Blessings to you, the readers of this page, in Jesus Christ our Lord. May He guide you and protect you always.
Keywords: Online Christian Worship Service Christian Online Worship Service Internet Church Of Christ Music Prayers Teachings Scriptures It Is Never Necessary For People To Sin Bible-based Spirit-filled Public Domain Jesus Christ Free For All Without RestrictionFeaturing "Torture Of Prisoners Is An Obvious Sin Which No Christian Should Ever Support"
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"So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do
so to them; for this is the law and the prophets."
Matthew 7:12 (RSV)
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If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and
Saviour, you have the opportunity to do so now by clicking
HERE! => http://www.internetChurchOfChrist.org/jesusdirect.html
ARE YE ABLE? - by Earl Marlatt - Public Domain
But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to
drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the
baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
(Matthew 20:22 KJV)
"Are ye able," said the Master,
"To be crucified with Me?"
"Yea," the sturdy dreamers answered,
"To the death we follow Thee."
Are ye able to remember,
When a thief lifts up his eyes,
That his pardoned soul is worthy
Of a place in paradise?
Are ye able, when the shadows
Close around you with the sod,
To believe that spirit triumphs,
To commend your soul to God?
"Are ye able?" still the Master
Whispers down eternity;
And heroic spirits answer
Now, as then in Galilee . . .
Lord, we are able.
Our spirits are Thine.
Remold them, make us
Like Thee, divine.
Thy guiding radiance
Above us shall be
A beacon to God,
To love and loyalty.
Amen.
More songs like this at our website at
http://www.Christmusic.ws
O Lord, we come together in Your name,
And as You promised, we know You are here.
AND SO WE WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS,
AND PRAY THAT YOU FIND PLEASURE HERE WITH US,
AS WE, YOUR LOVING CHILDREN WORSHIP YOU.
We now invite You to reveal Yourself,
And share with us Your presence, openly,
FOR YOU ARE EVERYTHING THAT WE DESIRE,
AND EVERYTHING WE HAVE, WE GIVE TO YOU.
In Jesus' holy name we pray, Amen.
The Lord, Himself, taught us to pray like this . . .
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Source: Book Of Common Prayer, based on
Matthew 6:9-13
* * *
"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
(Matthew 6:14-15 KJV)
* * *
MIDI music file at http://www.patriot.net/users/bmcgin/nicaea.mid
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! - by Bishop Reginald Heber, 1827 - Public Domain
Holy, holy, holy!
Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning
Our song shall rise to Thee!
Holy, holy holy!
Merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons,
Blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy!
All the saints adore Thee!
Casting down their golden crowns
Around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim
Falling down before Thee,
Who wert, and art, and
Evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy!
Though the darkness hide Thee!
Though the eye of sinful man
Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy!
There is none beside Thee,
Perfect in pow'r in
Love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy!
Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name,
In earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy holy!
Merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons,
Blessed Trinity!
Amen.
I am speaking now as an Internet Christian minister, to all those American voters and elected officials who consider themselves to be Christians. In particular, I am speaking to those Conservative Protestant Christians who have in the past been the most reliable supporters of President Bush, no matter what he has tried to do.
And here is my message to you: "Torture of prisoners is an obvious sin which no Christian should ever support." In case you think otherwise, here are the Scriptures which make this fact absolutely clear. I am quoting from the three Bible versions which are most favored by Conservative Protestant Christians: The the King James Version (KJV), the New International Version (NIV), and the New American Standard Version (NASB). All of these Bible quotations are provided by http://BibleGateway.com, a long-established trusted Christian source.
First, I cite Matthew 7:12, from Jesus' "Sermon On The Mount." In this Scripture, Jesus teaches us that all of "the Law and the Prophets" is summarized in this one verse. Please read it carefully, and then try to see how this Scripture permits torture of prisoners:
Matthew 7:12If you were a prisoner, would you like to be tortured? Obviously not. Therefore you should not torture your prisoners, if ever you have any. And we should not permit our Government to torture our prisoners, either. In America, We The People are the Government. Bush is our employee, and we can remove him from office by impeachment if we choose to do so, acting through our elected representatives in Congress. Therefore, his sins are our sins, unless we oppose him as strongly as we can.Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. (KJV)
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (NIV)
In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (NASB)
Next, I cite Galatians 5:14, where the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is writing to the first-century Christians in Galatia (now part of Turkey.)
Galatians 5:14And who is my neighbor? Jesus answered this exact question by telling the story of "The Good Samaritan," which teaches us that everyone is our neighbor. Also see http://www.google.com/search?&q=%22the+good+samaritan%22&btnG=Google+Search Also please notice that Matthew 7:12 and Galatians 5:14 both give the same instruction to us, namely, to treat all people with love, just as we would like to be treated in a similar situation.For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (KJV)
The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (NIV)
For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." (NASB)
But some people may say, "Yes, I know it is a sin to torture prisoners. But maybe it is necessary to accomplish the greater good of saving innocent lives."
In response to this, I cite First Corinthians 10:13, where Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit, writing to the Christians in Corinth. He teaches us that God will always give us a way to accomplish any good purpose without the need to sin.
1 Corinthians 10:13If we want to avoid sin, God will always make a way for us to do so. Hungry people do not need to steal food. Cold people do not need to steal clothing. Lonely people do not need to have sex with another person's wife. Poor people do not need to covet another person's possessions. Fearful people do not need to bomb apartment buildings or torture their prisoners. Oppressed people do not need to murder innocent civilians.There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (KJV)
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (NIV)
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (NASB)
God will always make a way for our legitimate needs to be met without causing us to sin. Count on it! Sin is always avoidable. It is never necessary for any of us to sin against other people or against God. If we keep on looking, trusting God to give us what we need, He will always provide us with an acceptable way to accomplish any good purpose.
THE TICKING BOMB
"Yes," you may say. "But what about the Ticking Bomb scenario, where a nuclear bomb has been planted, set to go off in an hour. You have captured a prisoner who knows where the bomb is located. If you don't torture the prisoner, to make him tell you where the bomb is located, a million innocent people will surely die."
This is the kind of situation most frequently given by those who feel it is necessary to use torture to extract information. "Isn't it better to torture or kill one person than to allow a million other people to die?"
In reply, let me point out that people being tortured will tell you anything they think will stop the pain, whether it is true or not. During the Satanic period of medieval Christianity -- when they had the Inquisitions and the Crusades -- Christian priests would routinely torture suspected witches in order to extract "information" about other witches. As it turned out, most of this information was completely wrong, because the tortured prisoners would simply start naming innocent people in order to stop the pain. And thousands of non-witches were burned at the stake as a result. For details see http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=inquisition&btnG=Google+Search
Similarly, in the Ticking Bomb scenario, the tortured prisoner could very well give false information, just to stop the pain: "The bomb is in the big green barn in the next town." You go running off to the big green barn to disarm the bomb, but it's not there! Meanwhile, at the true location of the bomb, it goes off as planned, killing the million people. Your torture has gained you nothing.
And so it is in our present situation. Our badly-advised President truly believes we need to torture our prisoners to extract needed information to protect innocent Americans. (Disregard the obvious lie that "what we are doing is not torture." Of course it's torture. Are you blind?)
But he is wrong. And it is the moral obligation of every Christian to oppose him in this sinful, needless pursuit.
When Judgment Day comes for you, and the Lord asks you, "Why did you let them torture the prisoners?" - what are you going to tell Him, "The President said we needed to do it?" I hope not.
Blessings to you. May God help us all.
HTML page at "http://www.loveallpeople.org/tortureofprisonersisanobvioussin.html
MP3 Audio File at
http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/forcomfortinsorrow.mp3
Reading by
Rev. Bill McGinnis, Free,
Public
Domain.
NOTE: When you read this prayer, try to imagine hearing my voice as I
speak it to you. In this way, the prayer is reactivated, and it
the same as if I were actually praying for you at that moment.
(Just like television prayers are reactivated when you watch
them, although the videotape may have been shot years before.)
Revised 9/17/2006For Comfort In Sorrow I pray the Lord will comfort you in sorrow,
When sadness fills your heart with dull despair.
When things you wanted most seem gone forever,
I pray His loving presence gives you peace.
When nothing in this world seems safe or certain,
I pray you have the Lord and He has you.
In Jesus' name I pray for you, Amen.
Please see all our prayers for you at http://www.loveallpeople.org/prayerindex.html
If you are alone, you will needed to be both "Leader" and "Assembly," as described in the ceremony.
Play and download the MIDI music file at http://patriot.net/users/bmcgin/knowp.mid
DO YOU KNOW JESUS? - by Rev. Bill McGinnis, 1995 - Public Domain
Do you know Jesus?
Do you know Jesus?
Do you know Jesus,
And the wonder of His love?
Yes, I know Jesus!
Yes, I know Jesus!
Yes, I know Jesus,
And the wonder of His love!
Also see separate HTML page at
http://www.loveallpeople.org/doyouknowjesus.html
EPHESIANS 3:14-21 (KJV)
14
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ,
15
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16
That he would grant you, according to the riches of his
glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man;
17
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye,
being rooted and grounded in love,
18
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the
breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us,
21
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout
all ages, world without end. Amen.
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Rev. Bill McGinnis
You can contact me at bmcgin@patriot.net. (Please mention "worship service" in the title line of your message, so I will be sure to see it.)
Blessings to you in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director - LoveAllPeople.org
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