VERY useful ones!!! 25% more power than mere elephants!
Posted on 01/22/2018 12:31:07 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
It is now well over a year since Vladimir Putin's Russia passed 'anti-missionary' laws and more than 180 cases have since been brought.
Activities ranging from prayer meetings in homes, posting worship times on a religious website and praying in the presence of other citizens have been interpreted as 'missionary activity' with Christians making up the vast majority of the law's victims.
One case is that of Donald Ossewaarde, an American Baptist preacher living in Oryol, who was expelled for hosting a church meeting in his house.
Having lost appeals throughout the Russian judiciary system, Ossewaarde's case is now with the European Court of Human Rights. Although confident he will win there, Ossewaarde is convinced he will never be allowed back into Russia.
Speaking to Christian Today at a conference run by ADF International, a legal charity that represents Ossewaarde, he explains his conviction the Church was behind his arrest.
'I know that they have profited from what has happened to me,' he says. 'They are obviously the ones who benefit the most from going after any other form of Christian.'
But the one religious group not affected by the so-called Yarovaya law is the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Russian Orthodox Church is used 'as a political' tool, he says, by Putin whose history raises questions about the sincerity of his faith.
'It is all a façade,' he says, bemoaning Putin's propaganda success in presenting himself at home and internationally as a champion of conservative Christian values by opposing homosexuality and abortion.
'I think that is all just for show. He portrays himself to the Russian people as a moral leader, a Christian leader. I think that is just a façade he puts on because he knows it sells well.'
(Excerpt) Read more at christiantoday.com ...
It seems to me, that statements like this make ME believe that they've made an IDOL of a certain object.
From what is NOT said; do they believe that GOD did NOT preserve His words in any OTHER 'English' translation?
What if a person is NOT an 'English speaker'?
How's GOD gonna 'speak' to them??
But "Once Catholic, Always Catholic" is not.
Longest ‘chapter’ I’ve ever seen!
I certainly did not let that hold me back. Thankfully, I don’t belong to a false religion anymore. 😀 And, I don’t have any questions that I need answered either. 😇 Praise God for assurance of salvation. 👍
Am I being a little, shall we say, judgmental? 😁
The place is not legit.
I wouldn’t put a whole lot of stock into any publication by this school/church.
Kindly direct me to the verse which defines exactly what Paul considered "disputable matters," so we'll know how the children of "The Revision" maintain such unity.
Pointing out how others don't abide by your doctrines is meaningless when those holding your doctrines don't abide by them, either.
I can't; for they are disputable.
I can point out "Call no man father" though...
I have!
Why can't I go to a museum and see a curelom and/or a cumom skeleton??
After all; they were such "useful" animals!
So we’re commanded not to do something, but we’re not told what that something is.
And you want me to sweat a verse even the Revisionists ignore?
Is this the time for Mom's old saying...
"If your friends jump off a bridge...?"
I know I'll not get a pass on something just because I can point to others doing the same thing.
First I will preface by saying this:
There are a lot of well-meaning Evangelicals in Russia who have drawn many to Christ and helped train Russians in everything from HIV rehab and addiction counseling to pro-life activism, and given Russians disenchanted or traumatized by negative experience with Orthodoxy/Orthodox hierarchy a new lease on faith.
For example: I met a very spiritual woman who said she sought out confession with a priest several years back and before she could get a word out, the priest looked at her with disdain and condescendingly asked "and how many abortions?" (That was not her issue by the way. And yes Russia historically does have catastrophically high abortion rates.)
THAT being said:
I was uncomfortable with how divorced Evangelicalism is from Russia's arts, culture, and historical fabric. The worship environments often sterile and uninspiring (in a hotel conference room, for example instead of real church) -- and also the outright ignorance some missionaries had about basic facts about Russia history and religious history! One American had been in St. Petersburg for years and had yet to visit the Hermitage/Winter Palace! -- but, to her credit she did work with orphans and drug addicts.
I'm Catholic bytheway, so some of my issues with Evangelicalism/Protestantism apply in the states as well.
So on that note: this has been the most encouraging headline of the week for me:
Russian Orthodox Bishop Warns Faithful Not to Vote for 'Dark' Putin
Putin raised controversy in the Orthodox Christian community last week by comparing the Bolshevik revolutionary Vladimir Lenin’s tomb to “holy relics” in a documentary about the Valaam Monastery.
Bishop Eutyches Kurochkin of the Epiphany Cathedral in Ishim said Putin’s comparison of communism to Christianity was “utterly blasphemous.”
“Shall I go against Christ and vote for darkness, or advise others to do so?! No, no, no!” Rev. Eutyches
https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russian-orthodox-bishop-warns-faithful-not-to-vote-for-dark-putin-60245
I think dear old Mom would hold her peace if my “friend” was insisting we’re ALL required to jump off the bridge without going first.
;^)
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