*Here is an excerpt from an excellent article from Apologetics Index regarding the "deification" of angels.
Worship of Angels
"People have a tendency to worship spiritual beings, but the Bible forbids the worship op angels.
As created beings, they are of course mere creatures. They are not divine and their worship is explicitly forbidden (see Col. 2:18; Rev. 19:10; 22:9). As a separate order of creatures, they are both distinct from human beings and higher than humans with powers far beyond human abilities in this present age (cf. 1 Cor. 6:3; Heb. 1:14; 2:7). But as creatures they are limited in their powers, knowledge, and activities (1 Peter 1:11-12; Rev. 7:1). Like all of creation, angels are under God’s authority and subject to His judgment (1 Cor. 6:3; Matt. 25:41)..."
*Continue to read the rest of this article by clicking here.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas To All!
Micah 5:2
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Faith Healing Couple Convicted
*Story spotted on Religion News Blog
--------------------
Pa. couple who only prayed for dying tot convicted
By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A fundamentalist Christian couple who relied on prayer, not medicine, to cure their dying toddler son was convicted Friday of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment.
Herbert and Catherine Schaible of Philadelphia face more than a decade in prison for the January 2009 pneumonia death of 2-year-old Kent.
"We were careful to make sure we didn't have their religion on trial but were holding them responsible for their conduct," jury foreman Vince Bertolini, 49, told The Associated Press. "At the least, they were guilty of gross negligence, and (therefore) of involuntary manslaughter."
The Schaibles, who have six other children, declined to comment as they left the courthouse to await sentencing Feb. 2.
Experts say about a dozen U.S. children die in faith-healing cases each year. An Oregon couple were sentenced this year to 16 months in prison for negligent homicide in the death of their teenage son, who had an undiagnosed urinary blockage.
Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore will ask the judge at sentencing to put the couple's other children under a doctor's care. She was not yet sure if she would seek prison terms for the two felonies.
Kent Schaible's symptoms had included coughing, congestion, crankiness and a loss of appetite, although his parents said he was eating and drinking until the last day, and they had thought he was getting better.
The lone defense witness, high-profile coroner Cyril Wecht, testified that a deadly bacterium could have killed him in hours.
Herbert Schaible, 42, teaches at a school affiliated with their church, First Century Gospel Church. His wife, 41, previously taught there, but now stays at home with the couple's children, from an infant to teenagers.
The Schaibles grew up in the church and have never received medical care themselves, not counting the help of the 84-year-old lay midwife who attends home births, according to pastor Nelson A. Clark.
Clark, 69, knew the couple as children and described them as honors students who dropped out of the church school in ninth grade, a year shy of the school's 10th grade graduation. Catherine Schaible did so at age 16 to begin teaching younger students, he said.
Clark balks at suggestions the church is a cult or fringe religion.
Church elders do not shun members who seek medical care, although they pray that they make a different choice next time, he said. He notes the high number of deaths blamed each year on medical mistakes - as many as 100,000 a year in hospitals alone, according to a widely discussed Institute of Medicine study from 1999.
"The legal community is trying to force our church group to put them in the hands of this flawed medical system, when they have chosen to put them in the hands of a perfect God, who does not make mistakes," Clark said Friday.
The couple did not take the stand during the four-day trial, but a social worker testified that Kent Schaible once said "the devil won" in the battle for their son's life.
Pescatore argued Thursday that adults can choose to forgo medical care for themselves but not for their children.
"If you want to be a martyr yourself and you don't want to go to the doctor or the dentist or the eye doctor, that's (within) your power. We're in America," she said in closings. "But you must take care of your children."
About a dozen U.S. children die in faith-healing cases each year, a handful of which spawn criminal charges, according to Shawn Francis Peters, a University of Wisconsin lecturer who wrote a book about the phenomenon.
The Schaibles deployed a defense strategy common in such cases: Their lawyers said they did not know Kent was near death.
Defense lawyers also argued that the case was not about religion. But Bertolini, who works for an educational testing service, said there was no putting religion aside. He said the deliberations were informed by several people of faith on the jury.
Some states carve out exceptions to criminal neglect statutes for parents who rely on faith or spiritual healing. But even in states that don't, juries or judges often sympathize with them.
In a 2009 Oregon trial with parallels to the Schaible case, a jury acquitted the defendants of manslaughter in their 15-month-old's pneumonia death, convicting the father, Carl Worthington, only of a misdemeanor.
But his in-laws, Jeff and Marci Beagley, were the couple sentenced to prison this year in their 16-year-old son's death.
"The fact is, too many children have died unnecessarily - a graveyard full," Judge Steven Maurer said at their March sentencing. "This has to stop."
--------------------
Pa. couple who only prayed for dying tot convicted
By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A fundamentalist Christian couple who relied on prayer, not medicine, to cure their dying toddler son was convicted Friday of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment.
Herbert and Catherine Schaible of Philadelphia face more than a decade in prison for the January 2009 pneumonia death of 2-year-old Kent.
"We were careful to make sure we didn't have their religion on trial but were holding them responsible for their conduct," jury foreman Vince Bertolini, 49, told The Associated Press. "At the least, they were guilty of gross negligence, and (therefore) of involuntary manslaughter."
The Schaibles, who have six other children, declined to comment as they left the courthouse to await sentencing Feb. 2.
Experts say about a dozen U.S. children die in faith-healing cases each year. An Oregon couple were sentenced this year to 16 months in prison for negligent homicide in the death of their teenage son, who had an undiagnosed urinary blockage.
Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore will ask the judge at sentencing to put the couple's other children under a doctor's care. She was not yet sure if she would seek prison terms for the two felonies.
Kent Schaible's symptoms had included coughing, congestion, crankiness and a loss of appetite, although his parents said he was eating and drinking until the last day, and they had thought he was getting better.
The lone defense witness, high-profile coroner Cyril Wecht, testified that a deadly bacterium could have killed him in hours.
Herbert Schaible, 42, teaches at a school affiliated with their church, First Century Gospel Church. His wife, 41, previously taught there, but now stays at home with the couple's children, from an infant to teenagers.
The Schaibles grew up in the church and have never received medical care themselves, not counting the help of the 84-year-old lay midwife who attends home births, according to pastor Nelson A. Clark.
Clark, 69, knew the couple as children and described them as honors students who dropped out of the church school in ninth grade, a year shy of the school's 10th grade graduation. Catherine Schaible did so at age 16 to begin teaching younger students, he said.
Clark balks at suggestions the church is a cult or fringe religion.
Church elders do not shun members who seek medical care, although they pray that they make a different choice next time, he said. He notes the high number of deaths blamed each year on medical mistakes - as many as 100,000 a year in hospitals alone, according to a widely discussed Institute of Medicine study from 1999.
"The legal community is trying to force our church group to put them in the hands of this flawed medical system, when they have chosen to put them in the hands of a perfect God, who does not make mistakes," Clark said Friday.
The couple did not take the stand during the four-day trial, but a social worker testified that Kent Schaible once said "the devil won" in the battle for their son's life.
Pescatore argued Thursday that adults can choose to forgo medical care for themselves but not for their children.
"If you want to be a martyr yourself and you don't want to go to the doctor or the dentist or the eye doctor, that's (within) your power. We're in America," she said in closings. "But you must take care of your children."
About a dozen U.S. children die in faith-healing cases each year, a handful of which spawn criminal charges, according to Shawn Francis Peters, a University of Wisconsin lecturer who wrote a book about the phenomenon.
The Schaibles deployed a defense strategy common in such cases: Their lawyers said they did not know Kent was near death.
Defense lawyers also argued that the case was not about religion. But Bertolini, who works for an educational testing service, said there was no putting religion aside. He said the deliberations were informed by several people of faith on the jury.
Some states carve out exceptions to criminal neglect statutes for parents who rely on faith or spiritual healing. But even in states that don't, juries or judges often sympathize with them.
In a 2009 Oregon trial with parallels to the Schaible case, a jury acquitted the defendants of manslaughter in their 15-month-old's pneumonia death, convicting the father, Carl Worthington, only of a misdemeanor.
But his in-laws, Jeff and Marci Beagley, were the couple sentenced to prison this year in their 16-year-old son's death.
"The fact is, too many children have died unnecessarily - a graveyard full," Judge Steven Maurer said at their March sentencing. "This has to stop."
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Westboro Church Is At It Again
*Story originally seen off the Christian News Headlines website. I find this antics of this church reprehensible, and it is a discredit to true Christianity.
Westboro Church to Protest at Elizabeth Edwards' Funeral
Fox 8 News
RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) —
The Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas church famous for its anti-homosexual protests at funerals, said it plans to protest at the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards on Saturday.
The church plans to protest for 45 minutes before the funeral starts at 1 p.m., according to the church's website.
The church did not provide a specific reason for the protest.
By Thursday afternoon, groups had already formed on social media to counterprotest Westboro's actions. Nearly 400 people had confirmed their attendance to one event, titled Protect Elizabeth Edwards' funeral from Westboro church, by 4 p.m. Thursday.
The Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities. The WBC is not affiliated with any known Baptist conventions or associations.
Edwards, 61, died Tuesday from cancer -- six years after she was diagnosed the day after the 2004 election when her husband John was a vice presidential candidate.
For years, Elizabeth Edwards prepared her family for the day she would be gone, talking bluntly about the cancer consuming her body and writing a letter to leave for her children with life advice on topics such as how to pick a church -- or even a spouse.
The preparation continued in her final days, when she made sure Christmas decorations were up in their Chapel Hill home and became the source of comfort to those closest to her.
"That was sort of who she was. She was always, always the shoulder to lean on," said family friend John Moylan. "And, even at the end, she remained a very strong person. I think they all took their strength from her."
Since her cancer returned in an incurable form in 2007, Edwards had talked openly about the expectation that the disease would take her life before long. She had hoped to live several more years, enough time to see her youngest child, 10-year-old Jack, graduate from high school and possibly see the oldest, 28-year-old Cate, have a child of her own.
But Edwards also said over the years that she was talking directly with the kids about death. Meanwhile, she had been penning a letter that her children could use as guidance for their lives ahead. It was an idea she came up with two decades ago after watching the movie "Terms of Endearment," in which the mother knew she was dying and gave advice to her children.
David "Mudcat" Saunders, a political adviser and Edwards family friend, said the two youngest children appeared to be coping well with the loss. He said the home, while consumed with sadness, also has a feeling of celebration as family and friends remembered stories of Elizabeth Edwards' life. In part, he said, that was because of her never-look-back attitude.
"I think that spirit of Elizabeth is so branded in Emma Claire, Jack and Cate, that the kids will be fine," Saunders said.
In her final days of rapidly declining health, Saunders relayed a story about how Jack had jumped onto the bed with his mother to say that he loved her. She smiled at him and said, "I love you too, sweetie," Saunders said.
John Edwards was at her side around the clock. He was deeply upset by his wife's death, Saunders said, but is also focused on attending to the children. He recalled asking Edwards what he planned to do now, to which the former North Carolina senator vowed simply: "I'm going to be the greatest father there ever was."
Added Moylan: "His full focus is on those children."
Three decades after the law school sweethearts married, Elizabeth Edwards separated from her husband about a year ago following his affair and after learning that he fathered a child with his mistress during his second campaign for the White House. He still faces a federal investigation into campaign finances.
A family friend said Wednesday that Elizabeth Edwards will be honored Saturday at Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh. The friend spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the plans have yet to be announced by the family.
The public is allowed to attend the event, set to begin at 1 p.m. The family is still working on burial plans.
Mourners were asked to make donations to the Wade Edwards Foundation, which was created in honor of Edwards' son who died in a car crash at age 16.
Westboro Church to Protest at Elizabeth Edwards' Funeral
Fox 8 News
RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) —
The Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas church famous for its anti-homosexual protests at funerals, said it plans to protest at the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards on Saturday.
The church plans to protest for 45 minutes before the funeral starts at 1 p.m., according to the church's website.
The church did not provide a specific reason for the protest.
By Thursday afternoon, groups had already formed on social media to counterprotest Westboro's actions. Nearly 400 people had confirmed their attendance to one event, titled Protect Elizabeth Edwards' funeral from Westboro church, by 4 p.m. Thursday.
The Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities. The WBC is not affiliated with any known Baptist conventions or associations.
Edwards, 61, died Tuesday from cancer -- six years after she was diagnosed the day after the 2004 election when her husband John was a vice presidential candidate.
For years, Elizabeth Edwards prepared her family for the day she would be gone, talking bluntly about the cancer consuming her body and writing a letter to leave for her children with life advice on topics such as how to pick a church -- or even a spouse.
The preparation continued in her final days, when she made sure Christmas decorations were up in their Chapel Hill home and became the source of comfort to those closest to her.
"That was sort of who she was. She was always, always the shoulder to lean on," said family friend John Moylan. "And, even at the end, she remained a very strong person. I think they all took their strength from her."
Since her cancer returned in an incurable form in 2007, Edwards had talked openly about the expectation that the disease would take her life before long. She had hoped to live several more years, enough time to see her youngest child, 10-year-old Jack, graduate from high school and possibly see the oldest, 28-year-old Cate, have a child of her own.
But Edwards also said over the years that she was talking directly with the kids about death. Meanwhile, she had been penning a letter that her children could use as guidance for their lives ahead. It was an idea she came up with two decades ago after watching the movie "Terms of Endearment," in which the mother knew she was dying and gave advice to her children.
David "Mudcat" Saunders, a political adviser and Edwards family friend, said the two youngest children appeared to be coping well with the loss. He said the home, while consumed with sadness, also has a feeling of celebration as family and friends remembered stories of Elizabeth Edwards' life. In part, he said, that was because of her never-look-back attitude.
"I think that spirit of Elizabeth is so branded in Emma Claire, Jack and Cate, that the kids will be fine," Saunders said.
In her final days of rapidly declining health, Saunders relayed a story about how Jack had jumped onto the bed with his mother to say that he loved her. She smiled at him and said, "I love you too, sweetie," Saunders said.
John Edwards was at her side around the clock. He was deeply upset by his wife's death, Saunders said, but is also focused on attending to the children. He recalled asking Edwards what he planned to do now, to which the former North Carolina senator vowed simply: "I'm going to be the greatest father there ever was."
Added Moylan: "His full focus is on those children."
Three decades after the law school sweethearts married, Elizabeth Edwards separated from her husband about a year ago following his affair and after learning that he fathered a child with his mistress during his second campaign for the White House. He still faces a federal investigation into campaign finances.
A family friend said Wednesday that Elizabeth Edwards will be honored Saturday at Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh. The friend spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the plans have yet to be announced by the family.
The public is allowed to attend the event, set to begin at 1 p.m. The family is still working on burial plans.
Mourners were asked to make donations to the Wade Edwards Foundation, which was created in honor of Edwards' son who died in a car crash at age 16.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
*Red Alert— The “Chrislam Movement”
The way is narrow. And it is only through Jesus Christ.
*Received via email through Andrew Strom’s ministry:
-----------------------------------
THE "CHRISLAM" MOVEMENT in the APOSTATE CHURCH
-by Bill Wilson.
During the weekend of November 13, many Christian churches across the United States began a series of sermons aimed at bringing about reconciliation between Muslims and Christians. These misguided Presbyterian ministers are trying to focus on a relationship between the Holy Bible and the Koran they call “Chrislam.” They are saying that because the Koran mentions Jesus that there is common ground with Christianity. To prove their point, they are placing Korans along side the Holy Bible in their pews. And they are teaching that you can be a follower of Christ without necessarily believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who died for our sins offering the gift of eternal salvation.
Writes commentator Paul Williams:
“The Chrislam movement has gained impetus by statements from President George W. Bush and that Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship the same God and by Rick Warren’s reference to Isa (the Muslim name for Jesus) in his prayer at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.”
Williams points out that Jesus in the Koran is not the only-begotten Son of God nor the Messiah. Williams says,
“He is rather viewed as a prophet who was appointed by Allah to prepare mankind for the coming of Mohammad.” In the Koran, Williams reminds readers, “The victim at Calvary, Islam teaches, was either Simon of Cyrene or Judas Iscariot.”
The Koran states in Sura 5:17, “In blasphemy indeed are those that say that God is Christ the son of Mary. Say: “Who then hath the least power against God, if His will were to destroy Christ the son of Mary, his mother, and all every-one that is on the earth? For to God belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. He createth what He pleaseth. For God hath power over all things.” The Koran has many verses that command the followers of allah to kill Christians and Jews if they do not convert to Islam. There is absolutely no common ground between the Holy Scriptures and the Koran when these are the mandates of the prophet Mohammed, who wrote the Koran.
Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
This is the central doctrine of Christianity. There is instruction by the Holy Scriptures to not fellowship with those who do not recognize the truth in this doctrine. 2nd John verses 9-11 say,
“Whoseover transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”
Thus are those deceivers who believe in common ground with Islam.
*Received via email through Andrew Strom’s ministry:
-----------------------------------
THE "CHRISLAM" MOVEMENT in the APOSTATE CHURCH
-by Bill Wilson.
During the weekend of November 13, many Christian churches across the United States began a series of sermons aimed at bringing about reconciliation between Muslims and Christians. These misguided Presbyterian ministers are trying to focus on a relationship between the Holy Bible and the Koran they call “Chrislam.” They are saying that because the Koran mentions Jesus that there is common ground with Christianity. To prove their point, they are placing Korans along side the Holy Bible in their pews. And they are teaching that you can be a follower of Christ without necessarily believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who died for our sins offering the gift of eternal salvation.
Writes commentator Paul Williams:
“The Chrislam movement has gained impetus by statements from President George W. Bush and that Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship the same God and by Rick Warren’s reference to Isa (the Muslim name for Jesus) in his prayer at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.”
Williams points out that Jesus in the Koran is not the only-begotten Son of God nor the Messiah. Williams says,
“He is rather viewed as a prophet who was appointed by Allah to prepare mankind for the coming of Mohammad.” In the Koran, Williams reminds readers, “The victim at Calvary, Islam teaches, was either Simon of Cyrene or Judas Iscariot.”
The Koran states in Sura 5:17, “In blasphemy indeed are those that say that God is Christ the son of Mary. Say: “Who then hath the least power against God, if His will were to destroy Christ the son of Mary, his mother, and all every-one that is on the earth? For to God belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. He createth what He pleaseth. For God hath power over all things.” The Koran has many verses that command the followers of allah to kill Christians and Jews if they do not convert to Islam. There is absolutely no common ground between the Holy Scriptures and the Koran when these are the mandates of the prophet Mohammed, who wrote the Koran.
Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
This is the central doctrine of Christianity. There is instruction by the Holy Scriptures to not fellowship with those who do not recognize the truth in this doctrine. 2nd John verses 9-11 say,
“Whoseover transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”
Thus are those deceivers who believe in common ground with Islam.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Tower Project Hits Snags
Rick Joyner's ministry has encountered financial difficulties in backing up the Heritage tower project. Read more about this by clicking here.
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