here's a pretty good definition of "sin" from the ISBE



Sin
Heb: a missing; rebellion; transgression; perversion; evil in disposition; impiety
GK: missing the mark; transgression; unrighteousness; impiety; lawlessness; depravity; evil desire

Sin is to be defined primarily in relation to God. It is disobedience, unbelief, ignorance, the positive assertion of usurped autonomy, and the wicked deviation from, or violation of, God’s Righteous Will and Law. The breach of a right relationship with God carries with it the disruption of a right relationship with others and the disintegration of the self. But this is derivative, for it is because of sin against God that there is sin against others and oneself (Ps. 51:4) [MT 6]

A feature of the Biblical definition is that sin is not just a lack, a failure, or a deficiency. The ignorance that is sin involves not only the lack of True knowledge but also the substitution of falsehood. Sin is commission as well as omission. Yet this must not be pressed too far. Sin has no place in the positive will of God, nor does God allow the existence of another reality alongside and equal to His own creation. In the last analysis sin only has a negative or parasitic reality. It’s positive reality is paradoxical and secondary, as is clearly illustrated by the manner of it’s entry into human life.

(ISBE)

Inwardness of the Moral Law
The Biblical narratives, too, show us the passage over from sin conceived of as the violation of external commands to sin conceived of as an unwillingness to keep the commandments in the depths of the inner life. The course of Biblical history is one long protest against conceiving of sin in an external fashion.




pot prohibition is a perfect real life illustration of sin.

check out Colossians 2; the end results of these counterfit "eat not, drink not," commands that appear to be wise, are in reality old wive's tales that lead to a direct antinomian development of fleshly indulgence.


from Rev.2, the Nicolaitan's are the antinomian development reacting to the tyranical doctrines of Baalam.

if they didn't set up these divers measurements against the command of God (Baalam), we would be better exercised to avoid the fleshly indulgences, and less tempted to engage in them (Nicolas).

Antipas is the overcomers, the True witnesses of Jesus Christ. They will be known by their unharmed conscience that is in agreement with the Word of God.

and I got a feeling that's us, that's those of us who are not buying the fearbound lies, but also not rejecting the Lord.

so, does this whole thread boil down to the following?

Jesus loves potheads too!
Pot is in the Bible and it is one of God's creations that should be utilized.

My First Love is Christ; effectively communicating the Gospel message to the people who never heard it in a language they can understand.
In doing so, I can demonstrate that the LORD Jesus is able to make the individual stand when we Trust in Him, and stay in His paths:
In God's economy, actions precede emotions. "seek first the Kingdom of Heaven", and all the other stuff gets added the Right way, on the Right Foundations, and moving in the Right direction.



"Therefore being justified by Faith, we have peace with God."

I think that is what I was trying to imply; that even though the world despises us and rejects us, even though people are allowed to carry a hatred in their hearts towards us because we see things different on this issue, even though the wicked prosper, even though the world can shut the door on our hands and leave us to die on the threshold,

God's Word does not see us that way. God's Word does not judge us like that. The God-Man Jesus Christ does not FEEL that way about us. The entire collection of written Scripture testifies that the Lord Jesus loves us, and the Grace that comes from knowing His Love for us is the communicable evidence of our justification, our Right Legal Standing before God by Faith in the Atoning(covering) sacrifice of Jesus Christ.



how do you say... if you guys don't want to go to jail in America, then you need to get the Holy Ghost. Jesus sets us free

Marijuana Policy Project is doing a lot of Grassroots work right now, and they could use all the help they can get. Sign up for their listserv if you're interested in their e-mail alerts. There's a lot of bills in the House right now It's all free and there's not too many. they work hard, they got a good outreach going.

May the LORD Bless you for helping them out
you can sign up at this link

http://control.mpp.org/site/Survey?ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&SURVEY_ID=1301


God Bless,
Jeff Lucas
http://www.LucasHempCo.com

In Vindictive Raid, Riverside Police Destroy Small Patient Collective
Riverside Police brought almost 20 law enforcement officers to a small medical cannabis collective, destroying and seizing property, harassing one 81 year old patient and another woman with severe multiple sclerosis, and arresting medical cannabis patient Martin Victor on $50,000 bond.


When the Riverside officers arrived at the nine-patient collective, Mr. Victor presented them with documentation affirming the legality of the 50 - 70 plant garden, well within the limits for a collective of that size. However, the officers disregarded the recommendations and proceeded to destroy the garden, including a chain fence, cameras, and motion detectors. They also seized medicine and other personal property, including the Victors' computer. Police justified the harassment, destruction of property, and arrest of Victor by stating that the nine patients growing cannabis collectively for each other did not have a city permit to operate as a business under the recently released Attorney General guidelines.


Local medical cannabis activists Lanny Swerdlow and Dave Herrick were members of the small collective. Victor, who was arrested on three felony charges in the raid, was scheduled to testify last Monday in a trial in defense of Swerdlow, who is accused of "pushing" a reserve of the Riverside Sheriff's Department at a public anti-medical cannabis group meeting. Though Victor was in jail at the time of the trial, Swerdlow was nonetheless acquitted by a jury that did not find the Sheriff's reserve officer "believable". Some have speculated the raid on the small collective was an attempt by the Riverside police to keep Victor from testifying and to intimidate, threaten, and suppress the activities of activists in the area.


There have long been accusations of rampant corruption of law enforcement in Riverside. Though police abuse against medical cannabis patients is an unfortunate reality, rarely do we see the type of blatant and vindictive use of police power to harass and harm law abiding citizens, as in this case. ASA is reviewing our options and may pursue legal action against Riverside Police.





===================================



the rally that Lanny got detained at was fully funded by the ONDCP.

They called it a "Parent group" to get funding, and they then immediatly began to harass medipot patients and threaten and scare cities to impose bans on dispensaries and collectives. It was their direct objective to sabotage SB 420.


The ONDCP canvassing against State ballot initiatives is a direct violation of the Hatch act.


I did not know until now that the person responsible for preventing Lanny from attending the "community gathering" was a cop. That would have significantly changed who I was communicating with concerning putting a stop to the organizations canvassing.


I expressed concerns-I screamed concerns- about this organization and their illegal tactics to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors on more than one occasion, state reps, federal reps, federal congressman, and ALL patient organizations were put under a lot of stress trying to stop these illegal bans (State Constitution violation) that they were pushing.


It is really sad to see that the Riverside County Sheriff's Department staff was also involved in the harassment at that illegal, federally funded anti-medipot gathering. I didn't recognize that their hearts were against us; It wasn't that long ago I was saying "Cops are Patients friends", in the sense that they would also help US from being afflicted by the criminal element.


It wasn't a joke when I said we needed their help to make it work. It's not funny when that type of extremism is allowed to wear a badge and carry a gun and a club. I didn't know it was a Sheriff's deputy involved in the incident.


If Lanny supports that Collective, then I support that collective, and Pray the LORD Put Shame on the Riverside County Sheriff's Department for leaving us to die with our hands on the Threshold.


God Bless,
Jeff Lucas
www. LucasHempCo. com
www. ChristiansForCannabis. com

A Fallen creature

Perhaps it will be simpler to explain the subject by using an analogy. Man is a trinity, body, soul, and spirit. We may liken Adam before the fall to a three-story building. The first floor is the body, the second floor is the soul and the third is the spirit.
Changing the figure for a moment, we note that the spirit and the soul were held to the body, and the body was held to the earth by the force of gravity. Man could only move insofar as his body could move. The mind and the spirit might soar in the clouds, but the body was fastened to the ground.
When Adam sinned a great psychological catastrophe took place. Man became a fallen creature. The third floor fell into the second floor like a building under the impact of a bomb. We have seen photographs of such houses, the walls of the second floor torn out and revealing to the eye the furniture awry and the debris of the third floor confused with that of the second floor. And in the first floor walls, cracks appeared, revealing the weakness of the structure.
So it is with the fallen man. The body is a dying thing, though it may sustain the upper floors for a long period of time. The soul and spirit are in wreckage. That is what is the matter with mankind today. The body is world consciousness, and through its five senses we are aware of all that is around us. The soul is self or ego-consciousness, and through it we know our own individuality. The spirit is God-consciousness, and through it we are aware of the existence of a force that is higher than ourselves.
When Adam sinned the whole of this knowledge became distorted and confused. The body still functions after a fashion. The soul manifests all of the faculties that may make for great charm and personality. The spirit, which should know God and be obedient to him, is fallen and rebellious. “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be” (1Cor.2:11).
The whole centrality of life of the human race is vested in the soul. Into this soul the spiritual being of a man has fallen, so that the knowledge of God is almost obliterated in some cases, while in all cases of unregenerate man it is false and misleading.

It is for this reason that the Bible teaches us that it is totally impossible for a man who has not been born again to understand the things of the Holy Spirit. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).


A New Spirit

When a person becomes a Christian, there is a miraculous transformation that takes place in him. God puts into his being a new spirit. There in the place where the old third floor was located, a new third floor is placed. This is not held up from beneath by the law of gravity, depending on the body, but by a magnetic force which suspends it from above. That is why the Bible speaks of being born from above.
The world around us cannot see with the five senses that we possess an entirely new spirit, but we are immediately aware of the fact. We know that we can comprehend spiritually, what we never understood before. It is as though we had received an entirely new set of senses.
When a person becomes a Christian, God does not use anything that was in the old structure of our being in creating within us the new. The spirit which He creates within us is what constitutes the new birth, and from then on the life of the Christian becomes a great struggle between the old soul and the new spirit. The old soul is drawn downwards to the body, and this being called “the flesh” in the scriptural terminology. The new life is the spirit, and the Bible tells us that the flesh lusteth- or pulls against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and the two are contrary the one to the other.

Before we leave this phase of the subject in order to return to the meaning of our text which speaks of serving God in the spirit, let us complete our view of the structure of the new life in Christ.
For just as the life of the Adamic man is threefold, held up from beneath, the life of the believer becomes a threefold life, held up from above. The spirit distills the heavenly life and knowledge into the soul so that, little by little, there is the transformation that continues in the life of the Christian.
Paul expressed it when he said “I”-ego, the soul-”am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I”-the new personality, dominated by Christ- “live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). And we know that the time will come when the believers shall have their new bodies, made like unto the glorified body of the risen Lord (Phil 3:21). At death all that is of the old body, and the wreckage of the old soul and spirit, are lost to us, thank God, forever. With the resurrection from the dead at the time of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ for His own, our salvation shall be made complete, and we shall have our new bodies.
But whereas our present body is held to the earth and draws the soul toward itself, the new body will not be held to the earth, but will be drawn to the spirit, and will be fully dominated by the desires of the spirit. That is why, in the great resurrection chapter, our future is being described in these terms: “it is sown a natural [or soulish] body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:44).
We must never think of a spiritual body as being an ethereal body, wispy and diaphanous, but as a material, tangible body, like unto the body of our Lord which was fully dominated by the spirit.

It is now possible for us to return to our text and see the tremendous implications of Paul’s statement that he served the Living God with his spirit. The center of all his life and being was henceforth from the new spirit which he had received in his regeneration; he did not serve the Lord with the mere natural faculties of the mind and the personality.

Mr. Barnhouse

an interview with John


http://www.mcbc.org/Media/032308.mp3

Liberty


John 4 “If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
-Jesus-

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.

James 1:25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he will be blessed in what he does.




John Allen to the Second Baptist Church in Boston on Dec 3, 1772

“Therefore, if there be any vein, any nerve, any soul, any life or spirit of liberty in the sons of America, show your love for it; guard your freedom, prevent your chains; stand up as one man for your liberty; for none but those, who set a just value upon this blessing, are worthy the enjoyment of it.”

"You, however, be self-controlled in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist’s work, fulfill your ministry."
-2 Tim 4:5-

==================================

IV. The Officers, Ministers, and Leaders of the Church

A. Apostles
B. Prophets
C. Evangelists

The Evangelist is less easy to identify in the New Testament because almost everyone did the work of evangelism.
Philip is the only one actually called an Evangelist. [the only one in the Bible. Luke is identified as “the Evangelist” in traditional accounts].
Judging from Philip’s ministry in Samaria, an evangelist is one whose ministry is directed primarily toward winning the unsaved:
“then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them” (Acts 8:5, NKJV). It is noteworthy that his soul-winning ministry was accompanied with miracles and signs.
Afterward, Philip was called to preach to one man in the desert, the Ethiopian treasurer, whom he led to Christ. It is interesting to note that as much space is taken to tell of the one man’s conversation, as is taken to narrate the Samaritan revival story.
Timothy is not called an Evangelist, but Paul admonishes him to do the work of an Evangelist (2 Tim 4:5).
In the Greek, the word evangelist is derived from the verb that is translated “to preach the Gospel”. An Evangelist, then, is one whose chief goal is to preach the gospel with the object of soul-winning.

The ministries of the Apostle, the Prophet, and the Evangelist were ministries to the Church in general. Those that follow are ministries to the Local Church.

D. Pastors
E. Teachers
F. Elders, Presbyters
G. Bishops. Overseers
H. Deacons
I. Ministers
J. Leaders, Rulers




Romans 4:20-
"He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God."