SAINT VALENTINE’S DAY ~ Werewolf Worship & Sex Addiction-! (The Lupercalia Festival)

Adapted from “Spontaneous Addiction Recovery” (2019)

By Dr. James Slobodzien, Psy.D.

Various ancient legends have been associated with the origin of our secular holiday - St. Valentine’s Day that generated sales of 17.6 billion last year. These legends however, have nothing to do with giving flowers, chocolates, and romantic love “Hallmark” cards to our sweethearts. Bible scholars inform us that after the Roman Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire in 393 A.D., the pagans who adopted Christianity as their religion did not entirely abandon the traditions and practices they held before their "conversion." One of these traditions brought into the church was the Sex Goddess fertility celebration known as the LUPERCALIA which Pope Gelasius I, rebranded in 496 A.D. , as a Catholic Holiday to honor St. Valentine. E. Gibbons reports: "Yet the vestiges of superstition were not absolutely obliterated, and the festival of the Lupercalia, whose origin had preceded the foundation of Rome, was still celebrated under the reign of Anthemius," ... "After the conversion of the Imperial city (Rome), these Christians still continued, in the month of February, the annual celebration of the Lupercalia ... " (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbons, E. Chapter 36, Part 3, 1960).?

WHAT WAS THE ROMAN LUPERCALIA FESTIVAL-? (Werewolf Worship)?

Lupercalia was an ancient pre-Christian, Roman “Werewolf” fertility Goddess celebration commemorated annually from 13-15 February. It was also called "dies Februatus", which gives February - the month of love magic and ancient Pagan sex rituals its name. One of the most famous Wolf Goddesses in Europe is Luperca a Roman goddess of fertility. By legend Luperca is said to have taken the shape of a “she-wolf” and nursed the infant orphans Romulus and Remus who founded the city of Rome in 753 B.C. This festival also honored the god Faunus (Lupercus), the protector of sheep and goats from wolf attacks. The Luperci - brothers of the wolf (Pagan Priests) assembled on the day of the Lupercalia to “sacrifice” goats and puppies (wolves). These animals were the most appropriate sacrifices to the god of fertility in the Lupercal, because of their remarkable strong sexual instinct.?

The three (3) day Lupercalia event involved lots of alcohol, feasting, nudity and a free matchmaking “sex” lottery. On the eve of the event, female festival goers would put their names in an urn (jar) for the town’s men to choose from to be sexually partnered up. The matches would then “hook-up” for the rest of the festival and a drunken orgy would commence which would lead to plenty of short-term sex and occasionally long-term coupling. The Luperci priests would start the festival by slaughtering the animals. Then they would anoint young Roman men by putting goat’s blood on their foreheads. The young men would then get naked and run through the town slapping eager women (who desired to get pregnant) with strips of goat hides (called “februa”) drenched in the sacrificial blood in an effort to make the women more fertile. The women were apparently into this “fifty shades of grey bondage behavior” being whipped with the bloody goat skins, because they believed that this was an invitation for the spirits of their ancestors to re-incarnate through the cycle of rebirth and ensure fertility.?

ANCIENT WEREWOLF MYTHOLOGY AND CLINICAL LYCANTHROPY?

Deities like the she-wolf Luperca have been worshiped since the dawn of civilization. Many ancient mythologies speak of werewolves or jackals that are far older than Lupercalia and Rome itself to include: Egyptian (Anubis and Wepwawet), Sumerian (Bau), Greek (Kerberos), Shinto (Kitsune), Irish (The Morrigan), and Aztec (Xolotl). Norse (Viking) Goddess mythology speaks of Angrboda - a giantess that lived in Jotunheim, “the land of the giants.” She was the wife of Loki and mother werewolf goddess of Fenrir. He was the wolf son of Loki the Norse God of Chaos or Mischief. A prophesy foretold that a wolf would kill Odin and bring on the Ragnarok - which is the very end of the world. In Egyptian mythology around 3100 BCE, a pack of wolves helped Osiris defend a city in Upper Egypt against an invading army. Osiris re-named this city “Lycopolis” or Wolf City and ordered the bodies of the fallen wolves to be mummified beneath the city for resurrection in the underworld. Osiris also granted them human form in addition to their wolf form – the very first lycanthropes.?

The Roman Festival of Lupercalia may be a more ancient import that came from Greek Arcadia that honored Lycaean. In Greek mythology, Zeus (Nephilim demigod) turned Lycaos the cruel king of Arcadia into a WOLF after he offered Zeus the flesh of a young child. This alludes to the fact that some of the Nephilim - children of the fallen angels mentioned in the Bible (Gen. 6:4) were cannibalistic in nature - they were flesh eaters or werewolves. The story of king Lykaon leads us to Zeus Lykaios (Zeus the wolf-god). In his honor, a religious festival called the Lykaia was celebrated on Mount Lykaion, the "wolf mountain." The first century author Pliny reported that this festival involved a ritual test in which young men would have to get naked and swim across the Arcadian lake. When they reached the other side of the lake, they would shape-shift into wolves. If they didn't eat human flesh for nine (9) years, then they could swim back and return to their human shape.?

Lycaean is a word connected with the Greek word for 'wolf' as seen in the term lycanthropy for 'werewolf'. Clinical lycanthropy is a rare psychiatric syndrome with the delusional belief that one is, or has transformed into a werewolf. There have only been 13 cases of patients with this kind of delusional metamorphosis since 1850 (Real-Life Werewolves: Psychiatry Re-Examines Rare Delusion, B. Gholipour, 2014). Some believe that there may also be one case recorded in the Bible.?

DID KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR TRANSFORM INTO A WEREWOLF-??

“Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his HAIR GREW like the feathers of an eagle and his NAILS LIKE the CLAWS of a bird,” (Dan. 4:33)?

It appears that the Babylonian king - Nebuchadnezzar suffered from a mental breakdown, and behaved and looked like a wild animal (hairy with long claws). He lived this way in the forest for seven (7) years, until he came to know “that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men” (Dan. 4:25). Despite the prophet Daniel’s warning for him to avoid pride because he only held power with God’s permission, this King declared himself the designer of his own destiny, and the author of his own good fortune. So, as God had warned through Daniel’s prophecy, a mental delusion fell upon the King. Most Bible scholars would agree that God did not transform this man into a werewolf. In addition, folklore werewolves are Not VEGANS (eating only grass). They are bloodthirsty meat eaters that rip apart their victims with their FANGS. So are there any werewolves in the Bible??

BIBLICAL EVIDENCE FOR WEREWOLF-LIKE CREATURES?(Men with Lion’s Fangs)?

In popular folklore, bloodthirsty beings in human form with fangs that survive by eating the raw flesh and blood out of living people, especially at night are called werewolves. It is correct to say that the word “Werewolf” is NOT in the Bible. But Ezekiel, the Apostle Paul, and Jesus all describe false, greedy, religious pastors and teachers (prophets) as raveous WOLVES who are only out to destroy souls and make money in the following verses: “Her officials within her are like WOLVES tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain,” (Ez. 22:27); “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are FEROCIOUS WOLVES,” (Mt. 7:15); “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among WOLVES,” (Lk. 10:3); “The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the WOLF coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the WOLF attacks the flock and scatters it,” (Jn. 10:12); and “I know that after I leave, savage WOLVES will come in among you and will not spare the flock,” (Acts 20:29). Jesus hates this power hungry priesthood of professional pastors - who are the false Apostle “NICOLAITANS” (Rev. 2:2-6; 14-16).?

Jesus, Paul, and Ezekiel in the above verses are warning against false greedy pastors or teachers (anti-Christs) in the Church that spread false doctrines that Jesus was not God in the flesh. They compare these false Church Leaders to WOLVES, because WOLVES, like the professional clergy, make their living by feeding off the flocks of sheep or Christians in the church. The main difference is that real WOLVES don’t dress up in spiritual robes to deceive the sheep. Apparently, they have more integrity. Jesus, Paul, and Ezekiel warn us to be aware of those false church pastors and leaders whose words sound religious, but who are only motivated by money, fame, and power. Jesus got angry and cleared the temple twice because this “church” building had become a place where religious leaders were extorting money from those who wanted to worship God. Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and money,” (Mt. 6:24).?

I use to think that this biblical talk of calling men - “WOLVES” was merely describing human traits, similar to today when people call attorneys “bloodsuckers.” However, after studying the historical atrocities committed by the Roman Catholic church where greedy, evil, religious men ordered millions of God fearing christians to be arrested, tortured, and murdered - I am now aware that it was more then just “name-calling.” From the birth of Popery in the 7th century (606 A.D.) to the present time, it is estimated by careful and credible historians, that more than 50 millions of the human family, have been slaughtered for the crime of heresy by popish persecutors, an average of more than 40,000 religious murders for every year of the existence of popery (Dowling, J., "History of Romanism," p. 541, 542. NY: 1871). Since Jesus called these false prophets “WOLF-MEN”, could he have possibly detected their inherited Nephilim DNA??

The Bible also mentions MEN with LION’S fangs who seek to kill God’s people and bloodthirsty evil men. It mentions evil men with lion’s fangs seven (7) times: (Job. 29:17; Ps. 3:7, 57:4, 58:6, 124:6; Pro. 13:14; Rev. 9:8), and bloodthirsty men seven (7) times: (Ps. 5:6, 26:9, 55:23, 59:2, 139:19, Pro. 29:10, and Hos. 6:9). Examples:?

1. “I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts-- MEN whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords,” (Ps. 57:4)?

2. “Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright,” (Pro. 29:10).?

3. “Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; LORD, tear out the FANGS of those lions!” (Ps. 58:6)?

We know that King David and his warriors repeatedly prayed to God for strength to fight his fallen angel “Nephilim” enemies (2 Sam. 21:15; Num. 13:26-33). Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says this about Ps. 58:6 (“Break the Fangs”): The allusion is to his enemies, represented as wild beasts; and the prayer is, that God would deprive them of the means of doing harm - as wild animals are rendered harmless when their teeth are broken out. Gill’s Bible Commentary says: Treat them as the snake-charmers do their serpents, extract their fangs, break their teeth ... For fierce cruelty the wicked are likened to young lions, monsters in the prime of their vigour, and the fury of their lustiness; and It is asked that their grinders may be smashed in, broken off, or dashed out, that the creatures may henceforth be harmless.?

The book of Revelation (Chapter 9: 1-11) reveals that in the End of Days - an Army of demonic beings with human faces that have women-like long hair and “teeth like LION’S teeth” - will be released upon the earth from the Abyss. These vampiric human-like beings will be given power to torture (not kill) for 5 months all people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. Their King is the fallen angel of the Abyss - Apollyon (The Greek demigod Apollo). In addition in Revelation Chapters 17-18, we see the Bloodthirsty Whore: “I saw that the WOMEN was DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD of God's holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus,” (Rev. 17:6). “In her (the Whore of Babylon) was found the blood of prophets and of God's holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth," (Rev. 18:24).?

According to Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, the Matthew Henry Bible Commentary, and many others this Mystical Whore of Babylon, Mother of Harlots (Woman) clearly appears to be Rome’s Catholic Pagan Institution. The woman being drunk with their blood, denotes the blood thirstiness of the church of Rome (The Pagan Papal Roman Catholic Empire), her greedy and insatiable desire after the blood of the saints, and her delight in it, being exceeding mad against them; and the multitude of it shed by her, as the slaughters of the Waldenses and Albigenses, the butcheries of the duke d'Alva in the Low Countries, the massacres in France, Ireland, and other places, the burning of the martyrs in Queen Mary's days here, with numerous other instances, show.?

But, could the Papal catholic priesthood commit these horrific atrocities in the future? Well this sort of thing already occurred as previously noted in Catholic history, but it also occurred in Judaism in the Bible: “The multitude of the priests is like a heap of thieves, murderers and bloodthirsty: for they have wrought abomination,” (Hosea 6:9, Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale Bible). So just like in Hosea’s day when gangs of bloodthirsty violent priests conspired together to commit murder, we may see the return of the bloodthirsty catholic Jesuit demonic “Wolf-men” priests (with long hair and fangs) banding together to suck the blood out of God’s Holy people in the End of Days. The Bible warns us to stay sober (do not get drunk or high), because Satan (the destroyer of souls) and his minions are hungry stalking fierce predators that will violently attack their prey whenever we give them the opportunity: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring LION looking for someone to devour,” (1 Pet. 5:8). So, what happened to the wolves in the “Catholic” Lupercalia??

A "CATHOLIC" LUPERCALIA ~ CALLED SAINT VALENTINE’S DAY?

In the 5th Century, a "christianized" form of the festival of Lupercalia was officially adopted by Pope Gelasius. The Pope stopped the bloody pagan wolf sacrifices, but he kept the matchmaking party festival going in honor of Saint Valentine the patron saint of lovers. The color of the day was still “Blood Red” and the Catholics put their clothes back on, but it didn’t stop the three (3) day drunken sex party. By the 17th century in England, the Catholic Churches matchmaking ritual was severely criticized - especially when married men ended up selecting their neighbors’ wives or daughters as their valentines, and wives were hooked up with single men or other women’s husbands for the festival. At this time, St. Valentine’s Day started getting commercialized when men drew lots with women’s names on them, and were expected to give a gift to the selected lady.?

WHO WAS THE REAL SAINT VALENTINE-??

The Roman Catholic Church martyrology lists up to seven (7) saints named Valentine that were martyred, to include at least three (3) different men named Valentine that were beheaded by Emperor Claudius II on February 14th. Claudius “the cruel” had many Christians executed for professing their belief in Jesus Christ. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest in Rome during the 3rd century when Emperor Claudius wanted a bachelor army and outlawed Roman soldier marriages. The Emperor believed men weren’t joining the army due to having families, and that single men without wives and families made better soldiers. This Valentine defied Claudius by performing these marriages in secret for young lovers, and he was caught and beheaded. Another legend claims that Valentine was a Bishop of Terni, who was also martyred by Claudius II on the outskirts of Rome for trying to convert the emperor to christianity. According to a third legend, an imprisoned Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape from harsh Roman prisons. He is thought to have actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine.”?

Pope Gelasius I, apparently wasn’t that interested in the details of who the real Valentine was or what he actually did to become the Lover Saint or patron of love. The Pope presumably just wanted to “christianize” the traditional Roman feast Lupercalia to keep the pagan “christians” committed to the Catholic Church. In 1969, Pope John removed St. Valentine’s Day as an official feast day due to its unclear origins, but there are no questions about the Lupercalia festival evolving into our modern secular Valentine’s Day.?

OTHER PAGAN HOLIDAYS TRANSFORMED INTO “christian” HOLIDAYS?

This evolution of a pagan religious Holiday into a Catholic and secular Holiday is not odd or rare in Catholicism. In 313 AD, under the Roman Emperor Constantine's protective wing, Catholic Christianity experienced a period of mass conversion of pagans into the Early Christian Church along with rebranding their pagan religious holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Halloween (present-truth.org/6-Library/Christmas-Easter.pdf). In the 4th century (327 A.D.), the Roman Emperor Constantine made a pseudo (fake) conversion to Christianity, and totally transformed the Early Church into another one of his “Sun-god” religions. This caused a radical paradigm shift in the basic idea of "Christianity." It changed from “family home” churches to the paid, professional, and Institutional Catholic and Protestant Religions of Christianity that currently exist. There is no record of the Early Church in the New Testament (for the first 300 years of Christianity) ever celebrating our present “christian” Holidays: Christmas, Easter and Halloween. Following is a brief history of the origins of these holidays:

CHRISTMAS: In 336 AD (Over 300 years after Jesus’ death), Pope Julius I declared that the birth of Christ was on the 25th of December, and the Catholic Church celebrated it’s first “christmas.” This was after the Roman Emperor Constantine declared December 25th to be an Immovable Feast of the Sun-god (Natalis Solis Invicti) for the whole Roman Empire. The Roman Church was pushed by political forces and pulled by the desire to co-opt a popular pagan holiday, despite a lack of evidence that Christ was born in December. For thousands of years before the birth of Christ, people in many cultures celebrated the first day of winter called the “Winter Solstice”. The ancient pagan religions increasingly consolidated their pantheons of deities under a single Sun-god and celebrated all their birthdays during the winter solstice which was December 25th in the Roman calendar (Slobodzien, J. “Hidden Bible Taboos Forbidden By Organized Christianity).?

EASTER: Bible scholar W. E. Vine reports: “The festival of Easter Passover was not instituted by Christ. From this Passover the pagan festival of Easter was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt pagan festivals to Christianity.” Most, ancient pagan religions in the Mediterranean area had a major Holiday of religious celebration at or following the Spring Equinox to worship their goddess Ishtar (Easter) - the Queen of Heaven: Jer. 7:18, 44:17, 44:18, 44:19. (Slobodzien, J. “One Holy Nation”).?

HALLOWEEN: In the 7th Century, Pope Gregory declared “All Hallows Eve” or “The Day of the Dead,” an official Catholic Holiday. He did this to pacify and convert to Catholicism the Druid pagans who would not give up their worship of dead spirits or demons. So now the pagans had no reason not to convert to Catholicism, because the Church was officially worshipping dead demonic spirits and calling them Saints. Halloween’s pagan roots go back 3000 years to 5th century B.C. in Celtic Ireland where the pagan ritual of Samhaim was celebrated by Druid priests on October 31 to worship the Celtic Sun-god and demons or dead spirits.?

WHY WAS VALENTINE MADE A SAINT-??

According to the Catholic Church a man named Valentine attained his sainthood in 496 A.D., by the authority of Pope Gelasius I. The pope's college of Cardinals were apparently convinced or influenced by him to believe that this man practiced heroic virtue, lived in faithful holiness to God's grace, and performed supernatural miracles. But, does the Bible say that the title "saint" is restricted to a select few, dead, holy Super-Star Christians who attain sinless perfection - based on the authority of a sinful human pope? Contrary to this erroneous popular Catholic belief, our God in the New Testament Bible calls "ALL CHRISTIANS" saints despite their sins and failures.?

God's Word, the Bible declares that all believers are sanctified or “made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," (Heb. 10:10). As can be seen from the following scriptures, the Bible calls all ordinary "living" believers Saints: (Acts 9:13; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2; 1 Tim. 5:10; Philemon 1:5; Heb. 6:10; Jude 1:3, etc. etc). All Christians are justified and called saints, not on account of their own personal righteousness or efforts to follow God, but because of what Jesus the Cosmic King did for us. And so, all of these men named Valentine may rightly be called "Saints" - not because of some supernatural romantic love miracles that they performed, but because of their sincere faith in Jesus as their savior - messiah or Christ and their love for the brethren.?

THE ORIGIN OF ROMANTIC LOVE and ROMANCE ADDICTION?

Historians inform us that the concept of falling in love before marriage and “Romantic Love” was unheard of in the Middle Ages (5th to the 15th century). During this period of European history - from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West to the fall of Constantinople, virtually no one married for love: “People got married primarily to keep property in the hands of the family and to raise children on the family farm.” The birth of a courtly, chivalrous, and romantic love got started with the spread of romantic novels in the 19th century: “Love stories in romantic novels played a vital role in popularizing the idea of romantic love,” (Radway in Giddens and Griffiths, 2006, p. 205).?

So what is the difference between family love and romantic love? Lantz (1982) defined romantic love as “a love based on personal-emotional attraction, with a strong erotic component which is often repressed because of moral conflict. Its main features include the notion of a One and Only, the idealization of the loved one, and the idea that true love overcomes all obstacles. Family or conjugal love in marriage is developed over an extended period of time and is based on feelings of appreciation, loyalty and admiration, stemming from the sharing of common experiences,” (Lantz, 1982, p. 349).?

Currently, researchers are calling it an addiction: "Romantic love is an addiction," said study author Helen E. Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University who studies love. "It’s a very powerfully wonderful addiction when things are going well and a perfectly horrible addiction when things are going poorly," she said (livescience.com/6695-romantic-love-addiction-researchers). Therapists are treating Romance Addiction like alcohol and other substance use disorders although the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) does not yet officially list it as a disorder. Three (3) primary proposed criteria are: 1. An ongoing (6-months or more) preoccupation to the point of obsession with romantic fantasies and new relationships; 2. An inability to exercise control over romantic fantasies and new relationships; and 3. Negative consequences directly and/or indirectly related to out-of-control romantic fantasies and serial relationships.?

SEX, LOVE, AND ADDICTION?

Although not yet diagnosable in the DSM-V, Sexual Dependency today is generally, regarded in about the same way that alcoholism and drug addiction (chemical dependency) was regarded 40 years ago. Even so, there still exists a wide range of understandable misunderstandings about compulsive sexual acting out, created out of ignorance about the nature of sexual addiction, and supported and perpetuated by the multibillion dollar pornography industry. Sexual Dependency - is a global term that covers a wide range of maladaptive and self-defeating behavior patterns and relationships such as:?

1. Love Addiction - a disorder in which individuals repeatedly become involved in enmeshed, intense, codependent relationships, even when those relationships or partners are destructive;?

2. Romance Addiction - a disorder in which individuals become obsessed with the intrigue and the pursuit of romance and thrive on the thrill of the chase, but find it impossible to sustain a committed, intimate relationship with another person;

?3. Sexual Anorexia - a disorder in which individuals become dominated and obsessed with the emotional, physical, and mental task of avoiding sex; and?

4. Sex Addiction - a disorder in which individuals become obsessed with sexually-related, compulsive self-defeating maladaptive behavior.?

But can one really be addicted to love as the popular 80's song proclaims? In a recent research study published in the June issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology (Aron, A. 2005), researchers used functional MRI to watch the real-time brain activity of 17 college students (10 women, 7 men), all of whom were in the early weeks or months of new love. These researchers concluded that, love may vie for the same real estate in the brain as drug addiction. They reported that early love, rooted as it is in the caudate nucleus, is all about addiction. It is a drug addiction. It's certainly got some of the main characteristics of drug addiction -- as with drugs, once you fall in love you need that person more and more, so much so that, after a while, you have to marry them. There are other things too, - real dependence, personality changes, and withdrawal symptoms. And just like the need for cocaine or heroin, love can and does make people do crazy, sometimes dangerous things.?

According to Aron (2005), the findings help explain instances where people fall in love with people they aren't even sexually attracted to; or why others can feel equally strong, sudden emotion for a newborn child or even God. So does this mean that all people who are newly in love have an addiction?? Are all men who look at pornography addicted? Are all women who read romance novels addicted? Are all people who avoid sex considered sexual anorexics? No, no, no, and no. Then how can we differentiate between addiction and healthy relationships? Like other forms of addictive diseases and lifestyle disorders such as chemical dependency, pathological gambling, eating disorders, and religious addiction - Sexual dependency is characterized by an addictive cycle of: 1. Obsession or preoccupation; 2. Ritualization; 3. Compulsive behaviors; 4. Loss of control and despair; and 5. Shame and guilt that perpetuates a maladaptive belief system of impaired thinking and unmanageability.?

Typically, sexual addictive patterns are considered pathological problems when issues concerning sexual behaviors become the focus of life. When these behaviors are causing feelings of shame, guilt, and embarrassment with related symptoms of depression and anxiety, they can lead to significant maladaptive social and occupational impairment in functioning. Addicts don't use sex for affection or recreation, but for the management of anxiety and emotional pain. We must consider that some people develop dependencies on certain life-functioning activities such as sex that can be just as life threatening as drug addiction and just as socially and psychologically damaging as alcoholism.?

Sexual addiction takes many forms with various levels of severity to include: 1. Controversial behaviors (obsessions with pornography, and sex with strangers to engaging in cyber-sex); 2. Unacceptable behaviors (exhibitionism, voyeurism, indecent phone calls); and 3. Profound Sex offender behaviors (rape, incest, and child molestation). Though solitary forms of this addiction may not be overtly risky, they can be part of a pattern of distorted thinking and identity conflict that can escalate to involve harming the self and others. An example of a Sexual Disorder (NOS) or Not Otherwise Specified in the DSM-IV-TR, (2000) includes: distress about a pattern of repeated sexual relationships involving a succession of lovers who are experienced by an individual only as things to be used. It should be noted that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) never used the word "addiction" to describe any of its disorders. The defining elements of this kind of addiction are its secrecy and escalating nature, often resulting in diminished judgment and self-control (Carnes, 1994).?

BRIEF HISTORY OF SEX ADDICTION?

In 1976, a suburban hospital administrator asked Dr. Patrick Carnes to start an experimental program for chemically dependent families.? The theoretical constructs of the program originated in general systems theory, especially as it applied to families and the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.? One of the many factors which stood out from a family perspective was that the addictive compulsivity had many forms other than alcohol and drug abuse including overeating, gambling, shoplifting, and sexuality.? Members of groups like Overeaters Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous had already pioneered in applying the 12-steps to other addictions so the Family Renewal Center extended its programming based on the 12-steps, to sexual addiction. In 1983, Dr. Patrick Carnes formally introduced the concept of sexual addiction to the world in a text entitled "Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction,” (2001).?

Since then the field of sexual addiction and compulsive sexual behavior has developed dramatically. Terms such as addiction, compulsivity, hyper-sexuality, and "Don Juanism," all have been used to describe what generically could be called "out of control sexual behavior." Regardless of its name, clinicians from all fields agree that a syndrome exists in which individuals have a sense that they have lost control over their sexual behavior. According to the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH), sexual addiction is a persistent and escalating pattern or patterns of sexual behaviors acted out despite increasingly negative consequences to self or others. The fundamental nature of all addiction is the addicts' experience of helplessness and powerlessness over an obsessive-compulsive behavior, resulting in their lives becoming unmanageable. The addict may be out of control. They may experience extreme emotional pain and shame. They may repeatedly fail to control their behavior. They may suffer one or more of the following consequences of an unmanageable lifestyle: a deterioration of some or all supportive relationships; difficulties with work, financial troubles; and physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion which sometimes leads to psychiatric problems and hospitalization.

SEX ADDICTION SCREENING: The Sexual Addiction Screening Test (SAST) was designed by Dr. Carnes to assist in the assessment of sexually compulsive behavior which may indicate the presence of sex addiction. Developed in cooperation with hospitals, treatment programs, private therapists, and community groups, the SAST-R provides a profile of responses which help to discriminate between addictive and non-addictive behavior. If you are curious about your sexual behaviors, I would encourage you to take this survey online (foundryclinicalgroup.com/wp-content/ uploads/2012/07/SAST-R.pdf).

Addictions tend to arise from the same backgrounds: families with co-dependency including multiple addictions; lack of effective parenting; and other forms of physical, emotional and sexual trauma in childhood. The Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH, 2005) report that the symptoms of sexual compulsivity often accompany other love and romance addictive behaviors. So, are all homosexual relationships (including LGBTQ) - condemned as addictive sex relationships? What did Jesus teach us about Homosexuality?

HOLY HOMOSEXUALS ~ Born Eunuchs-!

“For there are Eunuchs who were “born that way,” and there are Eunuchs who have been made Eunuchs by others — and there are those who choose to live like Eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it,” (Mt. 19:12)

Taking the above passage in context, Jesus previously declared to his disciples that anyone who divorces his wife except for (Porneia) commits adultery. His disciples responded, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry,” (Mt. 19:10). Jesus goes on to inform them of three kinds of men (Eunuchs) who should not marry women. In reverse order, the third (3rd) kind of Eunuch is those men who choose to be single and voluntarily forego marriage in order to better serve the Lord in some capacity. The second (2nd) kind is those who could not consummate the marriage because they were physically castrated (so that they could guard the king’s wives and concubines without being tempted to have sex with them).

Jesus describes the first (1st) kind as those who were “born that way” - insinuating that they were either incapable of marriage (i.e., they had a physical deformity which prohibited having children) or they had no real sexual desire for sex with women and marriage. Some argue that Jesus was only referring to males born without penises or testicles, but this would be extremely rare as penile and testicular agenesis only occurs about once in every 5–6 million male births (in contrast 10-25% of the male population that is estimated to be gay). In addition, this interpretation ignores how the term “born eunuchs” was used in the ancient world. In the ancient Jewish culture -reflected in the Talmud, born eunuchs were not associated with missing testicles, but they were associated with stereotypically homosexual and effeminate behaviors and sexual desires toward other men.

As a scholar of the Old Testament, Jesus would have been aware of the Prophet Isaiah’s following view of eunuchs: “And let no eunuch complain, ‘I am only a dry tree.’ For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant—to them I will give within my temple and its wall a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever,” (Is. 56:3-5). These Eunuchs, according to Jesus, include a subgroup that was “born that way.” They were not physically castrated by men, and they did not make a personal choice to be eunuchs.?

This group is known as “born eunuchs” includes the homosexual eunuchs and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) or all gender-nonconforming people. What these groups all have in common with eunuchs is that, in general, they do not reproduce. Jesus does not condemn these people - as many religious organizations do. On the contrary, he lists LGBTQ people alongside other honored classes of eunuchs that serve the Kingdom. Jesus matter-of-factly states that God simply and profoundly created some people this way for his glory, and he accepts them as a natural part of God’s creation: “The one who can accept this should accept it,”(wouldjesusdiscriminate.org/biblical_evidence/born_gay). The Bible only specifically condemns Porneia (homosexuals that are temple prostitutes). In fact, the first non-Jewish convert to Christianity was the Ethiopian eunuch - a black homosexual (Acts 8:37). For more info see: “The Warrior Priesthood Revolution,” (2021).

THE MIS-TRANSLATION OF PORNEIA: The Making of Catholic (Christian) Sex Rules

In the 4th century, the Roman "Catholic" Institution conquered the Early Church. After 300 years of unregulated healthy sexual practices, a sexual persecution campaign was started demanding total premarital sexual abstinence in the church. Now, all sex outside of marriage was a mortal sin punishable by the fires of Hell. Early Catholic theologians mistranslated the word “Porneia.” Instead of using the original (Old Testament) Hebrew translation of Porneia which means Idolatry (worshipping false gods), they used a Greek translation and interpreted Porneia into a Latin word fornication, and subsequently into the English phrase “Sexual Immorality.” They somehow forgot that Jesus and the Early Church (all of his Apostles and disciples) were Jewish. They were raised to only read and obey the Old Testament Jewish bible written in the Hebrew language. There was a Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint written about 200 B.C. for the Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria, Egypt but Jesus and his Apostles never used it or quoted from it. The fictitious (false) propaganda “Letter of Aristeas” was used to justify the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament Hebrew Bible.

The main language of the Jewish people in Jesus’ day was Aramaic, a language related to Old Testament Hebrew - not Greek. Bible scholars inform us that although Jesus spoke primarily in Aramaic, though he might have sometimes also used Greek, he most likely read the Hebrew Bible and heard Scripture read in Hebrew in the Jewish synagogues. In his article “Porneia: The Making of a Christian Norm,” (Journal of Biblical Literature, 2012), historian Kyle Harper researches the word Porneia which created our present-day Christian sexual morality. He discusses the possibility that all the rules about sex that are taught in Christianity today are based on a mistranslation of a single Greek word “Porneia” which means Idolatry in Hebrew (not fornication or sexual immorality). If true, how could this have happened? Why are our English bibles based on a 2nd A.D. Greek translation instead of a 2nd B.C. Hebrew translation of the Bible?

HEBREW - OLD TESTAMENT vs. GREEK - OLD TESTAMENT (SEPTUAGINT)

Bible historians inform us that it was the Roman Catholics and liberals who first started using the Greek Septuagint bible. They used it to support their many unbiblical beliefs - such as adding the Apocrypha (7 extra Catholic books) to their Greek Old Testament Bible. Since no Hebrew Old Testament ever included the books of the Apocrypha, the (Greek) Septuagint is the only source the Catholics have for justifying their canon. However, what is called the Septuagint today is different from the 2 B.C. translation, as it is the work of Origen (the 2nd A.D. century catholic theologian). Origen produced his Old Testament Septuagint 150 years after the last book was written in the New Testament. That was almost 200 years after the time of Christ. Origen was apparently obsessed with abstaining from sex. He voluntarily castrated himself to ensure perpetual virginity. It should not be a surprise then that Origen's Greek New Testament translation of Porneia (fornication) would match his Old Testament translation of Porneia (fornication) instead of the original Hebrew - Idolatry. Origen’s Septuagint was then made popular by Eusebius who worked for Constantine.

In 331 A.D, the Roman Emperor Constantine commissioned fifty Bibles in the original Greek language to be prepared by Eusebius the Bishop of Caesarea. Many Reformers and Lutherans in 1500 A.D., wrote at great length refuting the validity of the “Greek” Septuagint Old Testament Bible (scionofzion.com/septuagint2.htm), but the Roman Catholic Church has continued to dominate the translations of even our Protestant Bibles. So, we can see the chronological history of how our present-day English translations of the Bible (both New and Old Testaments) have been influenced by the Greek, not the original Hebrew language. Thus the original Old Testament Hebrew word Porneia which simply means “idolatry” was first mistranslated as “fornication” (Latin) by Catholic theologians and subsequently mistranslated by Protestants into the condemned English catch-all phrase - sexual immorality.

PORNEIA ~ IN THE OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE (Porneia = Idolatry)

The Old Testament has many references to the word Porneia that are confirmed in the New Testament. Some of them specifically refer only to Idolatry in which sex is not mentioned at all. For example: “See that no one is sexually immoral (Porneia), or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son,” (Heb. 12:16). Here, Esau is accused of Porneia. This soup story back in Genesis (25:34) has no sex in it at all. So, why is the Apostle Paul (in our English translation) calling Esau sexually immoral (porneia) because he gave up his spiritual birthright (all the blessings of Father Abraham) for a cup of soup. Similarly in Revelation (2:20–22), Jezebel gets God’s people to commit Porneia, but there is No sex here either. This re-tells the story of her Idolatry, where she supports the prophets of rival gods (1 Kings 18:19).?

In 2 Kings 9:22, Jezebel’s rebellion is described, in the Greek translation of the Bible, as Porneia. In 1 Corinthians 10: 7-8, the Apostle Paul says: “Do not be Idolaters,” ...“We should not commit Porneia, as some of them did — and in one day twenty-three thousand (23,000) of them died.”?This verse refers to a scene during the Jewish Exodus (Num. 25: 1-9), when the Israelites made a golden calf and worshipped it in the desert. Here the Israelites also committed “porneia” by having religious sex with pagan Moabite women to worship their pagan god - instead of going into the Promised Land. So, we can clearly see that the meaning of Porneia in the Old Testament Bible is metaphorically the worship of idols by offering food and sometimes sex to false gods (Sexual Idolatry).

PORNEIA ~ IN THE NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE (Porneia = Idolatry)

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: Porneia ... - which is Idolatry,” (Col. 3:5)

The Apostle Paul (who wrote 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament) informs us in the above verse that Porneia is Idolatry. Early Christian authors used the word Porneia to describe the idolatry of worshipping false prophetesses (Rev. 2:20-22; Hermas, Similitudes, 9.13.9; Justin, 1 Apology, 36; Irenaeus, Against the Heresies, 1.6.3, 1.23.3, 1.25.3). These authors built upon a tradition they had inherited from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), in which Idolatry —worshiping gods other than the God of Israel—was associated with improper sexual acts in the temple (sexual idolatry). Thus, God warned the Israelites not to play the whore (porne) by going after other gods, “the men sacrifice with shrine prostitutes,” (Hosea 4:14 -19, Septuagint) and Canaanites were said to use sex to worship their gods: “They prostitute themselves (ekporneuo) to their gods and sacrifice to them,” (Exodus 34:15-16, Septuagint). Equating false religiosity with idol worship,?authors such as the Apostle John of Patmos called their enemies "whores and fornicators" (pornai; Revelation 2:21-22, 17-18).

The New Testament uses the Hebrew word Porneia (idolatry) 27 times, but since there is no English equivalent meaning, it has been mistranslated into the Latin word fornication and the English catch-all phrase - sexual immorality - to include any sexual act outside of marriage (not religious sexual idolatry). The bible says that God cannot change his mind - so no one should be changing the meaning of His words: “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Num. 23:19) and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,” (Heb. 13:8). So, how and why did the meaning of Porneia in the Old Testament get changed from Idolatry to mean all non-religious sex outside of marriage?

THE ORIGINAL “Christian” SEX RULES

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from Porneia (abstaining from sex sacrificed to idols), from the meat of strangled animals and from blood,” (Acts 15: 19-21)

The above verses refer to the rules set by the Jerusalem Council for gentiles (non-Jews) to be saved and allowed into the Early Church. We must remember that Jesus and his disciples in the Early Church were all raised as practicing Jews. In the 1st century church, a dispute arose when some Judean Jewish christians taught that all non-Jews (Gentiles) must be circumcised to be saved. Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem for the first church conference with all the other Apostles to pray for the Holy Spirit to make this decision. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle James delivered the above message. They agreed that gentile believers in Jesus should not be burdened with having to follow Jewish ceremonial laws and be circumcised to be saved. But, they must stay away from pagan religious ceremonial rituals such as sacrificing food to idols and from sacrificing sex to idols. Is it possible that the Holy Spirit here, did not say that you must abstain from all non-religious sex to be saved, but to abstain from all religious sex sacrificed to idols through shrine prostitutes?

Just as St. Paul warned the Corinthians (1 Cor. 8:1-13) to stop eating food that had been offered to idols, he also warned them that having sex with temple prostitutes to worship idols (Porneia) was making them one with that pagan God. This was the same message that the Holy Spirit gave to the Apostles for the Gentiles at Antioch at the Jerusalem Church Conference: “You will do well to avoid these things," (Acts 15:28, 29). They were advised to stay away from food and sex sacrificed to idols in pagan temple worship services. So we can see that food and temple sex offered to idols was condemned by the Early Churches’ Jerusalem Council (NOT all sex outside of marriage). The 1st-century early church Jewish Christians knew exactly what the Hebrew word Porneia (Temple Sex) meant. They studied the Old Testament and understood that the pagan religions of Canaan were rampant with sex goddesses and temple prostitution: “For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath,”(Acts 15:22). God had warned the Hebrews not to intermarry with people from Canaan at all because they worshipped false gods. This worship often included human sacrifices and sexual religious practices (Deut. 7:3-4). However the 4th-century Catholic theologians who studied the Greek Septuagint continued interpreting Porneia as all sexual immorality or fornication (all sex outside of marriage). So, what is temple sex?

MALE “TEMPLE” PROSTITUTES - CONDEMNED?(Not Generic Homosexual Relationships)

As noted above, Jesus never talked about homosexuals, but he did mention eunuchs who were born that way. Jesus was Jewish and the word “pornea” is translated as whoremonger in the Old Testament Jewish Bible, and it refers to male shrine (temple) prostitutes (Deut. 23:17, Ez. 16:20, 1 Kgs. 14:24, and 2 Kgs. 23:7). In 2 Kings 23:7, King Manasseh set up the shameful Asherah pole to worship this chief goddess of the Cannanites. Asherah whose worship glorified sex and war was accompanied by male prostitution. See the following King James verses in the New Testament that translate pornea or fornicator into whoremonger or male temple prostitute (Eph. 5:5, 1 Cor. 5:9, 1 Tim. 1:10, Rev. 21:8 and 22:15). The word pornea appears several times in Paul's many letters. In each case it is beside the word, 'arsenokoitais'. In his book, "Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality"?(1980), Boswell argued that the term arsenokoitais (1 Cor. 6:19; 1 Tim. 1:10) signified a male temple prostitute rather than a generic homosexual, as it is commonly translated. Much of Paul's conservatism may be attributed not only to his strict Pharisaic background but also to the fact that most of his Greek and Asian converts had come out of cultures in which male and female temple prostitution were noble professions. Sexual excesses and orgies were a way of life amongst the pagans of the Near east.”?

This is why many scholars interpret a number of New Testament references to "fornicators" to be specifically talking about "temple prostitutes,"(male and female). English Bibles badly mistranslate "pornea" (1 Cor. 6:9) as fornication and sexual immorality. In the Temples of Corinth, Christian farmers were visiting temple priestesses who represented the fertility gods. By having sex with these prostitutes they believed their fields would be more fertile. This was all about the pagan cultic sex worship of pagan goddesses of sexual idolatry. The Temple of Artemis was known for its Prostitutes (Acts 19:23-41). Homosexuality is not condemned as a sin in the Bible in generic relationships. It clearly is condemned in the context of religious prostitution and sexual “Idolatry” or using sex to worship pagan goddesses.?

Starting in the Old Testaments’ book of Leviticus - homosexual religious rituals and many other acts are prohibited by God because the Canaan nation religions were rampant with sex goddesses and temple prostitution (Lev. 17:7; 20:5 & 6). Likewise in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul is condemning pagan religious sex with male and female temple prostitutes (1 Cor. 6:9), as the city of Corinth had a reputation among pagans for sexual immorality within the context of religious prostitution. Renowned Bible scholar - William Barclay reports that “The word for fornicators in this verse means a temple prostitute, ... the greatest building in Corinth was the Temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, where idolatry and immorality flourished side by side.” So, what does the Bible say about Romantic Love?

THE BIBLE DOESN’T TEACH ~ ROMANTIC LOVE-!?(God is your One and Only Soul Mate)?

Many christians believe that God has specifically created another person that is a perfect fit for them in marriage, and if they marry anyone other than their “soul mate” they will never be happy. They believe that when they find this person who is their other half, they will fall in “true romantic love.” But, does this concept of a romantic love and an eternal human soul mate originate in the Bible? No, it does not. In fact, it just gives unhappy married people an unbiblical excuse for divorce - so that they can keep endlessly searching for their “true love.”?

The concept of a soul mate finds its roots in Greek mythology and Hindu mysticism. Plato wrote in his work “The Symposium,” that humans have been looking for their soul mates ever since the Nephilim demigod - Zeus cut them in half. Plato describes a world where people were both men and women (Androgynous Souls) born with 2 faces, 4 arms, and 4 legs. These humans threatened to overthrow the gods, so in response Zeus split the humans in two. The humans were upset at this, so Zeus and the other demigods decided to enable each half (male and female) to have intercourse with their opposite, symbolically creating a whole and allowing them to reproduce. Ever since then, according to the myth, humans have sought to find their other half taken from them by the demigods (fallen angels). This false belief in soul mates is also tied to “Hindu Reincarnation,” as many people believe that the two halves of a soul will find each other over and over again as they are reincarnated. But when they supposably find their other half and fall in love, they end up getting divorced because they still feel incomplete. Much of our society and culture is based on this false idea of “romantic love” that is ingrained in our literature and art. This selfish concept of romantic love has significantly contributed to the high divorce rates in the United States and around the world (iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/spring07/zuffoletti/love).?

As humans, we often feel lonely and incomplete, but these universal human feelings cannot be resolved with romantic love. The Global divorce rate for arranged marriages is 6.3 %, compared to 50% in the United States (God hates divorce: Mal. 2:16). Fifty-five (55) % of the marriages that occur in the world today are arranged marriages. The divorce rate in India is just 1.1% where 89% of marriages are arranged. The Bible teaches “arranged marriages” by example (Gen. 24), in which the parents are “involved” (not controlling) in choosing a mate for their children. When we get married, we "become one flesh," but this is the physical act of sex (2 Cor. 6:16), rather than becoming an eternal “soul mate” with one man or woman. The only truly satisfying “Eternal Soul Mate” is the one we can enjoy with our Creator. God has created humans to desire a relationship with Him, and when we are “linked” to Him in our souls, we feel satisfied (Ps. 23:3, 35:9; Lk. 1:46-47; Mt. 11:29; 1Pet. 2:25).?

THINK ABOUT IT ~ Are you following God's Sex Rules (or Man's Traditions) -?

“It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from ‘SEX sacrificed to Idols.’?You will do well to avoid these things,” (Acts 15:28-29)

For the first 300 years of Christianity, the Early Church was given Only one (1) Rule for Sex (aside from adultery): Abstain from sex sacrificed to Idols. The Apostle James said, “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from Porneia (abstaining from sex sacrificed to idols), from the meat of strangled animals and from blood,” (Acts 15: 19-21). At the Council of Jerusalem, the Apostles and Elders agreed not to make it difficult for gentiles to be saved - to be a part of the Early Church. It seemed good to God (the Holy Spirit), that gentiles should not be burdened with having to follow the Jewish ceremonial laws that included being circumcised to become a Christian. But, all non-Jews or gentiles were required to abstain from Idol worship. They were required to stop following their pagan religious rituals of sacrificing food (blood and meat from strangled animals), and from sacrificing sex to Idols. The Holy Spirit did Not demand that these gentile singles abstain from having all non-religious sex (if they were not married) for their entire life as a condition of their salvation. This would have placed a near impossible burden of religious guilt upon all gentiles - condemning them to hell.

Are The Devil's Lies Working? At our nation's churches, men are few in the pews and Black men are even fewer. Women outnumber men in attendance in every major Christian denomination. According to a U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of 35,000 people by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: only 34% of men attend worship at least weekly (Grossman, USA TODAY, 2008). Where are the other 66% of men? This is a problem especially among African-Americans and Hispanics, as many boys are raised by single mothers in fragmented families. This makes it harder to disciple them to go to church. On a level that is disproportionate to the rest of society, Black men grow up without a father in the home. This leaves them with no pattern to model after in the pursuit of Godly manhood. When they get older, they are faced with a religious choice to abstain from sex or go to hell. Most, choose to have sex and not go to church. In the Early Church this decision would not have been a condition of their salvation. So, the Devil’s lies have caused the burden of religious guilt and sexual repression to attack the family - the heart of God’s Church.

The Apostle Paul informs us that “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery,” (Gal. 5:1). No amount of rule keeping, discipline, or moral behavior can save us. Paul tells us that Christ’s provision for our salvation will not help us if we are trying to obey the law, church rules or traditions to save our selves: “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace,” (Gal. 5:4). It is wrong to put a burden of law keeping on Christians. We must stand against those who would enslave us with special conditions for being saved or growing in Christ. Parents should encourage their children to practice sexual abstinence before marriage to prevent sexual diseases and unwanted pregnancies, but this can never be taught as a condition of their salvation in Christ: "We are free to do all things, but there are things which it is not wise to do. We are free to do all things, but not all things are for the common good," (1 Cor. 10:23). The Bible only specifically prohibits “Porneia” (sexual idolatry) in the inspired Hebrew Old Testament. Jesus only gave us two rules for sex and every other behavior to live our lives:?“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,” (Mt. 22:37-39).

THE GREATEST LOVE STORY OF ALL !

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends,” (Jn. 15:13)?

To think that God - the cosmic King of the mysterious energy that encompasses the entire universe could have a love for his human creatures so much that he would leave his eternal realm to enter time and space to incarnate (transform) into a human being (Jesus) is unfathomable. With a divine father and a human mother, our eternal Cosmic King Jesus - came to Planet Earth as GOD in the flesh. The Greatest Love Story of All - is inseparably united with the fact that the God of the Universe intervened into human history as a God-man by revealing himself in the person of Jesus Christ. He did this to save men from their sins. Jesus who pre-existed as God in heaven, without ceasing to be God, became a man - God incarnate or God personified in a man’s body (Jn. 1:1-5). He did this to demonstrate who God is (God is Love), and not only to provide eternal life for us by becoming the ultimate eternal sacrifice for our sins, but to make us heirs of his Kingdom.?

So the true meaning of Saint Valentine’s Day may not be in the worship of werewolves, sex addiction, or the belief in a false fantasy of human romantic love. It may be in understanding the depths of God’s love for us. So if you have never been selected as someone’s Valentine or you have never felt completely loved because you don’t fit into the ways of this world, you can be confident in knowing this. You have been selected as the “Valentine” of the God of the Bible (The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost) and God has a gift for you. However, praying for and receiving God’s gift of the Holy Ghost will not transform you into a wolf. But it will start the transformation process for you to receive the incorruptible mind and body of Christ. When our spiritual genes (Eccle. 3:11) are awakened by God’s “immortal seed” (the DNA of Jesus, 1 Pet. 1:23), our genetic code is altered. Our corrupted DNA is then restored back to the image of God, and the regeneration process starts. All you have to do is repent (Change your thinking), open your heart, accept this love, and be born again and be filled and “Sealed” with the Holy Spirit (Eh. 1:13). I pray for myself and for you as the Apostle Paul did for the Ephesians that we would come to know the immeasurable, unconditional, and inexhaustible love that God has for us:?

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole FAMILY in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the SAINTS, to grasp how Wide and Long and High and Deep is the LOVE of CHRIST, and to know this LOVE that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled?to the measure of all the fullness of GOD,” (Eph. 3:14-19)?