Chalcedonian Creed (A. D. 451)

This creed established that Jesus has two natures, divine and human, consolidated in one person. This creed was from the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held at Chalcedon, in 451, as a response to the heretical aspect concerning the nature of Christ.

We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [co-essential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.

God Bless

Brian Mason

The Athanasian Creed

Athanasius, the fourth century bishop of Alexandria who was the strongest defender and advocate of the doctrine of the Trinity as well as the divinity of Christ. In this creed you will see “catholic faith”. This is “catholic with the small “c”, meaning the Universal Christian Church, not the Roman Catholic Church

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not three eternals, but one Eternal.

As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one Uncreated, and one Incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Spirit Almighty. And yet they are not three almighties, but one Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And yet they are not three gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord. And yet not three lords, but one Lord.

For as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge each Person by Himself to be both God and Lord, so we are also forbidden by the catholic religion to say that there are three gods or three lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.

And in the Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another, but all three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

He therefore that will be saved must think thus of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man; God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of the substance of his mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father, as touching His godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching His manhood; who, although He is God and man, yet he is not two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the godhead into flesh but by taking of the manhood into God; one altogether; not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ; who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, He sits at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the quick and the dead. At His coming all men will rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.

God Bless

Brian Mason

Beware: Joyce Meyer Heresies

Joyce Meyer since 1980 has been a full-time Pentecostal preacher and is no stranger to preached heresy. Besides the strict bible scripture from the Apostle Paul forbidding a woman to teach and preach to a man, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression,” (1 Tim. 2:12-14) she is regularly teaching heresy.

“During that time He entered hell, where you and I deserved to go (legally) because of our sin….He paid the price there.…no plan was too extreme…Jesus paid on the cross and in hell….God rose up from His throne and said to demon powers tormenting the sinless Son of God, “Let Him go.” Then the resurrection power of Almighty God went through hell and filled Jesus….He was resurrected from the dead ¾ the first born-again man.” (Meyer, The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make: A Complete And Thorough Understanding Of What It Means To Be Born Again (Tulsa: Harrison House, 1991), 35-36. This heresy is as far as I am aware has not been corrected, and she is non-repentant of this heresy! Where in Scripture does it teach that Jesus spoke to “demon powers” to “Let Him Go”? Wow!

Again; “There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell.” Meyer, The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make (1991), 37

Meyer goes against Jesus’ atonement clearly as Jesus said on the cross:
“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said, ‘I thirst.’ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:28-30). His atoning work was completed on the cross, not from a weekend trip to hell!

We are “not to exceed what is written”!
1 Corinthians 4: 6-7, “6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”

They are wolves in sheep’s clothing who will coyly preach twisted-scripture!
Acts 20: 27-31, 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard!

Meyer has preached and written more heresies that will be looked at at a later date.

God Bless
Brian Mason

Marriage: Does It Have A Purpose? What Does The Bible Say?

In this age of confusion over marriage and the reason for marriage, I was wondering if the Bible was clear on its purpose. I was not disappointed as the Bible is loaded with scripture to clarify any misconceptions. Let me list a few of the verses and context of the biblical position, God’s Word;

Marriage was instituted by God to protect the woman:

Eph. 5:28-29, “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church.”

To set up structural order within the family:

1 Corinthians 11:3, “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.”

To receive the Lord’s Blessings:

Proverbs 31:10, “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels.”

To have children:

Psalm 127:3, “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.”

Is to serve proper sexual union:

1 Corinthians 7:2-3, “But because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.”

To keep from sexual immorality:

1 Corinthians 7:2-4, “But because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.”

1 Corinthians 7:9, “But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.”

To reflect God’s image:

Genesis 1: 26-27, 6 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

When Jesus was confronted by the Pharisee’s on the subject of divorce Jesus was clear on God’s design for marriage:

Matthew 19: 3-6, 3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said,“Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

God Bless

Brian Mason

What The Christian Sign Of The Fish Really Means

Here is a great article from Tassos Lycurgo of “DEFESA DA FE” on the real meaning of the Christian Fish Sign re-posted by http://www.defenseoffaith.org

Read the article on the link below:

http://defenseoffaith.org/apologetics/know-christian-sign-fish-really-means/

God Bless

Brian Mason

Jehovah’s Witnesses And Blood Transfusions:

Let us examine the Jehovah’s Witness’ statement from http://www.jw.org/

“This is a religious issue rather than a medical one. Both the Old and New Testaments clearly command us to abstain from blood. (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:10; Deuteronomy 12:23; Acts 15:28, 29) Also, God views blood as representing life. (Leviticus 17:14) So we avoid taking blood not only in obedience to God but also out of respect for him as the Giver of life.”

They clearly say it is a “religious issue” and quote several Bible verses such as:

Acts 15: 20 “ “Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.”

This scripture is very clear not to eat certain foods and drinking the blood of such animals, nothing here about blood transfusions! It was an unknown medical practice at the very least!

Same is written in Acts 15: 28, 29 “28 “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

As for Deuteronomy 12: 23, let’s take the scripture in context;

Deuteronomy 12: 22-25: 22 Just as a gazelle or a deer is eaten, so you will eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat of it. 23 Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh. 24 You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. 25 You shall not eat it, so that it may be well with you and your sons after you, for you will be doing what is right in the sight of the Lord

Again these verses do not mention anything about blood transfusions but the consumption of blood from the animal! How clearer can this be?

Moving along let’s look at Leviticus 17:10: 8 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9 and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man also shall be cut off from his people.
10 ‘And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.’12 Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood.’ 13 So when any man from the sons of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

Leviticus 17: 1-16 deals with the handling of animals and the blood of sacrificed animals, not human blood transfusions!

And at last Genesis 9:4 as mentioned. Let’s again look at it in context with the surrounding scripture:

Genesis 9: 1-5, And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.3 Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. 4 Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

This is God’s Word giving humans permission to be carnivorous, not anti-blood transfusion talk! All the animal except its blood was to be consumed as it was sacred and an acknowledgment that all life comes from God!

Blood transfusions are simply not expressed as being right or wrong in the Bible. It is up to the person as a matter of choice and conscience or circumstance. I have nothing against blood transfusions as I was a blood donor and know that it is a life saver on battlefields and hospital rooms.

On the same JW website is also posts:

Myth: Many Witnesses, including children, die each year as a result of refusing blood transfusions.

Fact: This statement is totally unfounded. Surgeons regularly perform such complex procedures as heart operations, orthopedic surgery, and organ transplants without the use of blood transfusions.* Patients, including children, who do not receive transfusions usually fare as well as or better than those who do accept transfusions.* In any case, no one can say for certain that a patient will die because of refusing blood or will live because of accepting it.

The last line: “In any case, no one can say for certain that a patient will die because of refusing blood or will live because of accepting it.”

Well, I beg to differ as a family member of mine would not have made it to day three without a complete transfusion of blood! There are many such stories out there as well! And many stories that ended in death!

I ask that you pray and witness to the JW knocking on your door. Do not hide under the couch and hope they leave, okay? We are commanded by God to preach the true Gospel to mankind. They are God’s creatures heading down the path to hell with a UHAUL full of heresies!

God Bless

Brian Mason

Apostle’s Creed

The following “Apostle’s Creed” is from the early Western Christian Church. The word “catholic” is within the writing. The word “catholic” is not in reference to the Roman Catholic Church, it means the Universal Christian Church. Most heretical churches can be easily exposed if they do not comply to this creed and especially the Nicene Creed.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

Amen.

God Bless

Brian Mason

My Take On The Nepal Earthquakes

There are a lot of so-called Christians saying that the Nepalese people deserve the damage and deaths that tragically happened as a result of the horrible earthquakes that have occurred and are still occurring at the time of this post. Their reasoning is that they are a pagan people with pagan idols that are against our Lord Jesus Christ. This is true! However, we as Christians need to pray, go to Nepal and assist relief efforts! My only desire is that not one dollar goes to the reconstruction of Buddhist Shrines or Idols!
God’s judgment comes fast, however, let us not be the spokespeople for God! God’s grace is amazing! He keeps His foot on the proverbial brake pedal. Can you imagine the world without His grace? We should as Christians be the example and give to accredited Nepali charities. This is a great witness to our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen

God Bless

Brian Mason

100 Reasons Why Evolution Is Stupid!

I am unapologetic in stating that Dr. Kent Hovind is a thorn in the side of evolutionists and atheists. And I am also not apologetic on posting his lecture series and as well do not believe in his “King James Only” position.

God Bless you Kent! Our prayers go out to you sir!

God Bless

Brian Mason

What Does It Mean When Jesus called Himself “The Son Of Man”?

The title, “The Son of Man, however” is thought to be by some circles a reference to His human nature, however, that is not correct exegesis.
The title does most certainly tie the ribbon between Him and us; however, the real emphasis should be of His deity. Jesus had used Daniel 7:

9 “I kept looking
Until thrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat;
His vesture was like white snow
And the hair of His head like pure wool.
His throne was ablaze with flames,
Its wheels were a burning fire.
10 “A river of fire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
Thousands upon thousands were attending Him,
And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;
The court sat,
And the books were opened.

13 “I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
14 “And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.

“The Son of Man” is a prophecy fulfilled in Jesus. A return to His ministry on earth.
The Jews knew this title, and Jesus used it as a declaration of His authority. Read Luke 6:3-5 (NASB)
3 And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, 4 how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?” 5 And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus was claiming to be God to the Pharisees! When you read the scripture where Jesus says “Son of Man” He is stating His deity.

God Bless

Brian Mason