his wifejust as Christ is head of the Church,he himself the savior of the Body.As the Church is subordinate to Christ,so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.Husbands, love your wives,even as Christ loved the Churchand handed himself over for her to sanctify her,cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,that he might...

The Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals has handed a legal victory to a Louisiana Benedictine abbey whose monks were threatened with imprisonment for selling caskets without a license. Citing a state law that threatens violators with major fines and imprisonment, the Louisiana Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors ordered the Benedictine monks of St. Joseph Abbey in 2010 to stop selling caskets. The monks, whose caskets were $250 cheaper than average, refused to seek a license because the law would have required them to convert the abbey into a funeral home with embalming equipment. “We’re grateful for the court's...

“Whole Nations Will Be Annihilated”: Obama, America, and the Errors of Russia, PART II Error #4: Obama, Marriage, and the Unnatural Vice “...such a [Communist] doctrine logically makes of marriage and the family a purely artificial and civil institution...[Communism says that] there exists no matrimonial bond of a juridico-moral nature that is not subject to the whim of the individual or of the collectivity.”—Pope Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris, n. 11 (Italics added) “I’m a Christian. I do believe that tradition and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.” (1)—Barack Obama, 2004 “I’ve...

The Time of Favor Today's Scripture “That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life...” (Joshua 4:14, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria I love the promise that God gave to Joshua. He said, “Joshua, today I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all the Israelites.” He was saying, “Today, I’m going to start releasing more of My favor, My blessings, My increase.” But notice, there was a specific time in his life that God began to release favor in a...

Substitution "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" —2 Corinthians 5:21 The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made. . . to be sin. . . .” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is...

October 29, 2012   Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Eph 4:32-5:8 Brothers and sisters:Be kind to one another, compassionate,forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,as Christ loved us and handed himself over for usas a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you,as is fitting among holy ones,no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place,but instead, thanksgiving.Be sure of this, that no immoral or...

Mid-East Prophecy Update - October 28th, 2012 Pastor J.D. talks about the Tsunami warning in Hawaii, and the super storm on the East Coast.

They never stop – the God-deniers who worship at the altar of evolution. Who pay homage to their high priest, Charles Darwin. Who continue to place their faith in theories they contend to be indisputable science. The latest example is a new fossil study, published in the journal Science, co-authored by David Green, an anatomy professor at Midwestern University in Illinois, and Zeresenay Alemseged, chair of the anthropology department at the California Academy of Sciences. The study claims that that the 3.3 million-year-old remains of a baby monkey, discovered in Ethiopia, somehow confirm that our early human ancestors swung from...

Justification by Faith "If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" —Romans 5:10 I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It...

October 28, 2012 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Jer 31:7-9 Thus says the LORD:Shout with joy for Jacob,exult at the head of the nations;proclaim your praise and say:The LORD has delivered his people,the remnant of Israel.Behold, I will bring them backfrom the land of the north;I will gather them from the ends of the world,with the blind and the lame in their midst,the mothers and those with child;they shall return as an immense throng.They departed in tears,but I will console them and guide them;I will lead them to brooks of water,on a level road, so that none...

The Vatican said Saturday it never would have given Jimmy Savile his papal knighthood had it known of allegations the British TV star was a child sex predator, but that it can't rescind the honor now that he has died. The Catholic Church of England wrote to the Holy See last week, asking it to consider whether it could posthumously remove the honor awarded to Savile because of the many recent child sex abuse allegations against him. Savile, a much-loved BBC children's television host, died last year at age 84. The church said its leader, Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols,...

But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea. (Jonah 1:4) Many people have contacted me about this hurricane and what might be the spiritual root. At this point, I have no idea, and we are going to have to let it play out to see what is happening. Right now, Hurricane Sandy is projected to hit Washington, DC and then come directly over my house! I live in central Pennsylvania and the storm is scheduled to hit here Wednesday. Hurricane Sandy is being compared to the Perfect Storm...

The Method of Missions "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . ." —Matthew 28:19 Jesus Christ did not say, “Go and save souls” (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but He said, “Go . . . make disciples of all the nations . . . .” Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples returned from their first mission, they were filled with joy because even the demons were subject to them. But Jesus said, in effect, “Don’t rejoice in successful service— the great secret...

  October 27, 2012   Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Eph 4:7-16 Brothers and sisters:Grace was given to each of usaccording to the measure of Christ"s gift.Therefore, it says: He ascended on high and took prisoners captive;he gave gifts to men. What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descendedinto the lower regions of the earth?The one who descended is also the one who ascendedfar above all the heavens,that he might fill all things. And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets,others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,to equip the holy...

"Search for any English word in the KJV Bible plus the following Bible dictionaries (CBC, ISBE, KJV, Nave's, Vines, Torrey's, Hitchcock's Bible Names, Easton's Dictionaries, and the BLB Thematic Subject Guide)---A Strong's number search tool that searches a Hebrew/Greek concordance ---Browse through an alphabetical listing of 53,000+ entries from nine Bible dictionaries--------

A Brand New Thing Today's Scripture “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun!” (Isaiah 43:19, NLT) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Can you see the “brand new thing” God is doing in your life? Sometimes it’s easy to see the hand of God moving, and sometimes the storms of life can cloud our vision. But no matter where you are in life today, meditate on this truth that God is working even when you can’t see Him. Like a seed buried deep in the ground, it may seem dark and lonely and...