[70 Methodist Clergy Agree to Wed Gay Couples]

70 Methodist Clergy Agree to Wed Gay Couples
christianpost.com

Same-sex marriage is illegal in Minnesota but 70 United Methodist clergy in the state have signed a statement saying they will marry gay couples.

"We joyfully affirm that we will offer the grace of the Church’s blessing to any prepared couple desiring Christian marriage," reads the statement introduced this week at the 2011 Minnesota Annual Conference.

"We are convinced by the witness of others and are compelled by Spirit and conscience to act. We thank the many United Methodists who have already called for full equality and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the life of the Church."

The Rev. Bruce Robbins, pastor of Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis, read the statement to clergy Wednesday during a time of personal privilege, the United Methodist News Service reported. By the end the day, 40 clergy members had signed the statement. As of Friday, the number of signers reached 70.

"We repent that it has taken us so long to act," continues the statement, entitled "Equality for All in Christian Marriage."

"We realize that our church’s discriminatory policies tarnish the witness of the Church to the world, and we are complicity. We value our covenant relationships and ask everyone to hold the divided community of the United Methodist Church in prayer."

The United Methodist Church holds that homosexual practice is incompatible with Christian teaching. The denomination affirmed its stance at its latest legislative meeting in 2008 despite calls by some to change the body’s constitution.

In 2009, UMC’s top court also ruled that clergy, active and retired, cannot perform same-sex marriages or civil unions. The ruling came after more than 80 retired clergy from northern California said they would conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies on behalf of clergy who cannot perform them.

Bishop Sally Dyck said that simply making a statement in support of same-sex unions did not break any denominational rules. But she indicated that officiating at a gay wedding would be a chargeable offense, according to UMNS.

Under the 2008 Book of Discipline, same-sex unions are not to be conducted by United Methodist ministers or in its churches. Clergy who are convicted of officiating a homosexual union would face revocation of conference membership or clergy credentials.

The voluntary statement was open to any United Methodist persons in the Minnesota Conference who conducts Christian marriages, and was not endorsed by the denomination's General Conference.

[Turkey Leads The Way For The Coming Islamic Caliphate]

Turkey Leads The Way For The Coming Islamic Caliphate
by Joel Richardson
wnd.com

Several years ago, I began publicly stating that the world will witness the rise of a Neo-Ottoman Caliphate. With the Islamist party in Turkey poised to win yet another sweeping election victory next week, now is another appropriate moment to revisit the subject.

The first thing that the West must understand concerning the concept of the caliphate is that it is somewhat of a blank canvas for Muslims. To the Muslim socialist, it is through the concept of the caliphate that a socialist utopia will become a reality. For the moderate Muslim, it is in the idea of the caliphate that a tolerant Muslim empire will arise. For the radical Muslim, the caliphate is the means by which Islam will arise to supremacy in the earth. The point is that the dream of reviving a caliphate is a wide-ranging vision and is certainly not restricted to the radicals.

Second, the West must come to terms with the tectonic shift that has only recently taken place in the Middle East, beginning in 2003 in Turkey.

But first, let's define the old order of the region. This old order saw the Middle East divided up primarily between the Arab block and the Iranian block.

Imagine a random Arab Sunni Muslim (Sunnis comprise 85-90 percent of Muslims) who has long desired to see the unification of the Islamic world under a caliphate. In yearning for someone to rise up and lead the Islamic world, this Sunni Muslim first turns his eyes toward the leaders of the Arab block (Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt). On one hand, he identifies with the fact that they are both Sunni and Arab. But they are also either corrupt monarchies or dictatorial autocrats and hopelessly compromised through their relationship with Israel and/or the United States. To the average Muslim, these nations are led by MINOs (Muslims in name only). Frustrated, this Muslim shifts his attention to Iran. On one hand, the Iranians are seen as courageous, bold and assertive. They thumb their noses at Israel, the United States and any who would defy them. This is admired, but there is still the gaping sectarian divide. In other words, being Shia, they are essentially heretical. Without hope, this Sunni Muslim lets out a long sigh and prays that Allah will soon raise up a genuine Muslim leader capable of reviving Islam's former glory.

This was the old order of the Middle East for the past 30 years.

But suddenly, this has all begun to change. Through the rise of the Turkish AK party over the past several years, the Middle East has experienced a political shift of tectonic proportions.

Let's briefly summarize what Prime Minister Erdogan's Islamist party has achieved in just the past few years. First, they were able to gain control of both the presidency and the seat of prime minister. They also gained a large majority in the parliament. After they win the elections on June 12, they are set to pass a bill authorizing them to literally rewrite the Turkish Constitution. This will give them far greater control over both the judiciary and the military, the two entities that have historically served as the greatest check against an Islamist takeover of government. Not surprisingly then, through two manufactured conspiracies, the ruling AK party has effectively decapitated the secularist leadership of the Turkish military, arresting nearly 200 top military officials. Instead of a military coup to remove the Islamist party, the Islamist AK party has successfully taken over the military. And they were masterfully successful.

Erdogan has also filled the courts with his own judges. Over 70 percent of the police are also Islamists. And finally, the Islamists have gone after the media. Erdogan's son now runs one outlet, while a second company was hit with a $2.3 billion fine. There are more Turkish journalists in prison than any other nation in the world.

We are now nearing the conclusion of a perfectly executed plan to purge Turkey of its secular Kemalist system and ensconce the Islamists in power indefinitely. In the name of democracy, the Islamists have toppled what was once a shining beacon of hope for the Middle East. And behind it all is the architect, Prime Minister Erdogan, who once projected, "Democracy is like a streetcar. You use it to get you where you wish to go, and then you get off."

Today, Turkey has a thriving economy as well as the largest army in the region. And of course, only Turkey has a proven track record of ruling the Middle East. Now place yourself back in the shoes of the Sunni Muslim. None of these facts are missed by those who have been looking for a viable Islamist strong horse to get behind. And it is precisely for this reason that Erdogan is now the single most popular leader in the region. The starry-eyed Islamists of the Muslim world have solidly fixed their hopes on Turkey.

Finally, it is absolutely essential to understand Turkish Islamist methodology. Since 9/11, Ankara has been all too willing to portray themselves as the most natural counterbalance and answer to al-Qaida and radical Islamism globally. For the past decade, the Turks have pursued the methodology of the world's most powerful Islamist group, the Fethullah Gulen Movement, of which Prime Minister Erdogan and President Gul are both students. The goal of the Gulen movement is quite simple really. They want to be endorsed. Through the use of outreach, they have successfully branded themselves as paragons of religious tolerance. While radical groups such as al-Qaida have utilized terror to achieve their goal of a caliphate, Turkish Islam has championed the approach of presenting itself in a form specifically custom-tailored to win the hearty approval of the West. But their ultimate goal is the same: the unification of the Islamic world, the revival of the caliphate. And to date, we have fully fallen for their ploy.

The Turkish goal of regional influence has progressed steadily and deliberately. Seven years ago, only myself and a few others were warning of these realities. And when we suggested such, we were mocked. Seven years from now, we'll all be looking back, asking ourselves how we could have been so blind not to have seen it sooner. 

Thanks HisDaughter - I enjoyed that.

Yeah, I really liked that one too!

Hmmmm, Imanutjob has been waiting on the 12th iman for the past few years.

Seriously though, with all the strife in the middle east KEEP LOOKING UP. For I am sure that our time here is getting shorter, as each day passes us by. Praise God, cause I'm tired of this evil wicked world, and each day is getting more evil.........     

I'm with ya!

OH PLAEEEEESE!
Aren't we over this yet?  Well I don't plan on voting for this guy anyway.

["The world is getting warmer": Romney]

"The world is getting warmer": Romney
Reuters

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney broke with Republican orthodoxy on Friday by saying he believes that humans are responsible, at least to some extent, for climate change.

"I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that," he told a crowd of about 200 at a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire.

"It's important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors."

The former Massachusetts governor fielded questions on topics ranging from the debt ceiling to abortion on his first full day of campaigning for 2012 Republican primary nomination.

Romney leads opinion polls in New Hampshire by a wide margin, and is among the top contenders nationally to win the Republican primary.

But the candidate lost the publicity battle on Thursday when his campaign launch in New Hampshire was overshadowed by Republican star Sarah Palin, who swooped in as part of her East Coast bus tour to dominate local media coverage.

In addressing climate change and energy policy, Romney called on the United States to break its dependence on foreign oil, and expand alternative energies including solar, wind, nuclear and clean coal.

"I love solar and wind (power) but they don't drive cars. And we're not all going to drive Chevy Volts," he said referring to electric cars.

The United States can not go it alone in attempting to trim emissions levels and give a free pass to countries such as China and Brazil, Romney said. "It's not called American warming, it's called global warming," he said.

Software developer Michael Hillinger, 60, of Hanover, New Hampshire, posed the climate change question.

Romney's answer provided plenty of wiggle-room, Hillinger said, but "he is taking a more forthright stand than any of the other candidates."

At an event in Manchester last week, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, also running for president, said that climate change is "the newest excuse to take control of lives" by "left-wing intellectuals."

Asked to lay out a specific plan for the economy, Romney outlined seven points but referred to his 2010 book "No Apology" as containing his policy ideas in details.

"It's a good book. I'll give you a discount," he quipped.

Romney skirted a question about whether doctors who perform abortions, or women who have abortions, should face criminal sanctions if Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. law that protects abortion rights, were overturned.

"I am pro-life," he said, adding that decisions on abortion law should be returned to state jurisdiction.

Abortion is one of several issues on which Romney's critics accuse him of flip-flopping over the years. In the past, including during his race in 2002 to be Massachusetts governor, he has said he supports the substance of Roe v. Wade.

[Federal Reserve bank flies the rainbow flag]

Federal Reserve bank flies the rainbow flag   cont....


At a Nov. 8, 2002, conference to honor economist Milton Friedman's 90th birthday, Bernanke, then a Federal Reserve governor, gave a speech at Friedman's old home base, the University of Chicago.

After citing how Friedman and a co-author documented the Fed's continual contraction of the money supply during the Depression and its aftermath – and the subsequent abandonment of the gold standard by many nations in order to stop the devastating monetary contraction – Bernanke added:

Before the creation of the Federal Reserve, Friedman and [Anna] Schwartz noted, bank panics were typically handled by banks themselves – for example, through urban consortiums of private banks called clearinghouses. If a run on one or more banks in a city began, the clearinghouse might declare a suspension of payments, meaning that, temporarily, deposits would not be convertible into cash. Larger, stronger banks would then take the lead, first, in determining that the banks under attack were in fact fundamentally solvent, and second, in lending cash to those banks that needed to meet withdrawals. Though not an entirely satisfactory solution – the suspension of payments for several weeks was a significant hardship for the public – the system of suspension of payments usually prevented local banking panics from spreading or persisting. Large, solvent banks had an incentive to participate in curing panics because they knew that an unchecked panic might ultimately threaten their own deposits.

It was in large part to improve the management of banking panics that the Federal Reserve was created in 1913. However, as Friedman and Schwartz discuss in some detail, in the early 1930s the Federal Reserve did not serve that function. The problem within the Fed was largely doctrinal: Fed officials appeared to subscribe to Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon's infamous "liquidationist" thesis, that weeding out "weak" banks was a harsh but necessary prerequisite to the recovery of the banking system. Moreover, most of the failing banks were small banks (as opposed to what we would now call money-center banks) and not members of the Federal Reserve System.

Thus the Fed saw no particular need to try to stem the panics. At the same time, the large banks – which would have intervened before the founding of the Fed – felt that protecting their smaller brethren was no longer their responsibility. Indeed, since the large banks felt confident that the Fed would protect them if necessary, the weeding out of small competitors was a positive good, from their point of view.

In short, according to Friedman and Schwartz, because of institutional changes and misguided doctrines, the banking panics of the Great Contraction were much more severe and widespread than would have normally occurred during a downturn. …

Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again.

G. Edward Griffin, in "The Creature from Jekyll Island," explains the cause of wars, boom-bust cycles, inflation, depression, prosperity and more – and calls the Fed the most blatant scam of all history.

History records that in 1913 President Woodrow Wilson approved the Federal Reserve Act but later reflected that his actions "unwittingly ruined my country."

Wilson said that since the U.S. system of credit is concentrated in the hands of a few, "we have become … one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world."

Paul recently announced, as chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology, a plan to audit the Fed.



In case you missed it...


Strader said it coincides with Barack Obama's "proclamation" that June is the "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month."

That's not going to sit well with all his Muslim brothers and sisters!

[Federal Reserve bank flies the rainbow flag]

Federal Reserve bank flies the rainbow flag
WND 6/4/2011

A state delegate in Virginia has sent a letter to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, demanding that it remove a "rainbow" flag from the flagpole that also holds Old Glory.

"Dear President [Jeffrey M.] Lacker," wrote state Delegate Bob Marshall, "Flying the homosexual flag just under the American flag outside Richmond's Federal Reserve Bank building is a serious deficiency of judgment by your organization."

Marshall said the Federal Reserve policies are supposed to "contribute to the strength and vitality of the U.S. economy," but "a flagpole in front of a federal building is not a commercial or political message board."

"What does flying the homosexual flag, or any other similar display, have to do with your central banking mission under the Federal Reserve Act passed by Congress?"

"The Richmond Fed's endorsement of costly, anti-social, immoral behavior is rejected by 6,000 years of Western religious and moral teaching. You want the American people to trust your judgment in economic matters when your spokesperson celebrates an attack on public morals? Why?" Marshall continued.

Marshall told WND that his letter to the bank must have "set off a firecracker," because there had been hundreds of responses via email and the like already.

"This guy has no business taking an institution Congress created for financial dealings and turning it into a political billboard," he said.

Bank spokesman Jim Strader told WND that Marshall's letter had been delievered and "we are reviewing his letter and we will respond."

He refused to say what the response would be or when it would come.

But he said the "pride flag is flying at our bank as a symbol of our commitment to diversity and inclusion."

He said bank managers got a request from "an employee group" and the request to fly the flag was approved.

Strader said it coincides with Barack Obama's "proclamation" that June is the "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month."

"This month … marks the 30th anniversary of the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which has had a profound impact on the LGBT community," Obama said. "Though we have made strides in combating this devastating disease, more work remains to be done, and I am committed to expanding access to HIV/AIDS prevention and care."

Strader refused to respond to questions about whether the statement of a social agenda was a precedent for the bank, or whether other employee or interest groups could take advantage of the forum and proclaim their campaigns, also.

"I can't comment on that," he said.

He said the bank, too, has gotten comments on the "pride flag" flying in front of the institution assigned to manage the nation's fiscal policy.

Officials with the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors refused to reply to WND requests for comment.

But Marshall said, "This is a celebration of a behavior that is still a class six felony in Virginia."

This dispute is not the only headache the Federal Reserve could be facing. WND recently reported on a series of grass-roots lawsuits that are being developed against the Fed.
 
And U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas long has advocated an audit of the intensely secret organization, as well as a shutdown of its operations.

The lawsuit plans come from the PatriotStorm organization at its SuetheFed.com website. The plan envisions teams of attorneys analyzing data, demanding information, verifying damages and arguing court cases.

"Our litigation plan will be loosely patterned after the tobacco litigation model executed during the 1980s and 1990s; only far more organized, coordinated and focused in order to provide shared access of all discovery materials and briefs developed to all of our network law firms and prosecutors nationwide," the website explains.

"The litigation activities will be divided among three broad areas: a) research; b) analysis and dissemination of discovery materials and briefs, and c) litigation coordination. The company will recruit several hundred to several thousand highly respected small to mid-sized litigating law firms to pursue the class action litigation for their representative plaintiffs (live persons, companies, municipalities, etc.) residing in their respective geographic areas."

Congressman Paul long has argued that the Federal Reserve simply is illegal. Some of his concerns have revolved around Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which assigns to Congress the right to coin money.

There is no mention in the Constitution of a central bank, and it wasn't until the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 that the Fed was created.
 
Paul previously has said, "Throughout its nearly 100-year history, the Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar. Since 1913 the dollar has lost over 95 percent of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy."

And he's proposed repeatedly – and again in this Congress – the idea of auditing the Fed to determine exactly what it has been doing and then begin making corrections. With a book titled "End the Fed," he's made no secret of his ultimate goal.

That the Fed is at least partly to blame for the financial problems that have developed in the U.S. seems not to be in dispute.

It was longtime Federal Reserve chairman Ben. S. Bernanke who admitted as much.

Bernanke said it was the Fed that caused the Great Depression, the worldwide economic downturn that persisted from 1929 until about 1939. It was the longest and worst depression ever experienced by the industrialized Western world. While originating in the U.S., it ended up causing drastic declines in output, severe unemployment and acute deflation in virtually every country on earth. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "the Great Depression ranks second only to the Civil War as the gravest crisis in American history."

cont.....

[‘Jesus: Prophet of Islam’ — New Muslim Bus Ads to Debut in Australia]

‘Jesus: Prophet of Islam’ — New Muslim Bus Ads to Debut in Australia
The Blaze
 June 3, 2011   

If you ask the organization Mypeace in Australia, Jesus wasn’t God, but he was a good prophet of Islam. That’s just one of the messages the group is set to debut on Australian buses in September. And it’s just one of the messages already plastered on billboards around Sydney.

As CNS News reports, “roadside billboards in the metropolitan Sydney area carry one of four simple slogans: ‘Jesus: A Prophet of Islam,‘ ’Holy Qur’an: The Final Testament,‘ ’Muhammad: Mercy to Mankind‘ and ’Islam: Got Questions? Get Answers.’

“Mypeace.com.au a Muslim Organisation based in Sydney is launching a bold venture and the first of its kind in its public awareness campaign by placing ads about Islam on Sydney buses,” the group’s site explains. “Starting on September 27th of May 2011, for four weeks, several buses in Sydney will start carrying messages on the religion of Islam. Each ad will invite interested individuals to call MyPeace’s toll free number … and converse live with a Muslims to ask questions about Islam; request a free copy of the Quran and Islamic literature.”

The group adds that the bus ads will appear on the backs and sides of 40 buses traveling throughout Sydney.

But the ads are causing quite a stir. One billboard claiming Jesus is a prophet of Islam has already been vandalized, and now an Australian bishop is speaking out.

“In Australia with its Christian heritage a billboard carrying the statement ‘Jesus A prophet of Islam’ is provocative and offensive to Christians,” Julian Porteous, auxiliary bishop at the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, responded in an article.

“Central to Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ is more than a prophet,” he said. “He is the Son of God. He is acclaimed Lord and Savior of humanity. This statement is a direct assault on Christian beliefs.”

Porteous said religions should not “set out to antagonize those with differing beliefs.”

“Dialogue between the religions can only take place when it is founded in mutual respect. It is not fostered by provocative statements.”

Porteous urged Mypeace to withdraw the ads.

Considering the tenants of the Christian faith, and what Islam believes about Jesus, the group‘s claims are not in line with Christianity’s understanding of Jesus. For example, as CNS points out, Islam denies Christ’s “divinity, crucifixion, and resurrection.”

Still, in a video posted on Mypeace’s website, it claims that Islam is the “religion of Jesus and Moses:”

Same here!  My mom still watches it on some old rerun chanel that she likes!  That was one of the best shows ever put out.  Too bad they can't come up with stuff like the good ol' days!

“Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11

[The Test]

The Test

Six minutes to six, said the clock over the information booth in New York's Grand Central Station. The tall young Army officer lifted his sunburned face and narrowed his eyes to note the exact time. His heart was pounding with a beat that choked him. In six minutes he would see the woman who had filled such a special place in his life for the past 18 months, the woman he had never seen yet whose words had sustained him unfailingly. 

          Lt. Blandford remembered one day in particular, the worst of the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of enemy planes. 

            In one of those letters, he had confessed to her that often he felt fear, and only a few days before this battle, he had received her answer, "Of course you fear...all brave men do." Next time you doubt yourself,  I want you to hear my voice reciting to you: 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of Death, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me.'....He had remembered that and it renewed his strength. 

            He was going to hear her voice now. Four minutes to six. A girl passed closer to him, and Lt. Blandford started. She was wearing a flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, this girl was only about eighteen, and Hollis Maynel had told him she was 30. "What of it?" he had answered,  "I'm 32." He was 29. His mind went back to that book he had read in the training camp. 

            "Of Human Bondage" it was; and throughout the book were notes in a woman's handwriting. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man's heart so tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the bookplate: Hollis Maynell. He got a hold of a New York City telephone book and found her address. He had written , she had answered. Next day he had been shipped out, but they had gone on writing. For thirteen months she had faithfully replied. When his letters did not arrive, she wrote anyway, and now he believed he loved her, and she loved him. But she had refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. She had explained: "If your feeling for me had reality, what I look like won't matter. Suppose I am beautiful. 

I'd always be haunted that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me.  Suppose that I'm plain, (and you must admit that this is more likely), then I'd always fear that you were only going on writing because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don't ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your own decision." 

            One minute to six...he flipped the pages of the book he held. Then Lt. Blandford's heart leapt. A young woman was coming toward him. Her figure was long and slim; her blond hair lay back in curls from delicate ears. Her eyes were blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale-green suit, she was like springtime come alive. He started toward her, forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose,  and as he moved, a small, provacative smile curved her lips. 

            "Going my way, soldier?" she murmured. 

            He made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40, her graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump. Her thick-ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes. But she wore a red rose on her rumpled coat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. Blandford felt as though he were being split in two, so keen was his desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own, and there she stood. He could see her pale face was gentle and sensible;  her gray eyes had a warm twinkle. 

          Lt. Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the worn copy of "Of Human Bondage" which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something special, a friendship for which he had been and must be ever grateful... 

            He squared his shoulders, saluted, and held the book out toward the woman, although even while he spoke he felt the bitterness of his disappointment. 

            "I'm Lt. Blandford, and you're Miss Maynell. I'm so glad you could meet me. May--may I take you to dinner?" The woman's face broadened in a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is all about, son," she answered. "That young lady in the green suit, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you asked me to go out with you, I should tell you she's waiting for you in that restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test.

[Question: "Why did God require animal sacrifices in the Old Testament?"Answer:]

Question: "Why did God require animal sacrifices in the Old Testament?"

Answer: God required animal sacrifices to provide temporary forgiveness of sins and to foreshadow the perfect and complete sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Leviticus 4:35, 5:10). Animal sacrifice is an important theme found throughout Scripture because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). When Adam and Eve sinned, animals were killed by God to provide clothing for them (Genesis 3:21). Cain and Abel brought sacrifices to the Lord. Cain's was unacceptable because he brought fruit, while Abel's was acceptable because it was the “firstborn of his flock” (Genesis 4:4-5). After the flood receded, Noah sacrificed animals to God (Genesis 8:20-21).

God commanded the nation of Israel to perform numerous sacrifices according to certain procedures prescribed by God. First, the animal had to be spotless. Second, the person offering the sacrifice had to identify with the animal. Third, the person offering the animal had to inflict death upon it. When done in faith, this sacrifice provided forgiveness of sins. Another sacrifice called for on the Day of Atonement, described in Leviticus 16, demonstrates forgiveness and the removal of sin. The high priest was to take two male goats for a sin offering. One of the goats was sacrificed as a sin offering for the people of Israel (Leviticus 16:15), while the other goat was released into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:20-22). The sin offering provided forgiveness, while the other goat provided the removal of sin.

Why, then, do we no longer offer animal sacrifices today? Animal sacrifices have ended because Jesus Christ was the ultimate and perfect sacrifice. John the Baptist recognized this when he saw Jesus coming to be baptized and said, “Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). You may be asking yourself, why animals? What did they do wrong? That is the point—since the animals did no wrong, they died in place of the one performing the sacrifice. Jesus Christ also did no wrong but willingly gave Himself to die for the sins of mankind (1 Timothy 2:6). Jesus Christ took our sin upon Himself and died in our place. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Through faith in what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross, we can receive forgiveness.

In summation, animal sacrifices were commanded by God so that the individual could experience forgiveness of sin. The animal served as a substitute—that is, the animal died in place of the sinner, but only temporarily, which is why the sacrifices needed to be offered over and over. Animal sacrifices have stopped with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrificial substitute once for all time (Hebrews 7:27) and is now the only mediator between God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5). Animal sacrifices foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. The only basis on which an animal sacrifice could provide forgiveness of sins is Christ who would sacrifice Himself for our sins, providing the forgiveness that animal sacrifices could only illustrate and foreshadow.

[This Hymn Was More than a Coincidence]

June 4, 1820
This Hymn Was More than a Coincidence

How long Pastor's prayer is this morning," thought Elvina.

Sitting in the choir loft, her mind turned to our need for salvation and the price Jesus paid for it. Words began to form themselves. She had to get them down. But she had no paper. Well, that wasn't quite true...

Scribbling on the flyleaf of her hymnbook, she wrote:

I hear the Savior say,
"Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all."

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Not bad. Not bad at all. After service, she handed the words to her pastor. Did his face crease into a little smile at this evidence of her "naughty" behavior? We may never know.

But we do know that an extraordinary "coincidence" took place that day at the Monument Street Methodist Church of Baltimore. Organist John Grape had recently written a new tune and given it to the pastor. The pastor saw that the tune and the poem fit together extremely well. So he united them. In that way one of the most beloved hymns of the church came into being.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I'll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calvary's Lamb.

And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered 'neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

Elvina was 45 at that time. Born on this day, June 4, 1820, she was married first to Richard Hall and then after his death, to a Methodist minister, Thomas Meyers. She died in 1899.

Bibliography:

1.Butterworth, Hezekiah and Brown, Theron. The Story of the Hymns and Tunes. New York : George H. Doran Co., 1906.
2."Elvina M. Hall." www.cyberhymnal.org
3.Various articles in volumes of hymn stories and on the internet

[The Staff of God]

The Staff of God
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Exodus 4:21–23

God was saying to his servant, "Moses, you simply go before Pharaoh and deliver the goods. He won't like it. He won't want it. Just bear in mind that even his stubborn, hardened heart is not outside My will." In the following verse, the Lord gave Moses specific instructions of what to say when he rammed into that brick wall. "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, "Israel is My son, My first-born. So I said to you, 'Let My son go, that he may serve Me'; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn" ' " (Exodus 4:22–23).

To put it into the vernacular, that was a gutsy message. You walk out of the desert into a new land, get an audience with the king, stand before him eyeball to eyeball, and say, "Pharaoh, God says to let His people go. But because you will refuse to do that, your own son will die."

Wow! What a tough thing to say. Yet, it was the Lord's own words. It was a good thing Moses had already settled the issue of obedience to his Lord back in Midian. Moses didn't argue; Scripture doesn't report so much as a flinch. Forty years in the wilderness had changed the man. He was ready to be God's mouthpiece, whatever the consequences. In fact, from that moment on, he seemed to have a quiet confidence in his dealings with the feisty Pharaoh. Knowing he was in the nucleus of God's will, he must have felt invincible.
 
We could call any work done in the will of God "the work of righteousness." And in doing that work, you will be surrounded by peace. Deep within you, in the very outworking of that service and that obedient walk, you will enjoy quietness and confidence. The original Hebrew term rendered "confidence" here might be better termed "security." The King James Version translates it "assurance."
 
In other words, there will be a quiet, secure confidence when you are walking in His will. There will be an invincible sense of inner assurance, gently and humbly accepted. Every believer in Jesus Christ longs to experience such assurance. It comes from being in the flowing current of His will. It envelops us when we do God's will, God's way.