Will Same-Sex Marriage Lead to Legalized Polygamy? By Joseph Perkins

Joe Darger and his three wives, Alina, Vicki and Valeri, are not seeking the right to marry, like same-sex couples in states throughout the country. The Utah foursome simply wants their polygamous marriage to be decriminalized.

Joe, Alina and Vicki appeared Friday on “The O’Reilly Factor,” which airs on Fox News. They currently are promoting a book, Love Times 3, which the polygamous foursome jointly authored.

Darger and his wives said they are “independent fundamentalist Mormons” and that polygamy is accepted practice in their faith. As such, said husband Joe, polygamy “goes back five generations” in his family lineage.

Joe Darger is legally wed to Alina. By also taking Vicki and Valeri as his wives, unlawfully, he is subject to arrest on a felony count. Alina told Bill O’Reilly that the four “should have the right to participate in a polygamous marriage.”

If their four-way marriage does not invite enough scrutiny, there is also the matter of their family size. Altogether, the Dargers have 24 children which they financially support, said husband Joe, by an unspecified family business.

Polygamous families like the Dargers explain why most Americans are confused about the Mormon faith, according to a recent poll conducted by Gary Lawrence, a Mormon and author of Mormons Believe … What?!.

 

In response to the question “Do Mormon’s practice polygamy?” 15 percent of those polled answered “definitely yes,” 31 percent answered “probably yes,” and 22 percent had no opinion.

In the mainstream Mormon faith practiced by such prominent adherents as Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, polygamy is punished by excommunication from the Church of Latter-day Saints.

Unfortunately for mainstream Mormons, their faith is often confused with that of independent fundamentalist Mormons, like the Dargers, who do indeed engage in modern day polygamy.

That confusion could grow even more pronounced with an increasing number of states no longer restricting marriage to one man and one woman.

If states recognize same-sex marriage, warned New York City Archbishop Timothy Dolan, it may very well lead lawmakers to “another redefinition to justify multiple partners and infidelity.”

http://www.christianpost.com/news/will-same-sex-marriage-lead-to-legalized-polygamy-57640/

A+New+Career

A+New+Career.

Caring+and+Capable

Caring+and+Capable.

Jesus+at+the+Crossroad

Jesus+at+the+Crossroad.

Sheriff: Castoffs attacking fellow Amish (OneNewsNow.com)

Sheriff: Castoffs attacking fellow Amish (OneNewsNow.com).

Where Is God’s Country? What Difference Does It Make? by Mark D. Roberts

Psalm 86:1-17

All the nations you made
will come and bow before you, Lord;

they will praise your holy name.

Psalm 86:9

Two weeks ago, our Sunday reflection focused on Psalm 82:8:
“Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for all the nations belong to you.” I
entitled that reflection “Where Is God’s Country?” The answer from our text was:
Every country is God’s country.

Today, I want to return to the same question, though with a twist. Psalm 86:9
offers a different answer to the question “Where Is God’s Country?” as well as a
new insight into why this matters.

Psalm 86 begins with David’s deeply personal cries to God. “Bend down, O
Lord, and hear my prayer,” he begins. The first few verses of the psalm include
several similar requests: hear my prayer; answer me; protect me; save me; be
merciful to me; give me happiness; listen closely to my prayer; hear my urgent
cry. But then, David’s perspective shifts from the intimately individual to the
broadly global: “All the nations you made will come and bow before you, Lord;
they will praise your holy name” (86:9).

Notice how this psalm identifies the nations (using the Hebrew word goyim , which often refers specifically to
Gentiles). All the nations (not just Israel) have been made by God. Thus, they
ultimately belong to him. Moreover, all nations “will come and bow before you,
Lord” (86:9). David envisions a day when all peoples will bow before the
Lord.

As Christians, we look forward to this day and participate in its beginning.
We who are Gentiles have been brought into God’s family through Christ. We are
invited to approach God’s throne, both to worship and to share our deepest
desires and needs in prayer. Even as we delight in what we ourselves have
experienced, we also look forward to the day when “at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil.
2:10-11). In the meanwhile, we reach out with God’s love and truth, inviting all
peoples from all nations to join us in offering praise to God.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: When you think of God’s
future, do you picture all nations coming to worship God? Why or why not? How
might this picture influence the way you worship today? The way you live each
day?

PRAYER: All praise be to you, O God, because you
have created all things, including all nations.

All praise be to you, O God, because you have done great and wonderful
deeds.

All praise be to you, O God, because one day all nations will come and bow
before you, offering praise to your holy name.

All praise be to you, O God, because you alone are God.
Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/where-gods-country-what-difference-does-it-make

Enter the Throne Room · Max Lucado

Enter the Throne Room · Max Lucado.

Tozer Devotional-The Feasibility of Change

The Feasibility of Change

. . . people in ruts . . . discover that the passing of time tends to dull their religious feelings, and the signal that used to be quite clear is fading out. Then they worry a little and say, “The signal is gone. I’ll have to do something.” Suddenly it comes on again and they hear it a little and say, “Oh, it’s not so bad after all.” They are just in a favorable pocket–perhaps some new preacher has come to town. They think they are hearing the voice again, and they are, a little bit. But it is not long until they are out of range and cannot hear it any more. Time has increased their indifference to spiritual things and dulled their religious feelings, continually making them harder to change. Change is one of the ingredients of Christianity. If people could not change, the gospel would be absolutely meaningless. If the Lord would say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; repent and believe,” and a person could not repent or believe, the gospel would be meaningless. The fact that people can change is the only hope they have. If they could not change, there would be no reason to preach to them that they must change. And yet we are sent to preach that people should change, meaning they should repent. They should turn from darkness to light. They should turn from idols to God. They should change. This is absolutely necessary, a vital ingredient in the spiritual life.

http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer?id=331

Building+on+the+Atonement

Building+on+the+Atonement.

Truly Blessed

Truly Blessed.