Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
~The Apostle Paul
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. - Romans 1:24-25
If you long to see your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, or anyone else naked rather than see them grow in holiness these verses are describing you. P.S. you don't love them you lust them, repent.
Rob Bowman of The Religious Researcher.org recently posted a blog with a portion dedicated to outlining the Nicene Creed and the Definition of Chalcedon with their scripture references. Here is the relevant portion:
The Nicene Creed (381) We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. [Matt. 23:9; Acts 4:24; 17:24; 1 Cor. 8:6a; 2 Cor. 6:18; Heb. 11:3; Rev. 21:22]
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ [1 Cor. 8:6b; 12:4; Eph. 4:5], the only-begotten Son of God [John 1:12, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9], begotten of the Father before all ages [John 1:14, 18; 5:26; 6:57; 17:5; Gal. 4:4], God of God [John 1:1, 18; Titus 2:10, 13; 2 Peter 1:1-2], Light of Light [John 1:4-5; Heb. 1:3], true God of true God [John 1:1, 18; Col. 2:9; 1 John 5:20], begotten, not made [John 1:14, 18], being of one substance with the Father [John 1:14; Heb. 1:3], by whom all things were made [John 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2, 10]; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven [John 13:3; 16:28], and was incarnate [John 1:14; Rom. 8:3; 1 John 4:1] by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary [Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:35], and was made man [Phil. 2:6-7], and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate [Matt. 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 18-19]. He suffered [Matt. 16:21 par.; 17:12 par.; Luke 22:15; 24:26, 46; Acts 1:3; 3:18; 1 Pet. 3:18] and was buried [Matt. 27:57-66 par.; Acts 13:29; 1 Cor. 15:4], and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures [Luke 24:44-46; 1 Cor. 15:5], and ascended into heaven [Acts 1:9-11], and sits at the right hand of the Father [Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69; Acts 2:33, 34; 5:31; 7:55-56; Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Pet. 3:22]. And he shall come again with glory [Matt. 16:27; Heb. 9:26-28; Titus 2:13; etc.] to judge both the living and the dead [Matt. 25:31-46; John 5:22-23, 28-29; Acts 10:42; 17:31; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Thess. 1:7-8; Rev. 2:23]; whose kingdom shall have no end [Luke 1:33; Eph. 1:19b-21; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 11:15].
And we believe in the Holy Spirit [Matt. 28:19], the Lord [2 Cor. 3:16-17] and Giver of Life [Ps. 104:30; Ezek. 37:14; John 3:5-8; 6:63; Rom. 8:2, 6, 10-11; 2 Cor. 3:6; Gal. 5:25], who proceeds from the Father [John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7], who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified [Matt. 28:19; Phil. 3:3; cf. Matt. 12:31-32; Mark 3:29], who spoke by the prophets [Acts 1:16; 28:25-27; Heb. 3:7-11; 10:15-17; 1 Pet. 1:11]. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic church [Eph. 2:18-22; 3:5-6; 4:4]. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins [Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Eph. 4:5]. And we look for the resurrection of the dead [John 5:29; 11:24-25; Acts 4:2; 23:6; 24:15; Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15; etc.], and the life of the world to come [Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; 20:34-35; etc.]. Amen.
The Definition of Chalcedon (451) We, now, following the holy Fathers [Matt. 16:18; 28:20; 2 Tim. 2:2; Jude 3] all with one consent [1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 4:5, 11-16], teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ [2 Cor. 11:4; Eph. 4:5], the same perfect in Godhead [Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:3] and also perfect in manhood [Phil. 2:7-8; Heb. 5:8-9]; truly God [John 1:1, 18; 20:28; Acts 20:28; Rom. 9:5; Tit. 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 2 Pet. 1:1] and truly man [Acts 2:22; 1 Cor. 15:21; Heb. 2:5-9], of a reasonable [logikes] soul [Matt. 26:38-39; John 11:33; 12:27; Acts 2:27, 31] and body [Matt. 26:12; 27:56-59; John 2:21; Heb. 10:10]; consubstantial [homoousion] with the Father according to the Godhead [theoteti, Grk.; deitate, L.] [John 1:1; 10:30; 14:9; Col. 1:19, cf. 2:9; Heb. 1:3]; and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood [John 1:14; Acts 2:31; Rom. 1:3; 8:3-8; 1 John 4:2]; in all things like unto us, without sin [Heb. 2:14, 17; 4:15; 5:8-9]; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead [John 1:14, 18; 5:26; 6:57; Gal. 4:4], and in these latter days [Heb. 1:1-2], for us and for our salvation [Luke 2:10-11], born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God [theotokos], according to the Manhood [Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:27, 31, 34-37, 43; 2:7]; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-Begotten [Luke 2:11; John 1:14-18], to be acknowledged in two natures [phuseon] [Rom. 1:3-4; 9:5; Phil. 2:6-8; Col. 2:9], inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably [Heb. 1:10-12; 13:8]; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person [prosopon] and one Subsistence [hupostasis] [Luke 8:22-25; John 8:57-58; 1 Cor. 2:8; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:6-8; Heb. 2:14-18], not parted or divided into two persons [Eph. 4:5], but one and the same Son, and only-begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ [John 1:1-3, 14-18]; as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning him [Heb. 1:1-13]; and the Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us [Matt. 28:19-20; John 3:16], and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us [1 Tim. 3:16; Jude 3].
This is an interesting video of Penn Jilette of Penn and Teller, the comedic magic show. Penn is an outspoken atheist who has never shied away from ridiculing Christianity and the bible. You might ask why I am posting such a video here, you will have to watch it to see, but his words will surprise some of you:
The learner, who wishes to try the question fairly, whether this little book does, or does not, supply the materials for a most interesting mental recreation, is earnestly advised to adopt the following Rules:
Begin at the beginning, and do not allow yourself to gratify mere idle curiosity by dipping into the book, here and there. This would very likely lead to your throwing it aside, with the remark `This is much too hard for me!', and thus losing the chance of adding a very large item to your stock of mental delights . . .
Don't begin any fresh Chapter, or Section, until you are certain that you thoroughly understand the whole book up to that point and that you have worked, correctly, most if not all of the examples which have been set . . . Otherwise, you will find your state of puzzlement get worse and worse as you proceed till you give up the whole thing in utter disgust.
When you come to a passage you don't understand, read it again: if you still don't understand it, read it again: if you fail, even after three readings, very likely your brain is getting a little tired In that case, put the book away, and take to other occupations, and next day, when you come to it fresh, you will very likely find that it is quite easy.
If possible, find some genial friend, who will read the book along with you, and will talk over the difficulties with you. Talking is a wonderful smoother-over of difficulties. When I come upon anything—in Logic or in any other hard subject—that entirely puzzles me, I find it a capital plan to talk it over, aloud, even when I am all alone. One can explain things so clearly to one's self! And then you know, one is so patient with one's self: one never gets irritated at one's own stupidity!
If, dear Reader, you will faithfully observe these Rules, and give my little book a really fair trial, I promise you, most confidently, that you will find Symbolic Logic to be one of the most, not the most, fascinating of mental recreations! In this First Part I have carefully avoided all difficulties which seemed to me to beyond the grasp of an intelligent child of (say) twelve or fourteen years of age. I have myself taught most of its contents, viva voce, to many children, and have found them take a real intelligent interest in the subject. For those, who succeeded in mastering Part I, and who begin, like Oliver, `asking for more,' I hope to provide, in Part II, some tolerably hard nuts to crack—nuts that will require all the nut-crackers they happen to possess!
Mental recreation is a thing that we all of us need for our mental health. Symbolic Logic will give you clearness of thought—the ability to see your way through a puzzle—the habit of arranging your ideas in an orderly and get-at-able form—and, more valuable than all, the power to detect fallacies, and to tear to pieces the flimsy illogical arguments, which you will continually encounter in books, in newspapers, in speeches, and even in sermons, and which so easily delude those who have never taken the trouble to master this fascinating Art. Try it. That is all I ask of you!
Carroll, Lewis. The complete works of Lewis Carroll (New York: Random House, 1939), 1116-19.
This method might also be applied to the study of a book of Scripture.
If we truly realize the Lordship of Christ why is it that sin boldly against the knowledge of God? If Christ is Lord how can we even entertain the idea that He might not be deity or even exist?
Would you be satisfied to go to heaven, have everybody there in your family that you want there, have all the health and restoration of your prime, and everything you disliked about yourself fixed, have every recreation you've ever dreamed available to you, and have infinite resources and money to spend, would you be satisfied... If God weren't there?
Would you be satisfied if God weren't there?
That's a question that hits most people right between the eyes, myself included. Perhaps a different way of phrasing it is would you be satisfied if only God were there?
Most today would not be able to answer these questions as we ought. Do we love God as we ought, or do we love ourselves, our families, our money, our health more than our Creator?
God's love is such that through the death of His own Son, He works in us by His Spirit so that we no longer feel loved by our self deification that makes much of us. We come to realize that such is a cheap imitation of love. We then start feeling loved in the way we were created to feel loved, by glorifying God and making much of Him in all we do forever.
Is God enough? Ought we to answer as the Psalmist did?
Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. - Psalm 73:25-26
Such should be the prayer of our hearts; that we might say that without God I am never be satisfied and only with Him am I whole! Jesus is my portion! Jesus is my all! My strength will fail me. My heart will deceive me. My friends and family may abandon me. I will be laughed at and scorned by men yet I am more than conqueror through Him who loves me! God is my strength and portion! Christ is my life! So long as He enables me I will glorify Him because He is worthy!
A Sip of Wine or a Shot of Grape Juice (PDF) is brief paper by Tyler A. Ervin on the culturally imposed sin of abstentionism and the historical roots within the Southern Baptist culture. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart. - Psalm 104:14-15 And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God chooses, to set his name there, then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the LORD your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. - Deuteronomy 14:24-26 PDF File of A Sip of Wine or a Shot of Grape Juice Used with permission.
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