Some question has been raised on the appropriateness of the use of the Rosary by members of the LOC. The use of the Rosary is largely a ritual associated with the Catholic Church.

The purpose of the Rosary is to help keep in memory certain principal events or mysteries in the history of our salvation, and to thank and praise God for them. We find this practice to be acceptable as a tool but understand that all members may not agree.

For those who choose to use the Rosary here are several very helpful links that offer clear and simple instructions.

How to use the Rosary - Catholic

How to use the Rosary - Ecumenical

How to use the Rosary - Lutheran

The Soldier's Rosary - A prayer tool for those seeking God while serving in the Military

Ranger Rosaries - Free "Military Spec" Rosaries for Chaplains, Troops and Public Safety

We believe that marriage is an institution, designed by God, between a man and a woman.

Jesus speaks about divorce in Matt. 19: 8 & 9 and tells us that; "it was not this way from the beginning" making it clear that marriage was intended to be a permanent union.

What roles are set out for husbands and wives ?

Eph. 5: 28 - 31 guides husbands to love their wives as their own bodies...feeding and caring for them.

Eph. 5: 22 - 24 instructs wives to submit to their husbands and many are confused by this point. This position of submission does not need to be interpreted literally as a male dominance issue but can be one of loving care by the husband just as Christ cares for the church. Husbands are identified as the spiritual leaders in a marriage in Eph. 5: 23, but 1 Cor. 11: 11 & 12 reminds us that while woman came from man, man is born of woman, neither is independant of the other.

The intimate life of married couples is also a subject often debated. Some in today's society have taken God's gift of sex and turned it into a weapon to be used against each other. What was intended be a celebration of love is now used to shun and tear people apart.

Many married christian couples express concern that they are unsure what their intimate life should consist of. 1 Cor. 7: 3 - 5 tells couples; "Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer". A healthy sex life should not cause concern and in fact 1 Cor. 7 goes on to say that it prevents falling into temptations.

There are very few restrictions placed on couples in scripture that would approve or disaprove of specific activities that some may choose to explore and include in their intimate relations. Prov. 5: 18 - 19 speaks of a joyful, satisfying intimate life. We are instead told to honor and respect our mate and to do nothing that would cause them harm.

Many feel that the Song of Solomon, while an illustration of Christ's relationship with the Church, is also a testimony to the beauty and commitment of the physical and emotional side of intimate relationships.

Parenting

Children are truly a precious gift from God (PS. 127: 3 - 5). The role of parents and children are laid out in Eph. 6: 1 - 4 where children are instructed to obey their parents while parents are instructed not to exasperate or frustrate their children. As parents we have the responsibility of instructing and setting proper examples and goals for our children and then remaining consistant and following through with our word.

We DO NOT advocate abuse in any form, however we feel that there is a clear difference between abuse and discipline. Prov. 13: 24 is an often controversial passage concerning discipline however the meaning of the scripture remains clear; loving parents must set rules and boundries for their children to provide them with a loving, structured environment to grow up in. Prov. 22: 6 instructs parents to "train a child...and when he is old he will not turn from it". Parents have a responsibility to encourage our children, help them learn from our experiences and then make proper decisions later in life.

There is much debate today concerning women in positions of leadership in the ministry. Setting the basic tone is Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

How does all of this lead up to women ministers? Perhaps you are thinking that although we have laid a biblical foundation for "neither male nor female" in Christ, certain verses in the New Testament still seem to ban women from ministry positions in the church. Let's examine these verses for the true interpretation.

"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law" (1 Corinthians 14:34).

"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence" (1 Timothy 2:11-12).

In these verses, Paul cannot be addressing women who were in the ministry, but rather those in the congregation who were out of order. How do we know this? We have many such proofs, many from Paul himself. Here is a partial list of women who were all in influential positions of leadership in the early church.

Pheobe (Romans 16:1-2): This woman was a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea, who was beloved of Paul and many other Christians for the help she gave to them. She filled an important position of leadership. It would be a difficult stretch of the imagination to say that this woman fulfilled her duties without ever speaking in the church!

Priscilla (Acts 18:26): Priscilla and her husband Aquila are often mentioned with great respect by Paul. Together they were pastors of a church in Ephesus, and were responsible for teaching the full gospel to Apollos. We are informed that they both taught Apollos, and pastored the church together. In fact, Priscilla is sometimes listed ahead of Aquila when their names come up. This has led some to speculate that of the two, she was the primary teacher and her husband oversaw the ministry. At any rate, we see here a woman in a very prominent position of teaching and pastoring. (Other references to Priscilla and Aquila are Acts 18:2, 18; Romans 16:3, and I Corinthians 16:19).

Euodia and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2-3): Here we see reference to two women who were "true yokefellow" and who labored with Paul in the advancement of the gospel.

Junia (Romans 16:7): In this verse we see Paul sending greetings to Andronicus and Junia, his "fellow-prisoners" who are of note among the apostles. Junia is a woman's name. In some modern translations, an "s" has been added (Junias) because the translators were so sure a woman could not be an apostle, that they assumed a copyist has accidentally dropped the "s." However the proper male ending would have been "ius," not "ias." No church commentator earlier than the Middle Ages questioned that Junia was both a woman and an apostle.

Though there were other women throughout the Bible in positions of leadership, such as prophetesses, evangelists, judges, leaders, etc., the above references should be enough to establish that women were indeed a vital and normal part of church leadership. Paul expected women to speak in the church, or else why would he have given the following directive? It would have been useless to give directions for women who were speaking in the church, if they were never allowed to do so.

1 Corinthians 11:5, "But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven."

Furthermore, if Paul believed that all women should never teach or speak in church, why does he commend many women who did just that?

Even in Paul's day, there were those who tried to twist the meaning his words.

"...His (Paul's) letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do other Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:16).

It is a fair conclusion that the testimony of the bulk of Scripture, church history and God's anointing upon them, all speak plainly for women being able to fulfill all positions of the five-fold offices of apostle, prophet, pastor, evangelist and teacher.

The Lord gave the church gifts of His choosing in the form of men and women who would lead the church into perfection (Ephesians 4:8-12).

It is the Lord who calls men and women to His ministry. He does not call special people, but the call goes out to "whosoever will." First, we are called to salvation; then as we walk in obedience to Him, He calls for us to be baptized in His Holy Spirit. As we continue to obey and follow Him, He then may choose us to serve Him in a full-time ministry. He chooses people for the ministry out of those who have walked in obedience to His other calls. He desires that all follow, but can only choose those who are obedient. These men and women who have answered the call are set in the ministry by Jesus Himself. Man's ordination does not qualify them, but the ordination of God does. Men will recognize those who are truly called by Him. They will even recognize women who are called of God as God empowers them with His anointing and power which cannot be denied.

When this Scripture says, "appointed and gave men to us," it does not mean just the male sex. The same man whom God created in the beginning which included male and female is the one referred to here. These "men" are both male and female and they have a responsibility to bring others into the maturity that they possess.

Based on what we believe to be sound scriptural examples, we welcome the work of women in the ministry and support the ordination of qualified women called to His service.

Based on the teaching of His Holy Word, WE CONSIDER ABORTION TO BE A SIN. We do however respect that each woman must make her own personal decision based on her circumstances and her individual relationship with God.

There are secular laws in many States that protect everything from eagles to lobsters to goldfish. They write, according to the law, that they do this; "To protect the tendency to dull humanitarian feelings and to prevent moral corruption". It seems, to the secular world, that offering a goldfish as a carnival prize is more damaging to "humanitarian feelings" then the murder of a baby. The IRS has even gotten involved, ruling that if a baby survives the abortion process then the parents are entitled to a tax exemption. Therefore if an abortion succeeds then the baby was not a living being, but if for some reason the abortion fails, they have decided that it is a baby after all. This demonstrates the fact that many people today view this issue as merely a matter of personal convenience.

It is clear from His word that life begins before birth and thus abortion is taking a life.

Jer. 1:4 - 5 -- "Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, "before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."

Scripture after scripture remind us that children are a treasured gift from our heavenly Father, even those born with impairments are mentioned in Ex. 4:11 -- "And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord?". Who are we to decide if this innocent being will live or will die, when it is God who creates all things.

In regards to situations of rape or incest; we feel it is not the baby who was the aggressor against the women, and as there is no biblical support for the use of abortion in these situations, it is left up to the conscience of the woman before her God, as in the case of a risk to the mothers life.

Homosexuality, Same Sex Unions and Ordination

All people of all lifestyles are welcome in the family of God. We believe as scripture teaches, that Salvation is available to all people. Our heavenly Father is all powerful and, if we seek Him out and ask for His help in prayer, He can provide for all our needs, forgive our sins and guide us in a godly life.

There are clear statements in Scripture, both old and new testaments, concerning homosexuality. (Rom. 1:26 - 27 & Lev. 18:22, Etc.) While we acknowledge that judgement is reserved for God and our role is mearly to offer a path to His Word and teachings and provide an opportunity to accept salvation, we do not perform same sex unions and do not appoint those active in the gay or lesbian lifestyle to positions of leadership in the Church.

Much of the Old Testament is dedicated to Laws and the Administration of those Laws.

Gen. 9:6 plainly set out God's law -- "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man." Capital Punishment was used as a consequence of breaking both the laws of man and the laws of God. It was even mentioned as a deterrent to crime in Deut. 17:12 - 13 -- "And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Isreal. And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously."

Jesus own words in Matt. 26:52 reaffirm that capital punishment was not merely an Old Testament teaching. One of His apostles, in an attempt to prevent the arrest of Christ, drew his sword and injured one of those that came for Jesus -- "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into its place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Jesus also reminded us that we need to comply with the secular laws of the land in Matt. 22: 21 when He said; "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."

In no way is the taking of a human life done lightly. Whether used under the laws of man or the laws of God, capital punishment is used in only the most serious situations and only after guilt has been clearly established.

The question has been raised; "How can you be Pro-Life and Pro-Capitol Punishment ? Isn't that hypocritical?" While at first glance there may seem to be a contradiction the key difference is that abortion involves taking an inocent life. As discussed above, capitol punishment is used when a serious crime has been committed and guilt has clearly been established.

** All scriptural references are taken from the New International Version of THE BIBLE available online at The Bible Gateway.