Responses to cultural family views

In battles within the church on what it means to be a godly family, husband, wife, father, and wife, etc., more often than not you have different cultural views vying and setting blows for supremacy. Issues of the family are close to the heart and our views are developed within the culture we were raised in. Our views are often ingrained in us and it can be hard to separate truth from fiction, culture from scripture.

Many responses (fortunately not all) I read or hear about on family issues are not objective writings  or thoughts exploring the heart of God in these matters. On all sides of the issue, preferences suddenly become commands and wise and objectively good things are foolishly rejected out of fear for legalism. All in an interest to defend our little kingdoms. Both are equally foolish and sinful. We love promoting our culture or kingdoms. We might claim a view is pharisaical and extra-biblical only to fail to realize that our views are just also another cultural response from another end and we are just as pharisaical and extra-biblical, if not more so, then we are claiming the other perspective is. It is not about defending the scripture, it is about defending what I think is true. We are insane. It is easier to defend one’s cultural views, then it is to live in the Gospel and submit to scripture. For the scripture is always challenging us, pointing out our sinfulness, and putting to death our culture views and working to replace them with the Kingdom of God. 

It is rare to see people actually lovingly and honestly listening and trying to understand the other person’s perspective. And there is some good stuff out there on the scriptural view of the family if people would take the time to really listen and get to know what the view is. Often it is just rejected outright because it doesn’t fit our culture. And if it doesn’t fit our culture it must be wrong. It is much easier to create a straw man, then it is to listen. It is easier to attack then it is to love. It is easier to defend ones kingdom and ones views, instead of being open minded and exploring the depths and wonders of the scriptures on these matters.


Being open minded requires death. The scripture is very clear on that matter. In order to understand the depths of God’s wisdom and beauty, we must continually lay our bodies down as living sacrifices and not be conformed to the wisdom of this world. Because we are born in sin and are raised in a culture of sin often the truths we fight for are either only partial truths or not truth at all. We naively fight for the kingdom of this world, because it is the one we have known or have grown to love. It is one that we feel comfortable with. And we have learned to defend or comfort zone well. In Christ, a new Kingdom has come, one that is vastly different from the kingdom of this world or any of the thoughts of men. His ways are not our ways. They don't fit any cultural phenomena that we have known or can conceive. But as we diligently lay our lives down and allow the scriptures to wash over us, we will come to know this Kingdom more and more. We will be gripped by its wonder and beauty and we will realize that we are not called to the wisdom of this world, but to something that shakes and shatters the very foundation of this world and is meant to only leave those things found in Christ. This is also the attractiveness of this Kingdom. There is no greater beauty than Christ. 

If we want to understand what the scriptures say about family issues, we must leave our cultural perspectives on the altar. Stop holding on to and defending your culture perspective, even in areas where we are right. In defending them our hunger for God is diminished. Our cultural perspectives don’t fit in the Kingdom of God. Even when they our correct, they are way too small, we must still die to ourselves. Allow the scriptures to do their work, to wash over us. We will spend a lifetime grasping the depths, height, and width of God’s perspective on these matters. And these heights and depths, and widths are ok to explore. And they ought to be explored. Because of the Gospel, we don’t need to be afraid to explore these things.

The comfort of the devestating message of sin

If we fail to make sin devastating in order to sooth someones ego, we fail to comfort the soul. For when we flatter and pamper, we give a sense of self-ability and self-worth, an attitude that we can measure up, that we are ok in of ourselves. We start looking to and relying on ourselves. Yes, that is insane, because the fact is we can't measure up. We can never attain self worth, not truly and fully. We know this in the deepest parts of who we are, that we are not totally ok.

The comfort is that sin is devastating and we are helpless and worthless. There is nothing we can do. . . . And we don't have to. .. . .Jesus has done it all. Through the work and worth of Jesus, we gain more for more than self-worth when we come to Him. We gain the love of God.

So let us not be shocked or devastated by the depths of our messed-upness, nor make light of sin, for we have a glorious Gospel that is bigger than the deepest depths of sin. Let that depth be apart of our speech.

Do not seek greatness, seek a broken heart

We are not meant for great feats, great feats are nothing in the presence of God. We are meant to have surrendered hearts, to have hearts of stone turned into flesh and to be conformed into the image of Christ. If we get this, let God do what He will with this clay, whether high or low among the feats of men.

Creating Dialogue

Here are some tips in having a conversation with someone who disagrees with you

·         Be open minded

o   Be Humble – you always have something to learn

o   Go into the conversation with an expectation to learn something from the other person

§  Regardless of the disagreement, you usually have something to learn, even if it is only how to communicate better.

o   Be willing to be proven wrong

·         Don’t put your assumptions on the other person

o   If you assume or make assumptions about the other person’s views, you will find that you are arguing with a person that only exists in your own imagination, instead of talking to a real person

o   Don’t attribute ideas, thoughts, arguments or consequences to your opponent that they do not hold to.

§  This only creates a rift between you and the other person

o   Don’t take their statements out of context or out of their intended meaning.

o   Don’t assume things about their character, motives, or heart.

·         Listen

o   Work hard to fully understand your opponent’s views, background, and perspectives.

§  Give them a chance to clarify.

§  Take the time to understand their position from their perspective.

o   Ask questions and check with them to see if your understanding of their position is correct.

·         Present the opposing view in its strongest form, don’t build a “straw man” and then knock it down.

o   Work to be able to present the opposing side in a way that they would say that you were representing their view in an honest way and would comment, “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

·         Speak the truth in love

o   Engage the person

§  Get into the other person’s world. Talk with the person, not at the person. Ask you self, “How do I communicate this in a way that the other person can understand it where they are at?”

§  It doesn’t help to prove you are right, if you cannot engage the other person with the truth.

o   Be willing to be proven wrong

§  The purpose of a conversation is not to defend my position but to help each other grow in the truth. Who cares if I am wrong? What value is there in holding onto a lie? What we want is to align ourselves with what is true. Sometimes that will mean that I have to change my position.

Calling someone judgemental is simply just immature name-calling

It seems to me that now days accusing that when we accuse someone of being judgmental, it is often equivalent to saying, "hey, I really don't like what you have to say, and I don't want to hear it because I am closed minded and just really don't know what to say in response. I have already judged you to be wrong anyways, and don't feel like being tolerant. So instead of listening and trying to understand where you are coming from, and then coming up with an intelligent response, I am going to cut you off and close my ears to what you have to say, by calling you names."

We should use this accusation with care and not simply just throw it out because we are frustrated or scared or don't like another person's views. We should instead be more open minded, quick to listen, patient, and loving. Not compromising truth, but pursing God's word, and speaking the truth in love. Many people who accuse people of being judgmental these days don't understand what that term means. 

In Worship God brings to us, we bring nothing

In our pursuit of worship are we pursuing a “transcendent” experience where we emotionally feel a certain way or are we coming to worship knowing the power of God to work on us despite our emotions, attitudes, or failures? This “transcendent” experience might be described as “God was on the move tonight at worship” or “I felt His presence, tonight” or just “Wow”. Although experiencing God in a “transcendent”, or emotional way are often a powerful and glorious part of worship, these things are not the goal of worship. When we come into worship, we come to God with nothing. We cannot muster up a worthiness to be in His presence. This is the awesomeness of the Gospel, we come to God only with the work and worth of Jesus. We can come to him with our false motives, doubt, distractions, insecurities, failures, knowing we are accepted and loved. Worship is not something we bring to God, it is coming to God empty handed realizing that He brings everything to us. It is knowing that God is on the move and that He madly loves us, despite our wrecked up feelings, attentions, and motives. When we come to worship, we come to a God who loves us, who says that because of the work and worth of Jesus, we can, now, come boldly before His throne. And that is the key, the sweet surrender of dying to ourselves, our efforts, our struggles and trusting in the extravagant love of God, who delights in us and who enjoys us as we come to worship. So regardless of whether or not I feel a “transcendent” experience in worship, I know that God is powerfully on the move as I worship. My faith is not based on my experiences, but instead on the promises of God, through the scriptures. Oh, How great is the love of God for us.

Here is our daily struggle – the Gospel is hard to believe. We lose hope as our affections ebb and wane, placing our hopes on the love we feel for God. We so easily forget this. Instead, we struggle with how easily we lose our affection for Jesus and how easily we are distracted by the love of this world. It is a daily battle . . . no, it is a moment by moment battle. And in this battle, instead of putting our hope in the Gospel and beholding Jesus, we tend to focus inward struggling to overcome our doubts and wondering love. We forget that in the midst of these loss of affections, there is one who has won the victory, one who has loved God perfectly for us, one who has made us complete, even in our failures. So when we come to worship, we come with all our wondering affections, failures, and doubt and believe in the Gospel.

Here is where we can do some prep work. Believing in the Gospel does not come natural for us. And how it works our way into our hearts is through the declaration of the gospel. God in His wisdom has chosen to use the scriptures, prayer, and the body of Christ to declare the Gospel and to help us grow in believing the Gospel in our lives. We pray, knowing that God will not give us a stone when we ask for bread. In the body of Christ, just as the seraphim cry out to one another about the glories of God, we, too, cry out to each other the glories of the Gospel. And we come to the word of God, knowing that it powerfully works on us by grace, declaring the Gospel to our hearts. And by these means God grants faith. So while it is called, today, let us not fail to speak the wonders of the work and worth of Jesus into each others life.

True worship is growing closer to Jesus, beholding Him. It is not a feeling or and experience (although these things often happen). There is a faith that transcends all feelings or experiences. It is the powerful work of God in our lives through the work and worth of Jesus. We come to worship knowing that despite where we are in pursuing God, He is pursuing us granting us the faith to worship. In worship God brings everything, we bring nothing. God takes our focus off our own works and places our focus on His works, His pursuit, and His love for us. This is an amazing and powerful love. Knowing that He loves us despite of what we bring, transcends all experiences.

Deception

C.S. Lewis wrote this after listening to a speech by Adolf Hitler over the radio on the Friday evening of July 19th, 1940, this would become the inspiration for Screwtape Letters:

“I don’t know if I’m weaker than other people, but it is a positive revelation to me how while the speech lasts it is impossible not to waiver just a little… Statements which I know to be untrue all but convince me, at any rate for the moment, if only the man says them unflinchingly.”

We are easily deceived. Do not think that you are above the many Germans enraptured by the speeches of Hitler? They were people just like us.We are people just like them.

And it happens, today, perhaps in more subtle mediums, but the lure of deception and evil is real. Like the foolish woman of proverbs it entices and it attracts with a false beauty. But in the end there is death and stench. It is alive and well in our own culture, promoting murder, hate, and a many other evils, bring destruction to lives and families. 

But the voice of evil is familiar, we barely notice . . .

The fear of the LORD is the begining of wisdom

The man who thinks he can carry on his business life, or his political life, or his social life, without God is to that extent an irreligious person. The teacher who thinks that his relation to God does not affect his teaching of chemistry, or his interpretation of European history, is to that extent an irreligious person. The consistent Christian will realize that his religion is the ruling principle of all his life, and that there is nothing in life which can be isolated from his relation to God. - Johannes Geerhardus Vos

Continuum

We often think in continuums and God, He is often not even on the continuum. For He is completely other. He is Holy.

Jesus challenges culture

Jesus challenged the culture of his day. He will challenge your culture as well.

The realist

If a man sees and experiences the world, unafraid of the darkest places, and knows that God is on His throne, believes the promises of God, and sees the beauty, joy and wonder of God. Is this man a dreamer or the true realist -- Hebrews 11.

Open Minded

I am learning that you have to believe in the scriptures in order to be open minded. There is no other way. God's ways are far above our own and any other standard for thinking falls short and is narrow in its expanse and ability to understand the world. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" And "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"


This will not sit well with a lot of people, even Christians, but the scriptures make us wise in all things in life. And it is a solid ground that can be trusted in. It puts you in a secure place, where you are free to be open minded. 

There is no safe sex

Here is an article on how common genital herpes are within the US population. Herpes will spread even if a condom is worn and also can spread with any sexual contact, not just coitus. The idea that there is safe sex or safe sexual acts (such as oral sex, etc.) is simply not true. If there is any physical contact these things can spread. There is also no cure for this condition.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100310/hl_nm/us_herpes_usa

Herpes is not the only STD that is spread in a similar way. Genital warts are also common and spread through contact with the condom not providing protection.

In the diseases where a condom helps such as HIV, it only reduces the risk, it does not get rid of the risk all together. 

Polarized theological views

When it comes to theological conflicts, so many people can only see a jilted perspective on the issue. They become reactionary and polarized and full of false assumptions, even if they are right on a point. The actual truth is that truth is something totally "other", then the jilted perspectives often presented. God's view on this issue is "holy". The Bible fights against the polarization of point of views and the assumptions that so many make, presents something so much more. It is our holding on to our assumptions and "our side" which are often distorted that makes the scripture unclear. And it is letting go of "our side" of the issue, and then coming humbly face to face with His heart that we find that He has for us more than we can imagine that we understand. And as a father teaches his child, He teaches us His ways. We can no what is true and what is sound theology if we are willing to lose our selves and listen to the one who is sovereign over it.

 Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word.

Kirk Cameron Interviews John MacArthur

Does God have a great purpose for your life? pt 2

"In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;"

I wrote in the last post, that sometimes what God has for us is not what the world would call great. What God may have for us may even be mundane. This does not mean that God is mundane in the way He treats us or loves us or uses us. It just means that instead of striving to be great, we commit our lives to His faithfulness, trusting that He will bring about His purposes whether in the mundane or not so mundane. One of the things great about God is that He is always great, even in the things this world may call not so great. His wisdom is not the wisdom of the world. So press into Christ with all you might, knowing that He is faithful, and He is great, and His purposes for your life are our in His faithful hands.

Psalm 37:3,4 "Commit your way to the LORD, trust in him and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday."

1 Corinthians 12:12

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Does God have a great purpose for your life?

A friend of mine made this statement last night, "God did not tell us to seek a purpose for our life, that is something we have made up . . ." He had gone through a difficult time and fell into a deep depression because he was trying to find the purpose that God had in his life and couldn't find any. When he looked at his life, he felt like everything he touched failed. After going through a long depression, he started asking God, "What is important to you?". He came to realize that "None of this stuff is about us anyways".


It is not about us. It is not about having a great purpose in life. It is not about our purpose at all, it is about His. And He can either choose to do that in the mundane or He can choose to do that in what the world or the church calls great. We are God's handiwork. We are the clay and He is the potter, and He forms the clay as He wishes, for His purposes alone.

"Trust me"

I was talking with someone a while back about an issue that we disagreed on in the direction for a something. I told him that in the direction that we go we must follow scripture. Scripture must be the authority on the issue, not me and not him. I was able to point him not to my opinion, but to what the scripture said. He was unable to point me to scripture for what he believed. Despite that, he told me to trust him as a leader. I know someone else (actually many someone else’s) who have gone to a church where what the pastor taught was not to be questioned. You were supposed to trust the pastor since he was in authority. At that point these men have failed to be the leader the Bible tells him to be. They have sinned. Christ calls a leader to serve. He serves the people by serving the Word of God. It is the responsibility of a leader to be accountable to the scripture. If he refuses this he should not lead. He must be able to back up his position from scripture and is required to answer honest questions with scripture. He cannot say “just trust me”. A leader should be sorrowful when someone “trusts them”. Their ambition should be for people to trust and pursue Christ. And the only authority on how to do that is the scripture. A leader’s passion and call should be, “search the scriptures, to know Christ and obey Him. And trust Him”. I have also heard about teachings on how to interpret dreams. These teachings say in interpreting dreams “this” means “this” “so and so” means “so and so” and these are “the steps” of how to interpret dreams. The problems is that none of that teaching is found anywhere in scripture. It is unsubstantiated teaching. Unfortunately, this is only one of many examples that have plagued the church. Beloved, be wary of anyone who asks you to do anything or believe something that they cannot support with scripture. We must humble ourselves and place our selves under the Word of God. Like children, we must place ourselves under the care of our Father and under the care of His spoken Word. I don’t think anyone is perfect in this, but when we do fall, we shouldn’t run our own way or after distracting voices or be like the mule who has to be tethered to come near, not when our Father’s arms are wide open. We can crawl up into our Father’s arms and hear His voice as He speaks to us through scripture.


Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. – Acts 17:11


Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. -- 1 Timothy 4:13


All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. -- 2 Timothy 3:16,17


But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. –Titus 2:1


He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. -- Titus 1:9-11


If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. -- 1 Timothy 6:3-5


If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. -- 1 Timothy 4:6


Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15


I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. – 2 Timothy 4:1-4


For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. -- Hebrews 4:12


I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. – 1 John 2:14


Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. -- 1 John 2:4-5a


Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. – Colossians 3:16

Halloween and Harry Potter, and the like

O you who love the LORD, hate evil! – Psalm 97:10


My heart breaks when I see Christians excited about Halloween or when I see a child carrying a Harry Potter book with them in a church. Many Christians feel comfortable with things like Halloween or Harry Potter and the like. I know this is often ignorance. When I see these things, I want to call on God like Elijah did for his servant, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” But we don’t have to have our eyes opened in that way to see the destruction that these things cause. When we look at these things through the lens of the scripture, the evil of these things are evident. Witchcraft, sorcery, familiar spirits are not a mild harmless thing. They are an abomination. God shared his heart with his people, “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord . And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). God calls these things an abomination. I think we must understand that when we participate in these things we are participating in the very things Hell was made for. "Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me," says the Lord of Hosts.” (Malachi 3:5) "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death" (Revelation 22:8). God’s heart is broken over the destruction of witchcraft and sorcery; He hates it. And when we participate in these things we are participating in the very things God hates.


Some would say that I am binding men’s consciences. No, we are bondservants of Christ and our consciences are bound to love the things He loves and to hate the things He hates. Beloved, Christ has set us free from the evil and sin to which we once gave ourselves as slaves and were in bondage to. We are to no longer be bound by them. Listen to Acts 19:18-20. You can hear bonds crashing to the ground in an uproar of joy, “Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Christ went to the cross to set us free from the bondage of sin. True freedom is coming close enough to Christ to hear His heartbeat, to know the things He loves and the things He hates, and to embrace righteousness. We don’t hate evil because we are legalistic or in bondage, we hate evil because we are in love with Christ and we are enamored by the things he loves. This is freedom. Below are some scriptures that talk about God’s feelings toward witchcraft and sorcery, there are more, but those below should suffice. Read them and get close to the heart of your God.


Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. – Galatians 5:19-21

"Do not practice divination or sorcery.” – Leviticus 19:26

And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. - - Leviticus 20:6

"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." – Revelation 22:8

Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. –Revelation 22:15

“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord . And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.” –Deuteronomy 18:9-12

Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. -- Acts 19:18-20

“Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God.” - - Leviticus 19:31

"A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them." - - Leviticus 20:27

You shall not allow a sorceress to live. Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death. -- Exodus 22:18,19

Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:31

For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. I Samuel 15:23

And when they say to you, "Consult the mediums and the wizards who whisper and mutter," should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? Isaiah 8:19

"Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me," says the Lord of Hosts. Malachi 3:5