There is no God. The Bible is outdated. Church is too early. I wouldn't know what to say. They'll reject me. All roads lead to heaven. That's the pastors responsibility. What do all of these statements have in common? Among many things they are excuses people have given me to either: 1. Reject Christ 2. Reject church 3. Not to witness. People are full of excuses. They give the excuses to avoid confrontation or a sticky situation that they may or may not have any control over. Excuses are ways to avoid doing what a person is supposed to do. All of them are Satans strategy to plot our demise as either a single soul or a church.
There is no God All religions lead to the same place. I am a good person. Christianity (the Bible) are just outdated and insignificant to today's society. These are excuses people give for not being a Christian. There is no God. "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God. They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good." (Psalms 14:1). To deny God's existence is to deny all of creation. Humans tend to worship and put faith in things that were created and not in the creator. (Read Romans 1). God is to be forever praised. Isaac Newton was a little known scientist, who had a movable model of the solar system. It was the envy of the the science community. All the planets revolved around the sun on a scale model and time. An atheist friend of his was visiting and commented on how much he liked it and wanted to know who made it. Isaac balked at the information. His friend became incredulous and demanded who made it. Newton calmly responded, "Why do you want to know who made this, when you don't believe in the One who made the real thing?"
All religions lead to the same place. I am a good person "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" (John 14:6) If all religions led to the same place, it wouldn't matter what we believed then. The problem with that is, if being a Christian is going to get me into Buddhist heaven, then I haven't lost anything. Being a Christian is going to get me into God's kingdom, then those who don't have Jesus as their savior will be lost. Why run that risk?
Christianity (the Bible) are just outdated and insignificant to today's society. "Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens . . . Your laws endure to this day." (Psalms 199:89,91 NIV). There is a saying, "God said it, I believe it, that settles it." As nice as that sounds, that's wrong. God said it. That settles it. It doesn't take me believing it to make it true. Romans chapter 1 once again, shows the relevance to today's society. You can sit down with a piece of paper and for every verse draw a line connecting it to the US. Don't let the "it won't happen to me" syndrome get to you. The signs are there, it will happen to you, because you choose not to listen. If you choose to listen, then ignore that last statement.
Satan plants many excuses into our hearts to avoid coming to Christ. He also plants excuses in our hearts to avoid going to church and to avoid spreading the gospel of Christ. I will discuss those at a later date. If you don't know Jesus as your personal savior and would like to know more about Him, talk to a pastor or Christian friend near you. If you don't know a pastor or a Christian friend feel free to contact me and I will pray for you and communicate with you the wonders of having Jesus in your life. One of Satans greatest planted excuse is "There is still time". Time, though is running out, and tomorrow your life might be asked of you. Turn it over to Jesus and don't let Satan give you any more excuses.
Have a Blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
DEMISE: Distraction
What is Satan's agenda for us? Our DEMISE -- and these are some of his favorite strategies.*
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10 NIV)
Satan doesn't have to "make" us do wrong to hinder God's work. All he has to do is keep us busy doing less important things or NOT doing what God desires. All Satan has to do is distract us from God's plans. How does he accomplish this distraction? "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 'A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.' I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be." (Gal 5:7-10 NIV)
First are the secular distractions: TV, Movies, Video Games, Work, and People. But Daniel, you watch TV, go to movies, play video games, have a job, and converse with people, what kind of hypocrite are you? That's a good statement and question. I do watch TV, I go to movies, and all the other things. I will not deny it. The distraction is not inherently the TV, movies, etc. It is the amount of time spent doing these things and how consuming these things become.
How many people do you know (or maybe it's you) get home from a long day of work, kick off your shoes, lean back in the EZ chair and . . . reach for the remote. Then you don't budge from the chair until it's supper time. Once supper is done and the bathroom breaks are finished, it's back to the ol' chair until bedtime. There have been numerous studies done about TV watching. None are good. Most show the average family spends 5 hours a day watching TV. Think about this, you sleep for 8 hours, work for 8 hours and watch TV for 5 that only gives you 3 hours to do anything else. By the time you take out personal hygiene, restroom, clothing changes, and other assundry of little things people do, you have about 27 seconds to devote to God. And that's just based on watching TV. Think about the time spent playing games, or movies. Understand it's not the TV, it's about the time spent, that can be given to God.
But Daniel, you mentioned work. I have to feed my family, so I have to work. I can't just quit my job. I'm not asking you too. The problem arises when we put more emphasis on the job. How many people on their deathbed said, "I should have spent more time at the office." It's when we take away from God's time and make it company time. Here's a little illustration:
There was a story in a Rochester, Texas church bulletin about a young man who was working in a large department store, being told by his employer that he would be required to work on Sunday. It so happened that the hours assigned to him would have prevented his attending any of the worship services to which he had been accustomed to attending since childhood.
The young man informed his employer that he would not be able to continue his work under these conditions, and his employer told him he would have to go.
A few days later, the young man answered an ad in the paper from a bank which had advertised a vacancy for a teller. In checking the young man's previous employers, the bank president contacted the department store head and inquired as to the boy's record and whether he could recommend him. The store manager replied, "Why, yes, I will be glad to recommend him. He will make you a good man. I just fired him a few days ago."
"Fired him?" the bank president exclaimed. "Why would you recommend a man whom you just recently dismissed from your service?" The store manager explained the circumstances under which the boy was released, and remarked, "I know he will make you a good man for your bank, because if he will not steal the Lord's time, he will not steal your money."
God will take care of you if you allow Him to take care of you. Put your trust in Him and He will not let you down.
Satan also uses church and Christian ideals to distract us. Why would Satan use people that are against him? He stays away from Christians. Does he? Nothing pleases Satan more and hurts God more than to see the children of God doing Satans work. How does Satan do it? "Sin"gled minded focusing. (It's a term I thought of) He gets Christians focusing on a specific type of sin. Instead of focusing on leading people to Jesus, we are bent on "sin"gling out sin and beating it to death. Homosexuality, abortion, murderers, prostitution, gambling, and an assortment of other sins. Churches (and individuals) become so one sin focused they lose the focus on Christ. Yes, these are issues that should be discussed, but not singled out. Don't spend 40 years focusing on a single sin that you lose track of Jesus.
There is also the inward or outward focusing. We focus only on those within our own church so much we forget to "go into all the nations". Or, the flip side, we spend so much time focusing on the outsiders of the church, we forget about the family inside. There can be a balance kept, so that both parties are being reached.
Then there is the doctrinal differences between churches. We focus so much on the differences in the denominations and not enough on the similarities. If you really sit down and do a study, you will find out, that the differences in denominations are so slim, that if it wasn't for the name on the church, you wouldn't know the difference. So what if they sing accapella, or the women wear hats, or they speak in tongues, or they take or communion every time they get together, or any other difference. As long as the truth about Jesus is being preached. As it is written, "We preach Christ crucified, . . ." (1 Cor 1:23 NIV) I have written a long essay on this subject "Separation of Church and Church" contact me, and I will e-mail you the gist of it, and hopefully be able to e-mail the essay itself.
How do we go about fixing this problem. Focus on Jesus. Read scripture daily, pray daily, be prepared. My dad's favorite verse, (if not, it should be he quotes it to me all the time) "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Tim 2:15 NIV) (He quotes it to me in KJV though). Spend a quality amount of time in study. Meditate on the Word. Pray for understanding and wisdom. Ask if you don't understand. Do not let Satan distract you from keeping with God.
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
*The concept and the formula DEMISE comes from our newest co-pastors David & Jessica Swisher. I thank them for allowing me to expound on it.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10 NIV)
Satan doesn't have to "make" us do wrong to hinder God's work. All he has to do is keep us busy doing less important things or NOT doing what God desires. All Satan has to do is distract us from God's plans. How does he accomplish this distraction? "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 'A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.' I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be." (Gal 5:7-10 NIV)
First are the secular distractions: TV, Movies, Video Games, Work, and People. But Daniel, you watch TV, go to movies, play video games, have a job, and converse with people, what kind of hypocrite are you? That's a good statement and question. I do watch TV, I go to movies, and all the other things. I will not deny it. The distraction is not inherently the TV, movies, etc. It is the amount of time spent doing these things and how consuming these things become.
How many people do you know (or maybe it's you) get home from a long day of work, kick off your shoes, lean back in the EZ chair and . . . reach for the remote. Then you don't budge from the chair until it's supper time. Once supper is done and the bathroom breaks are finished, it's back to the ol' chair until bedtime. There have been numerous studies done about TV watching. None are good. Most show the average family spends 5 hours a day watching TV. Think about this, you sleep for 8 hours, work for 8 hours and watch TV for 5 that only gives you 3 hours to do anything else. By the time you take out personal hygiene, restroom, clothing changes, and other assundry of little things people do, you have about 27 seconds to devote to God. And that's just based on watching TV. Think about the time spent playing games, or movies. Understand it's not the TV, it's about the time spent, that can be given to God.
But Daniel, you mentioned work. I have to feed my family, so I have to work. I can't just quit my job. I'm not asking you too. The problem arises when we put more emphasis on the job. How many people on their deathbed said, "I should have spent more time at the office." It's when we take away from God's time and make it company time. Here's a little illustration:
There was a story in a Rochester, Texas church bulletin about a young man who was working in a large department store, being told by his employer that he would be required to work on Sunday. It so happened that the hours assigned to him would have prevented his attending any of the worship services to which he had been accustomed to attending since childhood.
The young man informed his employer that he would not be able to continue his work under these conditions, and his employer told him he would have to go.
A few days later, the young man answered an ad in the paper from a bank which had advertised a vacancy for a teller. In checking the young man's previous employers, the bank president contacted the department store head and inquired as to the boy's record and whether he could recommend him. The store manager replied, "Why, yes, I will be glad to recommend him. He will make you a good man. I just fired him a few days ago."
"Fired him?" the bank president exclaimed. "Why would you recommend a man whom you just recently dismissed from your service?" The store manager explained the circumstances under which the boy was released, and remarked, "I know he will make you a good man for your bank, because if he will not steal the Lord's time, he will not steal your money."
God will take care of you if you allow Him to take care of you. Put your trust in Him and He will not let you down.
Satan also uses church and Christian ideals to distract us. Why would Satan use people that are against him? He stays away from Christians. Does he? Nothing pleases Satan more and hurts God more than to see the children of God doing Satans work. How does Satan do it? "Sin"gled minded focusing. (It's a term I thought of) He gets Christians focusing on a specific type of sin. Instead of focusing on leading people to Jesus, we are bent on "sin"gling out sin and beating it to death. Homosexuality, abortion, murderers, prostitution, gambling, and an assortment of other sins. Churches (and individuals) become so one sin focused they lose the focus on Christ. Yes, these are issues that should be discussed, but not singled out. Don't spend 40 years focusing on a single sin that you lose track of Jesus.
There is also the inward or outward focusing. We focus only on those within our own church so much we forget to "go into all the nations". Or, the flip side, we spend so much time focusing on the outsiders of the church, we forget about the family inside. There can be a balance kept, so that both parties are being reached.
Then there is the doctrinal differences between churches. We focus so much on the differences in the denominations and not enough on the similarities. If you really sit down and do a study, you will find out, that the differences in denominations are so slim, that if it wasn't for the name on the church, you wouldn't know the difference. So what if they sing accapella, or the women wear hats, or they speak in tongues, or they take or communion every time they get together, or any other difference. As long as the truth about Jesus is being preached. As it is written, "We preach Christ crucified, . . ." (1 Cor 1:23 NIV) I have written a long essay on this subject "Separation of Church and Church" contact me, and I will e-mail you the gist of it, and hopefully be able to e-mail the essay itself.
How do we go about fixing this problem. Focus on Jesus. Read scripture daily, pray daily, be prepared. My dad's favorite verse, (if not, it should be he quotes it to me all the time) "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Tim 2:15 NIV) (He quotes it to me in KJV though). Spend a quality amount of time in study. Meditate on the Word. Pray for understanding and wisdom. Ask if you don't understand. Do not let Satan distract you from keeping with God.
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
*The concept and the formula DEMISE comes from our newest co-pastors David & Jessica Swisher. I thank them for allowing me to expound on it.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Deception IV: The "Lost" Books of the Bible pt 2
"The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great . . . More than eighty gospels were considered for the new Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John among them. (Dan Brown The DaVinci Code p. 231) This line was spoken by Sir Leigh Teabing a fictional art symbologist and historian in the book/movie The DaVinci Code. The purpose was to promote a false history of the bible, and separate fiction from the truth.
First, Constantine had nothing to do with the Bible. The First Council of Nicaea was called by Constantine and they had about 20 directives to solve. None of which had anything to do with the Bible. It was the Synod of Hippo Regius in North Africa in 393 AD that accepted the Bible as it is now. Later it was confirmed at the Third Synod of Carthage in 397 AD. They didn't pick and choose what books best described their sense of theology. They merely confirmed what had already been affirmed for more than 300 years.
When setting up the standards for canonization, the synod primarily used 3 statements for canonization: 1 apostolicity, 2 orthodoxy, 3 catholicity.
Apostolicity was defined as; 1 was it written by an apostle, or 2 was it written by an associate of an apostle. Therefore, it had to been written by an apostle or someone who had a personal relationship with an apostle. Being a friend of a friend didn't work.
Orthodoxy was defines as; did it conform with other known writings and teachings. If it taught something that was completely different from what was written or taught, it was disregarded.
Catholicity was defined as; generally accepted by most of the churches. Were the early churches and priests already using these books.
The second statement that more than eighty gospels were considered but a few were chosen is a huge stretch of the truth. When looking at some early attempts at making a lasting Bible, there were roughly 50 to 60 books that were used. When the standards were applied, those books got narrowed down in a hurry. To roughly the 27 books we have in the New Testament today.
The reference may have been to the more than 50 Gnostic "gospels". The Gnostic writings were never recognized by the early church fathers, (catholicity)(see previous post). It taught completely different ideas about Jesus, and women among other things (orthodoxy). The earliest known writing (and this is a very conservative date) appears around 150 AD. That's roughly 110 years after the death of Jesus, and 50 years after the death of John. Therefore, they couldn't have been written by an apostle or even an acquaintance of an apostle (apostolicity)
What about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene? There is a gospel that shows they kissed on the lips and were married. That's a nice question, one that has led many people towards deception. The "gospels" that has been the source of the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene are "The Gospel of Phillip" and "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene". Both gospels were written between 250 AD and 300 AD. Knowing that they could not have been written by either person, tends to remove credibility. The second aspect of that is the standards used at the Synod of Hippo also shows they weren't even considered for canonization.
The biggest misconception is that the "Gospel of Phillip" has an exchange were Jesus approached Mary Magdalene and kissed her on the lips. The problem with that is in the narrative, the words lips aren't there. The parchment was torn and the word was missing. In other words, it says, "and Jesus approached Mary and kissed her on the [blank]. Gnostics and antiChristian people have been inserting lips to show a sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary. Yet, it could easily have said [hand], [cheek], [forehead], all signs of greetings.
I have talked to an attorney and asked him about the evidence that Jesus and Mary were married. He did some studying (he is an affirmed Gnostic) and after an extended time said this to me, "If the case of Mary Magdalene and Jesus being married were to be taken to court, it would be dismissed for lack of evidence. There is no proof that they were ever married, nor did they even have a sexual relationship. There is more proof that shows they were never married, ."
For further research check out these websites:
http://www.ntcanon.org/
http://www.anabaptists.org/history/howwegot.html
http://go.family.org/davinci/content/A000000092.cfm
http://go.family.org/davinci/content/A000000049.cfm
"6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." (Gal 1:6,7 NIV)
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
First, Constantine had nothing to do with the Bible. The First Council of Nicaea was called by Constantine and they had about 20 directives to solve. None of which had anything to do with the Bible. It was the Synod of Hippo Regius in North Africa in 393 AD that accepted the Bible as it is now. Later it was confirmed at the Third Synod of Carthage in 397 AD. They didn't pick and choose what books best described their sense of theology. They merely confirmed what had already been affirmed for more than 300 years.
When setting up the standards for canonization, the synod primarily used 3 statements for canonization: 1 apostolicity, 2 orthodoxy, 3 catholicity.
Apostolicity was defined as; 1 was it written by an apostle, or 2 was it written by an associate of an apostle. Therefore, it had to been written by an apostle or someone who had a personal relationship with an apostle. Being a friend of a friend didn't work.
Orthodoxy was defines as; did it conform with other known writings and teachings. If it taught something that was completely different from what was written or taught, it was disregarded.
Catholicity was defined as; generally accepted by most of the churches. Were the early churches and priests already using these books.
The second statement that more than eighty gospels were considered but a few were chosen is a huge stretch of the truth. When looking at some early attempts at making a lasting Bible, there were roughly 50 to 60 books that were used. When the standards were applied, those books got narrowed down in a hurry. To roughly the 27 books we have in the New Testament today.
The reference may have been to the more than 50 Gnostic "gospels". The Gnostic writings were never recognized by the early church fathers, (catholicity)(see previous post). It taught completely different ideas about Jesus, and women among other things (orthodoxy). The earliest known writing (and this is a very conservative date) appears around 150 AD. That's roughly 110 years after the death of Jesus, and 50 years after the death of John. Therefore, they couldn't have been written by an apostle or even an acquaintance of an apostle (apostolicity)
What about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene? There is a gospel that shows they kissed on the lips and were married. That's a nice question, one that has led many people towards deception. The "gospels" that has been the source of the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene are "The Gospel of Phillip" and "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene". Both gospels were written between 250 AD and 300 AD. Knowing that they could not have been written by either person, tends to remove credibility. The second aspect of that is the standards used at the Synod of Hippo also shows they weren't even considered for canonization.
The biggest misconception is that the "Gospel of Phillip" has an exchange were Jesus approached Mary Magdalene and kissed her on the lips. The problem with that is in the narrative, the words lips aren't there. The parchment was torn and the word was missing. In other words, it says, "and Jesus approached Mary and kissed her on the [blank]. Gnostics and antiChristian people have been inserting lips to show a sexual relationship between Jesus and Mary. Yet, it could easily have said [hand], [cheek], [forehead], all signs of greetings.
I have talked to an attorney and asked him about the evidence that Jesus and Mary were married. He did some studying (he is an affirmed Gnostic) and after an extended time said this to me, "If the case of Mary Magdalene and Jesus being married were to be taken to court, it would be dismissed for lack of evidence. There is no proof that they were ever married, nor did they even have a sexual relationship. There is more proof that shows they were never married, ."
For further research check out these websites:
http://www.ntcanon.org/
http://www.anabaptists.org/history/howwegot.html
http://go.family.org/davinci/content/A000000092.cfm
http://go.family.org/davinci/content/A000000049.cfm
"6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." (Gal 1:6,7 NIV)
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
Friday, July 07, 2006
Deception IV: The "Lost" Books of the Bible pt 1
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one band of people to stand up for the truth and to present to each other a complete and historically accurate representation of the full Word of God. That sounds pretty intellectual doesn't it. Daniel finally got some smarts in him. Nope, not really. I just paraphrased the opening of the Declaration of independence. Why? Lately archeological discoveries , the last 70 years, have unearthed books that dispute the Bible.
Books that present a different form of Jesus, and a different belief than that which Christians have followed for over 2000 years. When "discovered" these books were supposedly going to turn Christianity on its ear, and force the Church to change their teachings. These books were going to prove that Jesus was divine and not human; that women were the rightful leaders of the early church; that Jesus conspired with Judas to be betrayed; Jesus was married; and an assortment of other things. All of these things go against what the Bible teaches. And what are these books called: The Gnostic Gospels.
I was in a bookstore a while back and there on a shelf was a book called, The Lost Books of the Bible. I looked at the cover and realized, rather quickly, they were the Gnostic writings. What really intrigued me was the title. If something is going to be "lost" then it has to be part of the original texts. These books were never included in the earliest texts, or the later texts for that matter. An early church father, Origen, spoke against the Gnostic writings, "I know a certain gospel which is called "The Gospel according to Thomas" and a Gospel according to Matthias" and many others have we read - lest we should in any way be considered ignorant because of those who imagine they possess some knowledge if they are acquainted with these. Nevertheless, among all these we have approved solely what the church has recognized, which is that only the four gospels should be accepted" ( Darrell L. Bock, PhD, Breaking the Da Vinci Code p 119, 120)
What is wrong with the Gnostic gospels? First Gnostic gospel is a misnomer. Gospel means "good news" and the Gnostics didn't teach the "good news". The Gnostic writings taught a different Jesus than the recognized gospels. They taught a different way to salvation. Many of their teachings went against the bible. "The gnostics were a knockoff pseudo-Christian group that came to be defined by (1) a black or white mentality in which all material (including the body) was seen as evil and spirit was seen as good; and (2) a view of spirituality that equated knowledge - especially secret knowledge- with salvation" (Focus on the Family's Response to 'The DaVinci Code' http://go.family.org/davinci/content/A000000049.cfm ) Looking at the first definition of their teachings you will see the body is sinful. Jesus was sinless, therefore, Jesus could not have come in the flesh. But, that was what John discussed in his first letter. "1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. " (I John 4: 1-3 NIV emphasis mine) Why would John write that, because the teaching was already prevalent at that time. The other teaching was that knowledge is all powerful. The term gnosis is Greek for "knowledge" and they taught that the more one gains in knowledge the closer to salvation you became. Especially in secret knowledge that most people would not have access too. To quote a PSA, "The more you know."
What about the choice of women to run the church and not the men, specifically Mary Magdalene and not Peter? What did the gnostics teach about women? Before we get to that, let's discuss the major transformation that one goes about when they ask Jesus into their lives. When someone accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they undergo a deep spiritual change. Jesus now leads their lives and they submit to His authority. They go from a deep sinner to one saved by grace. They begin to live for Jesus and not for themselves. Why do I mention that change in ones life? According to the gnostics, the women had to make a change also. One that is a bit more drastic and physically impossible. So, what do the Gnostic writings say about women, let's look at the source "Simon Peter said to them, 'Let Mary leave us, because women are not worthy of life.' Jesus said, 'Look, I shall lead her so that I will make her male in order that she also may become a living spirit, resembling you males. For every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven." (Gospel of Thomas Logion 114). Wow. And the Bible was against women? At least the women didn't have to make a physical change. What about the women leading the church? Misinterpretation, from what I can see. I studied a lot of the Gnostic writings to prepare myself for this and the seminar, I didn't see it anywhere. I doubt if any of the Gnostic writings taught that Mary should lead the church, everything I saw on the Gnostic writings was that women were inferior to men, look at the above quote.
I have divided this into a couple parts, so people can digest different parts of it without being overwhelmed. I will discuss more indepth the how the bible was selected and the false teaching on the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. I do hope that this does open up some people eyes to the truth. "6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." (Gal 1:6,7 NIV)
Have a blessed week
Daniel Vandenburg
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