ORDAINED MINISTERS

From the desk of
Bill Ramey

ORDAINED MINISTERS

Did Christ command that ministers be ordained and partnered with the Roman Government in that office? Wouldn’t that constitute a pact with the devil? The devil told Christ he owned all the governments of the world and gave them to whomever he chose --- see Luke 4.

Why does the American Government demand that all ministers be ordained and therefore registered? Because America is the Image of the Beast mentioned in Revelation 13 and exercises all the control of the Roman Government in the world today. They do it for control! An ordained minister has divided loyalties between the divine and the state or federal government. Can this be so????

As evidence I offer the wedding ceremonies performed by ordained ministers. The closing line goes something like this: “By the authority invested in me by God and the state of _______, I now pronounce you man and wife.” Now the state (or gov’t) is a party to the marriage as evidenced by the marriage license and contractually has jurisdiction over the children of this marriage. They are within their jurisdiction in telling you how to raise these children!

Ordained ministers in America are now, by decree of George Bush as president of the nation, (Executive Order #13397) answerable to the head of Homeland Security and as such are agents of the federal government! And, by that “law”, are required to report any activities in their membership which is not commensurate with government ideals.

Do we need to go into what constitutes “government ideals”? Legalized murder in the form of abortions. Legalized marriage of homosexuals. Bailouts from the federal coffers for non performers. Our government has already been weighed in the balances and found wanting (my opinion), and we are merely waiting for the hammer to fall on us as a nation.

Have we lost our mind and our national conscience (if we ever had one)?

Today, we in America, are every bit as much slaves as were the Israelites in Egypt and like them it will take a miracle for our deliverance. And, yes, I am familiar with the old saw, “Home of the brave and land of the free.” This myth was promoted by the jesuits that hammered out America as a nation. The point man in that endeavor was named Americ. Go figure.

ORDINATION --- A CATHOLIC RITUAL

The following is taken from the ’91 edition of Colliers Encyclopedia --- article HOLY ORDERS.

Ordo (“order,” “rank”) and ordinatios (“ordination,” “appointment to office”) were technical terms of Roman officialdom. The term “order,” used in ecclesiastical language since Tertullian (second century), denotes: 1) one of the ranks in the ministry, 2) the office of a minister, and 3) the act whereby such rank or office is conferred. In the second or third meaning, the term is usually plural (“orders,” often “holy orders”); “ordination” applies only to the third meaning.

The number of orders (ranks or grades) has varied, but since the third century seven (or eight) have usually been enumerated: 1) doorkeeper, 2) reader, 3) exorcist, 4) acolyte, 5) subdeacon, 6) deacon, 7) priest, and 8) bishop, which is often coupled with priest. The Latin and Armenian Churches have all eight; the Eastern Churches generally have 2,5,6,7, and 8; the Anglican Church has 6,7, and 8; Calvin retained 7 and 6 (presbyters, elders); Luther held no rigid system, and lutherans consider all clergy equal in order, using the titles of bishop, pastor, elder and deacon; other churches use various terms.

That order is a sacrament or sensible sign instituted by Christ to confer grace for the ministry is the traditional teaching of the Church, defined by the Council of Trent (1563), and held by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Churches and by the Anglican Communion. There is but one sacrament of order: to it, as parts, belong the priesthood and diaconate; the Scholastics held the episcopate to be merely “the fullness of the priesthood,” while it is regarded by most modern theologians as a special order. Theologians commonly teach that the minor orders (doorkeeper, reader, exorcist, acolyte) are not a sacrament, but sacramentals instituted by the Church. The Protestant Reformers affirmed the universality of the Christian priesthood and abolished the essential distinction between orders and laity. Although the Church of England once debated the validity of order as a sacrament, the rite of ordination was always maintained. Protestants generally hold that order is not a sacrament.

In 1947 Pope Pius XII defined, for future ordinations, that the essential rite of the sacrament consists in the laying on of hands and the accompanying words which determine the office (diaconate, priesthood, episcopate) being conferred, without settling for the past whether the “giving of the instruments” (book, chalice, pater) was also an essential. Since this sacrament confers a “character,” a valid ordination can never be repeated.

Have our ordained ministers of America signed a pact with the devil?