John Glass, Elim Pentecostal Church, General Superintendent, Cappuccino Communication, An Easy Yoke, Parts 1-3

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Part 3

COMMENT: Desperate Alex Salmond will say ANYTHING to con Scottish voters, Daily Express

THE chances of a Yes vote for independence in the referendum next month may have receded slightly in the past week or so, but they remain worryingly real.

The pro–United Kingdom No campaign may have been bolstered by the victory of Alistair Darling over Alex Salmond in the television debate earlier this month, but they are taking nothing for granted.

Mr Salmond has already proved he is able to execute a last round burst to overtake an opponent seemingly cruising to victory; no one should forget the last Scottish parliamentary election when an expected Labour win was turned into a rout by the SNP.

In London, as here, the possibility of a last–minute surge by the Nationalists is being taken deadly seriously. It is unlikely the Better Together campaign or the UK Government is going to put a foot badly wrong within the next five weeks, but you can never tell.

And what is certain is that Mr Salmond and his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon, will become ever more outrageous in their wild promises of post–independence riches for all, a last–ditch tactic which will be coupled to their constantly voiced doomwatch scenario should we vote to stay in the UK.

There is no doubt that the Yes campaign is badly damaged, probably irrevocably. Even many of the most diehard Nationalists are all but conceding defeat and looking forward to what can be done about reviving their long campaign after September.

Read more here:

Came to My Rescue, Hillsongs United

Vicky Beeching: I'd like to enter a gay marriage

Vicky Beeching: I'd like to enter a gay marriage

Worship leader and theologian Vicky Beeching has told Premier Christianity she'd eventually like to find a same sex partner and get married.

The Christian singer came out as gay yesterday at the age of 35.

Speaking to Premier she said: "I think my goal is to find a soul mate and get married.

"God said it's not good that people are alone and obviously that's rooted in a passage that most people think defends heterosexual marriage only, but for me, I just think it's a principle that God wants us to be in community and he's made most of us, unless we're called to celibacy, to find that other person.

"I would want to find a person to marry in a way that Paul describes - laying down our lives for one another.

"Someone that loves God, that has a strong Christian faith, that I can serve and they can serve me.

"I think that's something I've always missed, having that comrade and partner to run through life with.

"I think I'm ready to find that."

In an extended interview with Premier she said she still identifies herself as an Evangelical Christian.

"I think for me, Evangelicalism is rooted in many things," she said.

"Loving the Bible, having a high view of scripture, having a passion for social justice and wanting to share the good news about Jesus.

Fears monarchy could be ditched by independent Scotland with Queen forced to send Australian-style Royal representative instead . Daily Mail

Experts fear independence could throw up divided loyalties for the Queen

Solution could be to appoint representative to act in the Sovereign's name

Claims Scotland may eventually ditch Royal family and becoming a republic

Comes amid growing support for independence ahead of September 18 vote

Support for independence up to 43% with 57% backing the Union

The Queen may be forced to appoint an Australian-style ‘governor general’ to rule in her name in Scotland if the country votes for independence next month, it has been claimed.

Constitutional experts fear independence could throw up divided loyalties for the Queen if there was a clash between Scotland and the rump-UK in the future.

One solution would be to appoint a ‘governor general’ in Edinburgh to act in the Queen’s name. This could lead Scotland to eventually ditching the Royal family and becoming a republic within the European Union, claim experts.

The claim comes as a new poll shows rising support for independence with just a month to go before the referendum on September 18.

A YouGov poll for the Times puts support for independence at 43 per cent, with 57 per cent backing the Union, once undecided voters are taken out.

Earlier this month just 39 per cent said they were preparing to vote Yes - with 61 per cent for No.

Scottish Nationalist leader Alex Salmond has insisted that the Queen will remain head of state in an independent Scotland.

But his party is split on the issue. The SNP’s John Mason yesterday called for a referendum to replace the Queen as head of state in Scotland.

He said: ‘The present queen is very popular, but the mood of society may change when she leaves the throne.’

Scotland Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has also raised the prospect this year of a referendum on the Royals. He said it was ‘for the people of Scotland to decide’ on the Queen’s role.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective

Christian Singer/Worship Leader Vicky Beeching, says I'm Gay, Premier Christian Radio.

Worship leader and Christian commentator Vicky Beeching has opened up on her sexuality to a national newspaper.

The 35 year-old, who became known by performing at Christian festivals both in the UK and the US, says she's struggled with the issue her whole life but is now ready to go public.

Speaking to The Independent she explained how she first noticed her attraction to other girls at the age of 12.

She said: "Realising that I was attracted to them was a horrible feeling. I was so embarrassed and ashamed. It became more and more of a struggle because I couldn't tell anyone."

In the in-depth interview she talks about how she sought help to get rid of her same sex feelings firstly by going to confession with a Catholic priest then by asking for prayer at a large Christian event.

At the conference she said a group prayed over her that the demon of homosexuality would free her but she found the experience "degrading" and "humiliating".

Her career has seen her release several worship albums and tour the world but she exited the spotlight after being diagnosed with an auto-immune disease called linear scleroderma morphea.

Her condition required chemotherapy.

She was told by a doctor that it was stress induced and she believes her trigger was her battle with her sexuality.

It was a result of this part of her life that she vowed to tell friends and family.

Now a regular commentator on Christian issues on both TV and radio she says she's ready to let the world know and wants the Church to reconsider the way it views homosexuality.

Read more here:

Question:

Should Churches and Christians listen to and sing to Vicky Beeching’s songs since her public  announcement  that she is lesbian ?  My answer is no

Read the article in the Independent here:

Vicky Beeching, Christian rock star: 'I'm gay. God loves me just the way I am'

Comment:

Although like many of you, I have sing along to Vicky Beeching songs in various Church Settings,   I’m saddened to hear that she is claiming to be Gay(Lesbian) ,  the Bible clearly states that homosexuality and a homosexual lifestyle is both a sin and sinful, and there are no scriptures that support, encourage and confirm that the homosexual lifestyle  is a choice for the Christian, I’m sorry the Bible clearly states that you can’t be a Christian and Gay, the choice is yours,  but you can’t be both. Homosexuality is Sinful, anyone who lives this lifestyle or supports this lifestyle... the Bible is clear you need to repent of your sin.

1 Timothy 1:9-11The Voice (VOICE)

9 we also know the law was not designed for law-abiding people but for lawbreakers and criminals, the ungodly and sin-filled, the unholy and worldly, the father killers and mother killers, the murderers, 10 the sexually immoral and homosexuals, slave dealers, liars, perjurers, and anyone else who acts against the sound doctrine 11 laid out in the glorious, holy, and pure good news of the blessed God that has been entrusted to me.

1 Corinthians 6:8-10New American Standard Bible (NASB)

8 On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators,  nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [a]effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 5:16 -21 The Voice

16 His free gift is nothing like the scourge of the first man’s sin. The judgment that fell because of one false step brought condemnation, but the free gift following countless offenses results in a favorable verdict—not guilty. 17 If one man’s sin brought a reign of death—that’s Adam’s legacy—how much more will those who receive grace in abundance and the free gift of redeeming justice reign in life by means of one other man—Jesus the Anointed.

18 So here is the result: as one man’s sin brought about condemnation and punishment for all people, so one man’s act of faithfulness makes all of us right with God and brings us to new life. 19 Just as through one man’s defiant disobedience every one of us were made sinners, so through the willing obedience of the one man many of us will be made right.

20 When the law came into the picture, sin grew and grew; but wherever sin grew and spread, God’s grace was there in fuller, greater measure. No matter how much sin crept in, there was always more grace. 21 In the same way that sin reigned in the sphere of death, now grace reigns through God’s restorative justice, eclipsing death and leading to eternal life through the Anointed One, Jesus our Lord, the Liberating King.

Romans 6:1-12 The Voice

6 How should we respond to all of this? Is it good to persist in a life of sin so that grace may multiply even more? 2 Absolutely not! How can we die to a life where sin ruled over us and then invite sin back into our lives? 3 Did someone forget to tell you that when we were initiated into Jesus the Anointed through baptism’s ceremonial washing,[a] we entered into His death? 4 Therefore, we were buried with Him through this baptism into death so that just as God the Father, in all His glory, resurrected the Anointed One, we, too, might walk confidently out of the grave into a new life. 5 To put it another way: if we have been united with Him to share in a death like His, don’t you understand that we will also share in His resurrection? 6 We know this: whatever we used to be with our old sinful ways has been nailed to His cross. So our entire record of sin has been canceled, and we no longer have to bow down to sin’s power. 7 A dead man, you see, cannot be bound by sin. 8 But if we have died with the Anointed One, we believe that we shall also live together with Him. 9 So we stand firm in the conviction that death holds no power over God’s Anointed, because He was resurrected from the dead never to face death again. 10 When He died, He died to whatever power sin had, once and for all, and now He lives completely to God. 11 So here is how to picture yourself now that you have been initiated into Jesus the Anointed: you are dead to sin’s power and influence, but you are alive to God’s rule.

12 Don’t invite that insufferable tyrant of sin back into your mortal body so you won’t become obedient to its destructive desires

Be Thou My Vision, Christian Classics

English version by Eleanor Hull, 1912[edit]

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,

Be all else but naught to me, save that thou art;

Thou my best thought in the day and the night,

Both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word,

Be thou ever with me, and I with thee Lord;

Be thou my great Father, and I thy true son;

Be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;

Be thou my whole armour, be thou my true might;

Be thou my soul's shelter, be thou my strong tower:

O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise:

Be thou mine inheritance now and always;

Be thou and thou only the first in my heart;

O Sovereign of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of Heaven, thou Heaven's bright sun,

O grant me its joys after victory is won!;

Great heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.

Some verses from the modern Irish version

Bí Thusa ’mo shúile a Rí mhór na ndúil

Líon thusa mo bheatha mo chéadfaí ’s mo stuaim

Bí thusa i m'aigne gach oíche ’s gach lá

Im chodladh no im dhúiseacht, líon mé le do ghrá.

Bí thusa ’mo threorú i mbriathar ’s i mbeart

Fan thusa go deo liom is coinnigh mé ceart

Glac cúram mar Athair, is éist le mo ghuí

Is tabhair domsa áit cónaí istigh i do chroí.