1 Timothy 4: 1,6 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…… In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, {constantly} nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.” NEW CONTACT INFO WHAT'S WRONG WITH HARRY POTTER? — A "huge Harry Potter fan" writes this: "No one can deny that J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of books is purely about witchcraft, wizardry and the occult." (6/21 H. Times) Harry and his friends are fond of disrespecting authority, breaking the rules, lying, cheating, stealing and swearing. Harry Potter is dangerous because it popularizes, promotes or even intentionally hides real witchcraft and occult rituals (3/1 CC). It is extremely popular, however. "One of every 10 books bought in the U.S. in 1999 was a Harry Potter."(6/20 H.Times) COURT STRIKES DOWN STATE ANTI-SODOMY LAWS — The Supreme Court's rejection of state anti-sodomy laws is a decisive endorsement of gay rights. This ruling came just a week after a court in Canada lifted a ban on same-sex marriages. A Canadian observed: "Nowhere in the world has a court ruled the heterosexual definition of marriage violates human rights." Justice Scalia said the U.S. court ruling will lead to government-sanctioned gay marriages (6/27 USA Today). He added: "State laws against bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication, bestiality and obscenity" are now open to question. CWA chief counsel Jan LaRue said the court "magically discovered a right of privacy that includes sexual perversion." (USA Today). God cast sodomites out of the land in Old Testament times (I Kings 14:24). What about today? GUNS A DANGER TO CHILDREN? — It is said that guns are a constant danger to children. But: Bathtubs are twice as dangerous to children as guns. Fire is 18 times more dangerous….Cars are 57 times more dangerous. Household cleaners and poisons are twice as dangerous. Defensive gun use stops more crimes than police intervention (8/10/02 World). Defensive gun use by private citizens indicate that as many as 3.6 million crimes annually are prevented by armed citizens. CAMPOLO APOLOGIZES FOR INTEMPERATE REMARKS — In a July 3 letter to [Southern] Baptist Press, popular liberal new-evangelical Tony Campolo apologized for the "intemperate manner in which I spoke of those who differ with me" on the issues of homosexuality and women in ministry (7/14 Chr. News). The comments were made in his address to the liberal Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a breakaway faction from the SBC. He said: "I do believe that organizations and social structures that deny women the right to exercise spiritual gifts and actualize their spiritual potentialities are sinful, evil, and even instruments of the devil." HOMOSEXUAL CHAPLAIN - For the first time ever, the U.S. House of Representatives elected a homosexual chaplain to deliver its morning invocation—and the chosen occasion was the National Day of Prayer. Rev. Steve Torrence, once a pastor in the homosexual Metropolitan Community Churches denomination, prayed for justice and equality for “God’s gay and lesbian children” as well as for all U.S. citizens. (WORLD, 5/17/03) WHY CALIFORNIA IS IN TROUBLE - A bill which has passed the California house mandates a $150,000 fine against those who refuse to hire transsexuals and cross-dressers. Even Christian bookstores and nonprofit organizations such as the Boy Scouts fall under the bill’s purview. The bill, written by a homosexual assemblyman, defines gender as “identity, appearance, or behavior, whether or not that identity, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the victim’s sex at birth.” (WorldNetDaily; 4/21/03) BEFORE YOU SEND YOUR DAUGHTER TO COLLEGE - Smith College, an all-girls’ school in Massachusetts, employs a “director of institutional diversity” and a “transgender specialist.” Each is pleased because the student government association has decided to remove gender-specific pronouns from its constitution. “She” and “her” will be replaced with gender-neutral terms, so as not to offend transsexuals. (Daily Hampshire Gazette, 4/28/03) BLASPHEMY - A billboard in North Carolina includes a twelve-foot-tall image of a pig with this caption: “He Died For Your Sins. Go Vegetarian.” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) bought the space despite the refusal of many ad companies to run the billboard. (Raleigh, NC News & Observer, 5/5/03) WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE - The new president of the Young Women’s Christian Association is a reported lesbian and the former president of the National Organization for Women. Patricia Ireland led NOW for ten years (1991–2001) and stands now at the helm of an organization founded in 1858 by Protestant Christians. A YWCA press release (4/30/03) touting their new president states that the YWCA now has “twin goals of women’s and girl’s empowerment and racial justice.” (Boston Globe, 5/5/03) BAD STEWARDSHIP - Americans bought $42.9 billion worth of lottery tickets in fiscal year 2002. That comes to almost $360 for every adult who played. (naspl.org). Have You Had Your Shots? When my wife and I had our first child, Abigail Grace, it wasn’t too long after she was born that we had to find a doctor. As everyone knows that has children, once you have a doctor picked out all the information about vaccinations follow right behind. The day before Abigail was to get her shots, my mother-in-law came over. Now my mother-in-law is an oncology nurse and knows a good bit about health issues. We happened to be talking about a lady I worked with at the pharmacy. She was a pharmacist and had a child with autism. My mother-in-law and I were curious about autism, so we looked it up on the Internet. We were shocked with what we found. To make a long story short, we canceled the appointment for Abigail until further research. I talked to the lady I worked with about autism and what she had found out about the disease. The more I researched I found I was not going to give my children their shots that young. I am not going to talk about my convictions concerning vaccinations, but rather about the TITHE. I am going to compare shots with the tithe for one simple reason, ignorance! We as believers have bought into a lie that the tithe is for us today. Like shots no one even thinks of questioning the procedure and they continue to go to the doctor like lemmings. When a minister gets up to the pulpit and begins to talk on giving, they talk to you as if you should know that giving means tithing. Well it doesn’t. Do a little study on the subject yourself and you will find out that they have been feeding you a line. Nowhere does the New Testament teach tithing. Jesus and the Apostles didn’t think it was as important as some of the pastor running around. These pastors are hired hands and do not have enough faith that Christ will provide, so they come up with tithing. Just like shots have been accepted as good (and I’m not doubting that shots have done a lot of good) without any challenge, so has the tithe. In the next article I will go through the Scriptures step by step to explain my convictions on the matter. I would like those people who have never even considered that the tithe is not for a New Testament believer to search the Scriptures and find out what God has to say. 1 Corinthians 16:1,2 shows us a wonderful picture of what giving is to be in the New Testament and notice Paul didn’t tell them to tithe. We will go into those things in greater detail next article. Brothers and Sisters, I’m not suggesting that we not give, but that we should give out of a love for the believers in our fellowship. Not to some building program! Is that giving to God? I don’t think so and I hope you will agree. Mike Charleston |