It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To

Submitted by Debra on Tue, 2014-09-30 00:43

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by Pastor Mark Downey

Scripture Reading: Luke 14:15-24

You might be wondering what today's Scripture reading, the parable of the great supper, has to do with the sermon title, a #1 hit song from 1963; the year the jews assassinated Camelot. The song was written by Wiener, Gold, Gottlieb and Gluck, which sounds like a jewish law firm. It was sung by Lesley Sue Goldstein, also known as Lesley Gore. Maybe somebody has made the same or similar observations as I have, but I like to think this song has gone unanalyzed until now. One can only probe the subconscious mind of the jew with the assistance of the Holy Spirit to read between the lines. I originally titled this message 'Have You Got Your Invitation Yet?' and then I heard this song in my head in a nostalgic moment for no apparent reason. Now I know why... thank you Lord, it's the perfect antithesis or maybe antichrist. The distinctions between the parable and the song are somewhat uncanny.

Church of the Slam Dunk Part 2

Submitted by Debra on Sun, 2014-09-14 00:58

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Church-of-the-Slam-Dunk-2.mp3

by Pastor Mark Downey

Scripture Reading: John 1:6-9

We've been looking at the sacred cow of full body immersion baptism. Baptism is not really the best word, biblically speaking, for the practice of submerging oneself in a body of water. I think what has happened is cognitive dissonance; when two things are so similar that the original intent is ignored for something else. Our race has suffered from being shortchanged on important principles of biblical events such as the Flood account of Noah being borrowed by non-Adamic cultures. After awhile, every stranger has their 'flood' legend, and the presumption becomes that it was worldwide, rather than local. If baptism is something other than water immersion, then their New Testament exegesis of Old Testament types and shadows cannot be supported. They try to incorporate the parting of the Red Sea as some sort of baptizo on the Israelites, however, if you recall, it was Pharaoh's army that experienced the full body immersion. And it was not Noah and his family that received the full body immersion during the flood. The principle of the original has been lost or is not recognized. Just as God's chosen people don't know who they are, we have a situation today where the wrong people are calling themselves Israel. It behooves us, therefore, to identify the principles of baptism from Genesis to Revelation.

Church of the Slam Dunk Part 1

Submitted by Debra on Sun, 2014-09-07 00:50

00:00

Church-Slam-Dunk-1.mp3

By Pastor Mark Downey

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:37-41

Researching the subject of baptism has taken many twists and turns in an attempt to discover the truth. In our series, "The Shining Light of Glory", not only were many parallels made between biblical light and water baptism, but also that they were one and the same. This prompted some curiosity as to why there is such a diversity of interpretations as to what baptism really is and where those dogmas come from. After reading assertions about full body immersion-styled baptisms that came from the pagan mystery religions, I began research to prove whether or not this was true, because I didn't want to advocate something that was contrary to the Word of God. However, what I discovered was far from such a simple premise.

Over the expanse of time, the history of baptism has become very convoluted. I dare say that if you ask a dozen Christians what the meaning of baptism is, you'll get a dozen different answers. After half a year, I had traversed, in depth, hundreds of articles, dozens of books and prayerfully seeking what God would have us do. "Seek, and ye shall find" (Mt. 7:7). I think I've found some unconfusing resolves to this issue. It is not my intent to create controversy or jerk anyone's emotional chain.