BBD 04.07.16 Bridal Bandits (New)

#1 · April 7, 2016, 12:20 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on April 7, 2016, 12:20 pm
Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Since June 8^th 1998, this
is the 1712^th

Burning Bush Devotional

7 April 2016

Bridal
Bandits

Husbands, love your wives, just as
Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse
her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to
Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but
that she should be holy and without blemish. – Ephesians 5:25-27 NKJV.

The light of a lamp shall not shine
in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you
anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your
sorcery ALL THE NATIONS WERE DECEIVED. And in her was found the
blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth. –
Revelation 18:23-24 NKJV.

For I am jealous for you with godly
jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. – 2
Corinthians 11:2 NKJV.

But there were also false prophets
among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will
secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift
destruction. And many will follow their destructive
ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words;
for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does
not slumber. – 2 Peter 2:1-3 NKJV.

For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure
through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually
escaped from those who live in error. While they promise
them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is
overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. – 2 Peter 2:18-19
NKJV.

Brides, grooms,
and wedding guests can now relax; the Bridal Bandit has been caught and given a
seven year prison sentence. 50-year-old Denise Gunderson is the Bridal Bandit
and as she posed as a guest she would steal everything she could. Denise stole
cash, wallets, purses, and credit cards. She stole from the actual wedding
guests and from bride and groom. She made fraudulent charges of thousands of
dollars on the stolen credit cards. Most of the thefts were in San Diego County,
although she was arrested in December for theft of a wallet at a church in Las
Vegas. Denise admitted to having three prior felony convictions; however, since she
used several aliases she may have had more. After she was arrested it was discovered
there were warrants for her arrest already in San Diego and Riverside counties
in California. (7SanDiego 04.06.16; KNSDtv; ABCNews; 10News 12.11.15)

Thankfully, I never had
a bridal bandit attend any of the weddings I have officiated. However, there
has been another type of bridal bandit show up at the churches where I have
been the pastor. Let me explain. The church, which is not a building; but all
born again believers, is the Bride of Christ. This picture of believers as God’s
bride is in the Old Testament too as Isaiah 65:2 says, “And as the
bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” In Hosea 2:19
God says, “I will betroth you to Me forever; yes,
I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and
mercy.” What would you call someone who leads believers
away from the truth of the gospel? In 2 Peter we see
that God calls them “false prophets” and “false teachers.”

These bridal bandits (false prophets and false teachers)
work hard at stealing away the truth and joy of believers distorting the gospel,
adding in false doctrines, and saying works are needed for salvation. Some of
the bridal bandits I have encountered, spread the lie that you can live a perfect
life, and must live without any sin to have salvation. In other words
everything you think, do or say, or don’t do or say has to be without sin. This
is a lie. Other bridal bandits demand that you work your way to Heaven by
keeping certain rituals. Some claim that Jesus was not God, just an angel, or
just a good teacher or not fully human and fully God. The lies of bridal bandits
continue to multiply, but it doesn’t make them true. The good news is that
there will be a day of judgment for the bridal bandits as we are told in the Book of Revelation.

How can we avoid becoming a victim of the
bridal bandits? We must follow the example of the Bereans, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in
that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures
daily to find out whether these
things were so (Acts 17:11).” Search the Scriptures, study the Scriptures,
memorize the Scriptures, and the bridal bandits will find it very hard to make
you one of their victims.

Copyright © 2016. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began
writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of those first
devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison
facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

www.theburningbush.net

www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites are celebrating
18 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush
Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000
subscribers across the world.

The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now
available for download from Amazon. The Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat
your addiction that actually work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM

The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the
Devotionals at the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of
the home page. Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Prayer
Requests:
Please continue to pray for Michelle A., Shane Hall, Reta
(my sister), and Beverly (Jeanie’s sister). Please also pray for Max Boothe,
Nathan Reed, Brent Baker, and Tommy Merrell.

Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. Many
prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page.
You can also post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. I am in
need of prayer as I have resigned as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in
Cordell, Oklahoma and am now seeking God’s direction for how I am to serve Him.).

You can contact Ed Wrather at edwrather@yahoo.com or
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

--

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org

Posted by: theburningbushdevotional <theburningbushdevotional@...>

Since June 8^th 1998, this
is the 1712^th

Burning Bush Devotional

7 April 2016

Bridal
Bandits

Husbands, love your wives, just as
Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse
her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to
Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but
that she should be holy and without blemish. – Ephesians 5:25-27 NKJV.

The light of a lamp shall not shine
in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you
anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your
sorcery ALL THE NATIONS WERE DECEIVED. And in her was found the
blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth. –
Revelation 18:23-24 NKJV.

For I am jealous for you with godly
jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. – 2
Corinthians 11:2 NKJV.

But there were also false prophets
among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will
secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift
destruction. And many will follow their destructive
ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words;
for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does
not slumber. – 2 Peter 2:1-3 NKJV.

For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure
through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually
escaped from those who live in error. While they promise
them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is
overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. – 2 Peter 2:18-19
NKJV.

Brides, grooms,
and wedding guests can now relax; the Bridal Bandit has been caught and given a
seven year prison sentence. 50-year-old Denise Gunderson is the Bridal Bandit
and as she posed as a guest she would steal everything she could. Denise stole
cash, wallets, purses, and credit cards. She stole from the actual wedding
guests and from bride and groom. She made fraudulent charges of thousands of
dollars on the stolen credit cards. Most of the thefts were in San Diego County,
although she was arrested in December for theft of a wallet at a church in Las
Vegas. Denise admitted to having three prior felony convictions; however, since she
used several aliases she may have had more. After she was arrested it was discovered
there were warrants for her arrest already in San Diego and Riverside counties
in California. (7SanDiego 04.06.16; KNSDtv; ABCNews; 10News 12.11.15)

Thankfully, I never had
a bridal bandit attend any of the weddings I have officiated. However, there
has been another type of bridal bandit show up at the churches where I have
been the pastor. Let me explain. The church, which is not a building; but all
born again believers, is the Bride of Christ. This picture of believers as God’s
bride is in the Old Testament too as Isaiah 65:2 says, “And as the
bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” In Hosea 2:19
God says, “I will betroth you to Me forever; yes,
I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and
mercy.” What would you call someone who leads believers
away from the truth of the gospel? In 2 Peter we see
that God calls them “false prophets” and “false teachers.”

These bridal bandits (false prophets and false teachers)
work hard at stealing away the truth and joy of believers distorting the gospel,
adding in false doctrines, and saying works are needed for salvation. Some of
the bridal bandits I have encountered, spread the lie that you can live a perfect
life, and must live without any sin to have salvation. In other words
everything you think, do or say, or don’t do or say has to be without sin. This
is a lie. Other bridal bandits demand that you work your way to Heaven by
keeping certain rituals. Some claim that Jesus was not God, just an angel, or
just a good teacher or not fully human and fully God. The lies of bridal bandits
continue to multiply, but it doesn’t make them true. The good news is that
there will be a day of judgment for the bridal bandits as we are told in the Book of Revelation.

How can we avoid becoming a victim of the
bridal bandits? We must follow the example of the Bereans, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in
that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures
daily to find out whether these
things were so (Acts 17:11).” Search the Scriptures, study the Scriptures,
memorize the Scriptures, and the bridal bandits will find it very hard to make
you one of their victims.

Copyright © 2016. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
the email version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began
writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of those first
devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison
facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit the
Burning Bush websites:

http://www.theburningbush.net

http://www.theburningbush.org

The Burning Bush websites are celebrating
18 years online since January 31, 1998. Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush
Devotional has been spreading the truth of God's Word to more than 14,000
subscribers across the world.

The Addictions Kit - Biblical Help for Addictions by Ed Wrather is now
available for download from Amazon. The Addictions Kit provides practical Biblical steps to defeat
your addiction that actually work.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VIYLNLM

The New Pastor's Training Manual is available for download on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PJ8UTGS If you prefer a paper copy of the book you can order it from
the Burning Bush website at http://bit.ly/1uXDBnk

You can leave comments/feedback
about the devotionals at http://www.theburningbush.net.

There is a translation tool on
theburningbush.net website in the top right hand corner of all of the pages.

Check out the Scripture Index being constructed for the
Devotionals at the Burning Bush website. The Links are in about the middle of
the home page. Topics for each devotional are now being added to the Index.

Prayer
Requests:
Please continue to pray for Michelle A., Shane Hall, Reta
(my sister), and Beverly (Jeanie’s sister). Please also pray for Max Boothe,
Nathan Reed, Brent Baker, and Tommy Merrell.

Please pray for an end to the
racial hatred in the USA and that it will be replaced with peace and love. Many
prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the Prayer Request page.
You can also post your prayer requests there (Of course, I am always in need of prayer - please pray for me. I am in
need of prayer as I have resigned as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in
Cordell, Oklahoma and am now seeking God’s direction for how I am to serve Him.).

You can contact Ed Wrather at edwrather@yahoo.com or
theburningbushdevotional@gmail.com View LinkedIn profile with
endorsements at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=92988105

If you enjoy the devotional
please recommend it to your friends. They may subscribe by sending a blank
email to burningbushdevo-join@welovegod.org

There is a complete devotional
archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/DevotionalArchive.html.

Devotion vs Devotional: We do our
devotions, we read devotionals.

You can unsubscribe to the burningbushdevo devotional group by
sending a blank email to burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email.

You may subscribe to the html text group (Because of time
constraints the devotional is only being sent now in html format) by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-join@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by
sending a blank email to burningbushhtml-leave@welovegod.org and then respond
to the confirmation email. If the link does not work, copy and paste the link.

To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: burningbushdevo-leave@welovegod.org