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Avoiding the Sins of Sodom During Christmas The statement “sins of Sodom” is a topic that often makes quiet people very vocal, and vocal people even more so. Memories of television evangelists speaking of the evil come back to life when these words are heard. But before we go much further, what is the biblical definition of the sins of Sodom? According to the Bible, “Sodom's sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door” (Ezek. 16:49, NLT). I hear religious groups state that we need to “put Christ back in Christmas,” calls to protest stores that say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” and even read about possible boycotts of entire shopping centres. But I believe that if we want to put Christ back in Christmas, we must avoid the sins of Sodom—by practising sincere Christianity. James 1:27, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you” (NLT). We can help struggling single mothers by providing gifts for their children and tasty food for a Christmas dinner. We can help the widows who face spending the holidays alone by inviting them to our family table. That is putting the Christ back in Christmas. I know a group of people that sends gifts to children with a tag that reads, “Love, Mom.” The compassionate part is that they send these gifts on behalf of mothers who are locked up in prison. This group of women knows how to put Christ back in Christmas. I remember the story of a police officer that came to arrest a desperate single mom who was caught shoplifting presents for her children. The officer told the store manager that he would personally cover the cost of the goods. That officer knew how to put Christ back in Christmas. There are students at our Adventist boarding academies who cannot go home at Christmastime, so staff and community welcome them into their own homes. Those people know how to put Christ back in Christmas. We can avoid the sins of Sodom by doing things to give folks a helping hand and strengthen their families and lives. Show them love and let them talk about love. Let’s all put Christ back in Christmas. Stan Jensen PS: One additional way of avoiding the sins of Sodom is to help ADRA Canada reveal Christlike compassion, by contributing to their gift catalogue: (adra.ca/giftcatalogue/).

I am not sure who on here is friends with NeilD, but as you may or may not be aware, he has been sick for a few years now with a type of liver cancer. Today he posted a heartfelt message about dying on Facebook, just some of his thoughts. 3 of us who are his FB friends have responded. It would be nice at this point if we who think of him and remember him from Clubadventist could also express some encouraging words.

Yentyl, These are beautiful thoughts for meditation - thanks for posting. I look forward to an ability to travel and explore all corners of the universe - from the largest and most distant galaxy to the smallest sub-atomic particle. I look forward to personally hanging out with Jesus "in person" rather than just experiencing Him through my mind's eye. Even though I can't imagine what it would be like, I look forward to a world with no more striving, hatred, wars, politics, jealousy, revenge or "scarcity" economics. I look forward to eternal peak health rather than the increasing ills of old age.

The best way for me to be "my brother's keeper" is first to take care of my family so I don't have to rely on a "brother" to do it for me. Nor is there any biblical mandate to be my brother's keeper by force of government.

"Jesus would have us act as one with each other, as if a unit." Which has to apply to marriage as well.... 21 That they all may be one, 22 that they may be one

Jon Paulien sees it as relationship. I am thinking Paul was thinking more of the unity, the oneness, expressed in John 17. Just as the body is one unit, God and Son (and HS) operate as if one unit. John 17:22 that they may be one, even as we are one. 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us Father and Son are one, act as if a unit. Jesus would have us act as one with each other, as if a unit. Jesus wants us to be one with Him and the Father, act as if a unit. So that has to be what is meant in the church it seems to me. That with Christ as our Head and we the body, that we act as if a unit, in harmony, as one.

Our pioneers, including EGW, referred to husband and wife as "heads" of the family/home. I think they were a tad further ahead than we are.

The Romans didn't murder Christ; the establishment denomination had been planning to see Christ dead for a long time. For that matter, Christ allowed Himself to die. Had He not submitted Himself to the Father - even unto death - He could have vaporized everyone of His enemies and detractors in an instant. Jesus chose to die from before the foundations of the earth. What a Savior!

>>>They just both/all just have the same shoddy and deficient, indeed, ironically enough for educated and learned leaders, mostly incompetent, way of doing Biblical “exegesis”, pointedly in regards to the passages which (translationally or contextually) seem to oppose their claims and view....And the telling thing is that this also applies to the WO-Opposed side when faced with similar type of passages. All of the TOSC sides then just either gloss over, or outrightly ignore, such passage..but yet they still claim that they are right based then on only a selective few passages.<<< We are indeed blessed to have one so knowledgeable and all knowing of others thought, ideas, spirituality, etc to be able to make such a statement. (..back biter...comes to mind, isn't there a text somewhere about Gods thoughts on such.......????)

I'd say that one should treat children as potential adults... and not as animals you speak to through verbal commands, incentives and beating. Those are the easiest ways to instill certain behavior, but such behavior becomes "animal-like", because it was instilled on the level of Pavlovian response. If you want your children to do things for the right reasons, and not merely react to any given situation... there should be more time spent explaining, and in a way they can understand. There's a great deal of evidence that things like spousal abuse grow out of the environment where physical punishment is a proper response to "fixing unwanted behavior". Not entirely, but it does play a role in forming abusive mentality of a bully.

Yes and no. Semantics meaning of the word "war" can't properly frame the scope of the war. We are told to defend the innocent. Wars of aggression is a different thing.

It seems like male headship is strongest where prostitution is regarded as an essential part of culture. The two go hand in hand.

Part of the fallacy of the headship heresy is that it s about authority, and rulership. The idea of the head/body metaphor makes it more about unity and oneness. One cannot exist/survive without the other.

just wondering: if marriage in the human world (the two shall be as one, with neither exerting dominance over the other) is a shadow of the relationship between Christ and the church, it kinda sounds like Christ and the church have equal authority..

And consider that in the divine math of marriage 1+1=1 or 2=1. If marriage is described as "the two shall be one", how does one rise above itself to assert dominance over itself?

If Christ is the head of the church.....then who is the head of the family? If men, how is it that when a man and a woman marry, that Christ is urged to be at the center of the union? If He is the center of the marriage. doesn't that make HIM the head of the house hold???

Can Joke Q: Why did the can-crusher quit his job? A: Because it was soda pressing