Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters carc to cer

 

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters carc to cer. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

Carchemish, Cardinal, Cardinals, carelessness, caricature, carillon, Crlos Santana, Carmelites, carnality, carols, carpal tunnel syndrome, carpenter, carpentry, carpets, Carrie Prejean, Carrie Underwood, cars, cartoon, casein intolerance, cashier, casino, Casting Crowns, castration, casuistry, cat, Cat Stevens, catalog, cataract, cathedral, Catholic, cats, Cayman Islands, CBA, CBN, CDC, CEI, celebrities, celibacy, cell, cell phone, cell phones, Celsus, Celtic, cemetery, censorship, census, Central America, Centurion, cereal, cerebral palsy, ceremonial magic, ceremony.

Epharta

The title of this post is not an error. That will become evident in the following discussion.

Ephratah (or Ephrath) is an ancient name for Bethlehem (בֵּית לֶחֶם Hebrew = house of bread), the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah (Micah 5:2), There were other places also known as Bethlehem so this town was called Bethlehem Ephrathah. This is the place where Jacob buried Rachel.

The Hebrew word אֶפְרָתָה (Ephrathah) comes from the root פרה (parah), meaning to be fruitful, or to increase. Strong’s 672. Genesis 35:16-19, 48:7; Micah 5:2

There are several communities named Ephratah: Efrah, Israel; Ephrata, Pennsylvania, Ephratah, New York; and Ephrata, Washington, with the town in Pennsylvania (USA), being in the national news in 2013.

Ephrata, Pennsylvania, which is of historical importance in its own right, became the focus of a national news story for what basically amounts to sloppiness and failure to attend to details. The problem was a highway sign reading 322 Epharta EXIT 2 Miles, which was noticed in 2013. Highway 322 is a United States Highway which is maintained by the Pennsylvania State Highway system.

Ephrata is pronounced as ef-rah-tah but the town name on the sign would be read as Ee-fart-uh. For readers unfamiliar with idiomatic English, a fart is the expulsion of bowel gas, usually very audibly evident. This sign clearly was a problem.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/local/misspelled-road-sign-costs-penndot-12k/1962842/

https://lancasteronline.com/news/did-you-catch-that-embarrassing-typo-on-the-sign-along-route-222-near-ephrata/article_4d7d85e4-6694-5a90-841f-dedee1a3ac6a.html

The historical importance of this small Pennsylvania town (2024 population 13,719) comes from the fact that it is the site of the first communal religious society in the United States, the Mystic Order of the Solitary. The buildings are now a tourist and pilgrimage site.

            In 1732, Johann Conrad Beissel (1691-1768) founded the pietist, pacifist, celibate, and ascetic

 group which was known locally as the Ephrata Cloister. Their doctrines identified them as Seventh Day

 Dunkers. The modern survivors of the group are Seventh Day Baptists.

I Urge You to Think Carefully About This

Few issues are more contentious in the modern church than homosexualty.  The readers of this blog probably fall on both sides of the issue with many falling somewhere in the middle.  My intention here is to get you thinking.  I don't want to argue with anyone; this is one of the issues where everyone's attitudes may be already set in stone. I don't intend to tell you what to think, but I will tell you what I think.  I just hope that everyone will think about why they think what they do think and seek to conform themselves to the will of God as expressed in Scripture.  Too many people, on both sides of issues, take stances which they can not intellectually explain or defend.  The link below contains a lively discussion on the issue.

http://ancienthebrewpoetry.typepad.com/ancient_hebrew_poetry/2011/05/to-hell-with-gays-the-bible-and-homosexuality.html#tp

It is clear that the Bible condemns homosexual behavior and that Jesus, himself, never mentioned it.  Your attitude toward the Bible will determine what you make of this.  My belief is that Jesus never mentioned the subject because He was an observant religious Jew and considered the issue to be settled by the Scriptures.

In my understanding, homosexuality is merely a sin like any other sin. Any sin, no matter how small, is a missing of the mark.  If you do not believe that homosexual behavior is a sin, at the very least, know the reasons why you have this belief.  God will not look on sin.  How wonderful it is that when God sees his saints, he sees Jesus!

Many homosexuals insist that they have not chosen homosexuality, that is is inborn.  Are beastiality, or necrophilia,  or sexual coprophila, or sexual urophilia, or pedophilia, or sexual masochism, or sexual sadism, or, for that matter, asexuality, inborn?  My understanding of "nature vs. nurture" is that it is the sexual impulse which is inborn and that the object of sexuality can be determined by many factors from a very early age.  The object of sexual desire need not even be alive, it may be shoes, or money, or power.  Many believe that the feeling of power over another person is the sexual release which serial killers experience.   The current state of knowledge provides no definitive answer to the question of the origins of sexual orientation and it is not likely to in the future.

Some will bring up recent anatomical studies which suggest differences in the brain structure of homosexuals and heterosexuals.  Though these differences are real, they have not been shown to be present in all examined brain specimens.  It is an unwarranted intellectual leap to declare that they are causative. They also do not take into account functional magnetic resonance studies which suggest that functional brain anatomy changes in response to behavior and learning.  The current state of brain science provides no definitive answer to the question of the origins of sexual orientation and is not likely to in the future.

Yes, of course, there are homosexuals in the organized church.  I know some of them.  Some are closeted and others attend churches which accept their sexual orientation.  A few practice celibacy, which may be the best course of action.  It is not the sexual orientation which is condemned by Scripture, but the behavior.  No one sins by being tempted. We are all tempted by something. Jesus was tempted.

Can a homosexual be saved?  Can a thief be saved?  Can a murderer be saved?  Can a tax cheater be saved?  Can a church pastor be saved?  Of course, and we all do still sin after our conversion but we must not consciously chose to continue to sin.  We are to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into holiness.

After Jesus shamed a group of sanctimonious men who were about to stone an adulterous woman to death, he asked her who was there condemning her.

"She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." John 8:11