 | * Are you really Saved? * You may be Shocked * Great Solutions, Hope and Answers Unlike seen Elsewhere * A Better System & Workforce * The Great Deception * Not Only Forums. |
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| * Are you really Saved? * You may be Shocked * Great Solutions, Hope and Answers Unlike seen Elsewhere * A Better System & Workforce * The Great Deception * Not Only Forums. |
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Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Wednesday, April 10, 2002 at 22:50:12 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A1.: I have been reading your articles and I understand your ideas, and your worries. But you speak of a "system", and although you also talk about religion you can not mix the two. I know that you will say that you CAN, but as you speak of people being dragged by this actual corrupt system that we live on nowadays, and how we grow becoming victims of such system and therefore end up corrupt, or corrupted, you have to remember that religion is NOT a system. You point out in many biblical verses the ways of Jesus and his apostles, but still you believe in creating this whole new group of people who are truly Christians, independent of the system, and therefore honest, and loving and concerned of their neighbours. The problem is the so called Christians are mixing the two and I am trying to warn them that they cannot serve God and Mammon and they cannot be of the world and claim to be Christians. As far as warning people and talking about God and the World, the Bible is full of verses warning about the system or the world and it's evil. Are you saying it is wrong to warn people like the men of the Bible did? Personally, I agree in many of the things that you say, but on the other hand, you must remember that at the end of this "trial" the weed will be separated from the crop, and the goats from the sheep. So, why not becomes an example through your own life without even worrying too much about the future? Why not have some peace in your heart? Why try to rearrange all issues in the world when you are the only one who can make the difference? Jesus worried only about 12 apostles, but he had to teach them the way. The truth is hard to find nowadays when we are dragged into so many ideas on how the world should be run, today the word of god is used to exalt our own voice instead of helping others. The word of god is not to teach it to other people, it was brought to you, and for you only. It was not meant to be given to your neighbour, to your family, to any relative or friend, or wife, or husband. The word was meant to reach your heart, and your heart alone. Isn't that the opposite of what the Bible says?
Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to
every creature. Once you live the word of god the world is not that bad, because you start LIVING THE WORD. It does not mean you are careless, or mindless of the actual events that are all around our world. It just means that you allow peace to settle in a storm. Even when the church is crumbling, even when people who are supposed to be "Christians" do not show it in their thoughts, acts, and feelings. Just live the word of god. I know that you will say that it is exactly what you are trying to let us know. But believe me, we need to start being an example for others without even going to them with the word of god, without even showing them how the world is plunged into darkness. Once they see light in your life they will come asking for it. We need to be light for others, but if our mind is in a turmoil and we can not live in peace inside ourselves, and if we can not show others how Jesus wanted us to live then we fall back and become part of the system that you so much describe. Jeremiah was in turmoil and known as the weeping prophet. The evil upset him so much. He hated evil. Therefore if someone hates evil how could they become part of it and do evil wilfully while they still hate the evil? To be an example and live differently to the world wouldn't Christians have to do things a better way and in a better system like at http://www.truechristianity.com/christian/salvationb.htm? I so often contemplate our world, its misery, its warfare, its ideas, its movements, its wounds, and I get sad, but I look towards heaven and I say, "Lord, remember me when I am in your heavenly kingdom." On the meantime I struggle for my own salvation, and I struggle every single day to serve God through my love, my time, my compassion, my dedication for the ones needed. I always remember what he said that he came for us sinners, and I realize that I have not much to give as a human being, but my tiredness, my work, my ears to hear others, my mind to understand them, my heart to have compassion, my hands to hug them, and my feet to go wherever there is need. I am a busy person and sometimes I get so busy that I have no time to rest, but I know that one day I will have plenty of time to rest in peace. But in the meantime we need to be in peace. When you are in peace you can run to help aliviate somehow in your own potential, and littleness the necessities of others. Let the peace be with you, do not let so much evil unease your heart, and worry your mind. If you believe in god then just believe in god, but in peace, so you can understand what he is trying to say to you. Life can be a living hell, but with Jesus life is a paradise even when there is hunger. I have read articles that say that people who are dying of hunger do not know or do not want to know about Jesus because even though he is the answer to all of our necessities hunger causes mental psychosis, and disorders. I understand what this person is getting to. He is putting the physical world before the spiritual one. But I can assure him that when the spirit is sure of its faith death such as the one met by the apostles is more of a grace than a pain. You may not understand this but let the peace be with you. Email: searl_carmac@hotmail.com Name: Searl Harrison List: If it helps yes, but if it does not then just keep it in your heart. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Wednesday, April 10, 2002 at 21:22:11 A1.: You are sincere...but you are wrong. Dangerously wrong. If you really want to know what salvation is, go here. www.truinsight.com Salvation is not found in your holiness walk. Salvation is not found by forgoing "unnecessary food." Nor can salvation be found by avoiding "unnecessary entertainment" or "fiction." You are attempting to justify yourself before God and you do not even know it. I am reading through your site. Salvation is found through Jesus and I have explained that at http://www.truechristianity.com/christian/salvationb.htm and http://www.truechristianity.com/christian/saved.htm We need to do God's will as well as explained in Mathew 7:21 states "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Could you be more specific on the things you disagree with given the above verse I urge you as wholeheartedly as is possible to go and read the articles available on www.truinsight.com. Email: Blacknarwhal@hotmail.com Church: Regenerate Christian. List: Yes, please. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Saturday, April 6, 2002 at 14:22:56 3(a): Ok I am not saying that as Christians we won't face hard times. Everyone faces hard times. But we must keep our faith because it is the last thing we lose before we die. I will give you examples. I am female 46 years old. When I was 10 I saw my little sister get hit by a car. It traumatized me for a long time and I felt guilty about this. My sister was in the hospital and while there I was home praying to GOD to take my life instead of her's. Everyday I woke up just knowing that GOD was going to grant me my wish. Whoever heard of making deals with God. On March 4th 1967 at 5:00am my sister was pronounced dead. I was beside myself with sorrow I couldn't sleep, eat, talk; it hurt inside my heart a real true pain. I became angry with GOD because everyone kept telling me that it was god's will and that he needed my sister. For years I was very angry and held him accountable for what happened. As time went by I realized that GOD wants us health and strong not broken down ill and helpless. Then I began to realize that the DEVIL is the enemy. He loves to torment us to make us feel helpless and without hope that way he can control us and win another soul for himself. Always remember that God is everything that is good. I want you also to know that my mother and us are survivors of domestic violence, physical abuse, child abuse and with this I have been stricken with diabetes mellitus type 2, severe colitis, post traumatic stress disorder, 3 herniated discs in my spine, spondilosis, spondylitis, osteo arthritis, arthritis, radiculopathy, weak heart, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, etc. etc. I have had a total of 6 surgeries on this body of mine most recently 3/6/2002. But my faith is still strong and I will always believe in GOD the almighty no matter what. Know that he sees and hears all and that things happen on his time not when we want. After all we aren't small children throwing temper tantrums of are we????? Email: Catiosca@webtv.net Name: Sandy McDowell age 46 disabled but going strong. Church: Christian List: yes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
on Tuesday, March 5, 2002 at 22:53:43 A1.: I think that they are fundamentalistic in quality. I think it would be improved if your site contained some biblical criticism. A2.: The Jesus Christians... you already have a link to their site. A3.: The Jesus Christians A4. a): Have you ever seen a genuine miracle. I haven't. A4. b): Haven't seen one A5. a): No. I know of people who have had children who died as a result of prayer. They didn't take their children to a doctor choosing to pray instead for them. Their children died as a result. A5. b): no A6.: Even with prayer taken out of the picture. Deliberation is always difficult when challenges face us. A lot of atheists don't have to make painful time consuming decisions on things that turn out to be wrong because they have already formulated and tested the things the Bible says to be wrong. A7.: Even Jesus got it wrong in the prophecy department so I wouldn't expect anyone else to get it right. Remember he said, "there are some standing here which shall not taste of death before the son of man returns in his kingdom to judge the world" Well they all died and he didn't return. That's a false prophecy. A8.: No A9.: No A10.: No A11.: No... funny how when the rubber meets the road and you start looking for hard OBJECTIVE evidence of such things all claims simply vaporise, eh? A12.: There is no one that can do such things. A13.: If they weren't and they were real I would travel the world just to say hello. A14.: Never 1(a): The bible god only loves those who obey him unquestioningly... all others his son will have killed in front of him by his faithful disciples. 1(c): The webs we weave when we first begin to deceive ourselves. 1(d): Why do you think it has to be anyone's fault? Is it someone fault if they happen to standing under a tree when a branch falls off it and kills them? 1(e): Heaven is an assertion. Can you prove it even exists? 1(f): What makes you think the bible god is fair? 1(g): If you simply let go of the idol known as allegiance to the bible god all these concerns would vanish along with him. 2(a): We do what makes us happiest. Different groups disagree because God is not real and does not talk to them at all. It is just their imaginations. 2(b): Fundamentalists do that sort of thing. 2(c): The imagination is a funny thing. 2(d): Did Jesus return when he said he would or wasn't his god leading him either? 2(e): Hmmm! 2(f): to constantly keep assuming there is a god will close your mind to other alternatives. 3(a): They should start thinking about the possibly that there is no god. Life doesn't end because faith in the bible god does. 3(b): How do you the apostles were hearing from thier god? 3(c): How do you know there is a hell? Have you seen it. Moses never mentioned something so seemingly significant! 4(a): Biblical contradictions should point a person to see that it was written by man and is not an inspired work of a god. 4(b): The devil... hmmm. Where did this mythological creature spring from? He isn't evil in the Old Testament 4(c): This assumes there is a god 4(d): Man in his loneliness sought to explain the unexplainable by attributing them to the work of a super being. ie. thinking thunder is the result of beings above the clouds fighting. Fear brought it all into being. 4(e): Seeing that hell is a myth, I must say no 5(a): The best thing you can do in life is to be considerate and thoughtful of others treating them as you would want to be treated under similar circumstances. That came from Buddha before Jesus time. 5(b): Does all this really matter? Does it really matter if some one works for a wage? 5(c): Thinking critically is even better. 5(d): It doesn't matter 5(e): Hmmm. 5(f): this is not true 5(g): no 6(a): no 6(b): no 6(c): Once again. Prove the existance of god. The whole idol bit is one religion seeking be dominant by denouncing the religious practices of others. 7(a): What for. The apostles all died and didn't realise they were deluded. Jesus didn't return for them as he said he would. Paul the apostle, said that all those who were reading his letter would not all sleep/ die before Jesus returns and yet they ALL did. How can we possibly seek to correct the lives of others when the foundation... the bible... is so wrong on such a significant issue as the second coming? 7(b): Is there even a hell? 7(c): A god does not even have to brought into the equation in order to help people, or to encourage others to help people. To do so is the same as forcing people. Any good that is done under such circumstances will not be from pure motivations. 7(d): No Email: craighendry@yahoo.com Name: Craig Hendry Church: Apostate List: Yes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted between March and June, 2002 A1. I don't like what I call 'Old Testament Beliefs' I believe Jesus tried to change the old Jewish ways. The old eye for an eye is easier to follow than the turn the other cheek and that is why the old Jewish ways still prevail. You have a lot of interesting information but the feel is Jewish, not of Jesus. What do I say that is Jewish? I don't believe in an eye for an eye but rather turn the other cheek. I was feeling , not saying. I now see we believe the same. A2. I think the majority of the world's religions and their people are Old Testament followers. A3. As above. A4. a) No. The few people I know who pray to heal others do not make such claims. A4 b) No. The few people I know who pray to heal others do not make such claims. A5. a) Perhaps, but how can we know such things. In the days of the Apostles it was obvious. Scientific experiments have been done where a certain group of people were prayed for and another group were not prayed for by some people. The groups were not told whether they were prayed for or not to avoid the placebo effect. The groups were compared to see if one group's members were healed more than the other group's members. A5. b) Perhaps, but how can we know such things. As above A6. Yes me. I am satisfied with the decisions I have made in the past and based on that, confidently make quick, fresh decisions How do you know God wanted you to do what you have done? He may have wanted you to do something else. There are always better ways to do things. We all make mistakes? Have you made any? I have made what I consider to be mistakes, but as I am happy with where I am at today, I consider that they were not mistakes. A7. No A8. Yes, I feel I do. Have you done any experiments and compared the times when you prayed about it and did not pray about it? I suppose I have. I expect to find what I need but not by strongly praying for something specific. My experience is that what I need to find 'comes from out of the blue' and not from particularised prayers. A9. No A10. Possibly me How do you know that it was not just a natural occurrence and how do you know if it is supernatural? In other words could it have occurred naturally? Yes. A11. No 1(a) We cannot know God's will. Perhaps we are doing it. We can know God's will to a point in the Bible. Some claim God guides them on individual decisions to the best solutions. I have never seen it proven today. Hopefully I will find someone with that gift soon. 1(b) As above. The disappointed and angry people expect God to be like a genie and act as they command. 1(c) Satan could not have greater power. How can we know God's will. Perhaps the people are achieving God's will. See my reply to Question 1(a) 1(d) How can we know God's will. Perhaps the people are achieving God's will. As above 1(e) Could be, but why. See below. 1(f) Why should God be fair and from God's view, what is fair He is a God of Love. If people were not given a fair go on Earth you would think he could bless them later. Perhaps He does. But as a simile, some people have won a large lottery prize more than once while others never win. 1(g) How do we know what is failure in God's eyes? 2(a) We are meant to be different. 2(b) They do not understand that we are meant to be different. 2(c) We have free will. When we do wrong things we are the cause. 2(d) Are those who are wrong following Jesus or following Old Testament ways? 2(e) Jesus gave us his prayer and all we are told to do is to 'forgive others'; everything else is made up by men. There are a lot of commandments even in the New Testament. Do you believe that is made up by men? I believe Jesus gave us the way to pray when he was asked and that everything else is a diversion. 2(f) Jesus told us how to pray and what to do. Everything else is men's versions. 3(a) Jesus told us how to pray. 3(b) It was their role; we have our role 3(c) Anything could happen to anyone for any reason 4(a) Because that makes people think for themselves 4(b) To give us a choice. 4(c) To give you and me a go. 4(d) God has always been. 4(e) No 5(a) What they are doing is their own will. 5(b) Read http://www.robertsonj32.freeserve.co.uk/index.html#Money and act as suggested. 5(c) Be positive in following The Lord's Prayer 5(d) It is right to make the best use of our talents. 5(e) If they want to. 6(a) Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, 6(b) No 6(c) Who knows. 7(a) No, we should tell people they can make earth as in heaven if they want to; after all, millions have prayed many times over the past 2000 years for that to happen What do you mean? We are not instructed by God to make earth into Heaven. We are meant to do God's will, which includes sharing his word with others and suffering persecution for it. We should lead people to the truth so they can make it to Heaven. This earth is perishing. Too many people think they can improve the whole world. It won't happen because the Bible says in prophecy that it will be destroyed and there will be a satanic one-world government that will bring false peace, persecution and war. However we should still oppose corruption in our society and offer better solutions. But don't expect to make the mainstream system better. However we can form a small group with our own system doing God's will that will make life better for members in the group. Plans for a better system are outlined on my web sites. But we won't improve the corrupt mainstream system significantly. We are better off spending our time to form a group with a separate system on a smaller scale. Just suppose God has heard Jesus' prayer repeated billions of times. He might have answered those billions by giving people the insight on how to mass communicate by developing the Internet and now it is possible to really spread the word. Jesus did not tell us to pray for ourselves to go to Heaven, Jesus told us to pray that Earth may be as in Heaven. So why go against Jesus? Earth like Heaven sounds good to me. And Jesus did not tell us to do God's will; Jesus told us to pray to God for Him to do his will on Earth as in Heaven. All we have to do is to forgive others. (And that ain't easy). Where does the Bible say for "us to pray that Earth may be as in Heaven."? I am paraphrasing; - in the Lord's Prayer we are praying - 'Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven' - That is talking about the will of God. It is not saying for us to pray that earth will be the same as Heaven. We are praying for God's Kingdom to come and for his will to be done here on Earth as in Heaven I can't see how that is NOT praying for Earth to be heavenly. Please explain where I am wrong. God will do the restoring and the creation of the new heavenly earth. Also there will be restoration on this earth in the millennium after the coming tribulation. It will be a time of peace but it will not be the same as Heaven. It is not for us to try to make earth into heaven. It will not happen in this age before the coming tribulation. God will do the restoring. Satan needs to be bound for earth to be heavenly. Also the above scripture actually talks about the will of God to be done on earth as in Heaven. It is not actually saying that we should pray for earth to be like Heaven. The will of God on earth will be different to the will of God in Heaven. You are referring to one passage in scripture while I refer to the words of Jesus who did tell us to pray for God's Will on Earth to be as in Heaven. All through the Bible we are commanded to obey God or do his will. I agree with you but I believe that Bible translations vary and generally we are left with arguable guidelines. I have set out to have clear guidelines for myself. Even with the Lords Prayer, one old translation is 'deliver us from evil' and one of the new translations is 'deliver us from the evil one' (Devil). I think the words 'the - one', to signify the Devil, is an example of a religion tampering with the original words to suit the religion. Perhaps the 'Devil translation' is the correct one; I don't think it matters, the point is that MEN change the words to suit their own beliefs. I suggest looking up a Strong's concordance. There is a good online one at http://blueletterbible.org There are translation errors in the Bible. But they only make up a small percentage of the King James Bible and do not affect major doctrine. That is why it is good to use a concordance. All through the Bible we are commanded to obey God or do his will. Matthew 7:21 states "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Paraphrasing; - Here Jesus did not say 'do the Will of God' Jesus said 'he that doeth the Will' Matthew 7:21 says that only he that doeth the will of my Father will enter Heaven. Saying "but he that doeth the will of my Father" is the same as saying, "do the will of God". In telling us how to pray, Jesus told us to pray to God that He puts His Kingdom and Will on Earth for us to doeth the will----. Our job is to pray to God for Him to do all Godly things and for we humans to forgive other humans. On the Cross Jesus even prayed 'forgive them for they know not what they do' So right at the end, forgiving others was the only message from Jesus. Why do we Christians mess about looking at all the Bible, trying to interpret it, when Jesus told us plainly, all that we have to do is, '--- we forgive those who trespass against us.' ? - and Jesus set the extreme example by praying for God to forgive the crucifiers. If that was the case why did God go to all the trouble to write the Bible through those lead by God. If you ignore all the rest of the Bible it would be fine to do many ungodly things such as rape, murder, homosexuality, idolatry, worshiping other God's etc. Writing the Bible was no trouble for God; he gave Humans free will to do the writing. Writers were led by God, others edited those writings to leave some passages out and to alter meanings. In no way should the Bible be ignored but nor can it be perfectly followed as there are conflicting passages. And in any event, most of it does not contain the words of Jesus. As for rape, murder etc Jesus prayed 'forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us' What is trespass? Jesus was able to forgive crucifiers so it follows that if he crucified others he could expect forgiveness. That is an absurdity, as He could not crucify others after he had himself been crucified. It follows that a person being murdered and forgiving the murderer just before death could not then go and murder someone and pray for God's forgiveness (because he is already dead). But someone who murdered first and was then being murdered by another could pray for forgiveness if he also forgave the person about to kill him. The above is taking the debate to the extreme. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you can mean that if you like fighting it is OK to pick a fight with a peaceful person. - That's a bit rough! So what is the guideline for trespass and forgiving? Trespass is a lesser wrongdoing than rape, murder etc and must be forgiven if we expect God to forgive us for our trespasses; that appears to be perfectly clear. One person may feel the rudeness of another is too great a trespass to forgive while another may be able to forgive a rapist. It would appear that to God the rude person is OK and so too is the forgiver of the rapist. The non-forgiver of rudeness is not Christian and should try some other religion. The rapist may be Christian if he is happy to be raped by another and if he is able to forgive the other for doing something to him even worse than rape. So when you look at it, even the Lords Prayer is open to wide interpretation. But isn't that a good thing? Jesus will forgive someone if they repent. They need to ask for forgiveness though. 1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This passage is perhaps the basis for Catholics to confess their sins to their priest to gain God's forgiveness. This is an easy option as compared with Jesus' prayer which is for forgiveness of ourselves provided we forgive others. There is more to salvation than simply confessing your sins like the Catholics. You have to mean what you are doing in a sincere repentance and truly ask for forgiveness. Also you need to be willing to change and turn from your sinful ways and seek to obey God. The problem is so called Christians are not seeking to obey God like as explained at http://www.truechristianity.com/christian/salvationb.htm Interestingly, on a personal matter, a couple of days ago I thought of a verse in proverbs and it helped me to make an important decision. I then thought of your recent emails and I agree that the Bible is there to be followed. I still hold to my concentration on the words Jesus said but I am letting you know that I have a high regard for all of the Bible. I believe that God gave us free will and it is our job to use our free will so that while we may be guided by the Bible, all decisions we make are our own sole responsibility. 2Ti 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: I agree, but after 2000 years we have the Internet and with that we can communicate to the World and we should be doing it. First of all what is our message? I suggest that our praying of the Lords Prayer by millions, probably billions, has been answered and we can dispose of all the illuminati type actions and replace it with the words of Jesus Christ and be true Christians. Money, tax, law, poverty, pensions, lifestyle etc can all be fixed any time enough of us want to fix it. We only need to communicate on the Internet and the politicians will follow. Unfortunately it is hard to change the minds of corrupt politicians. With the economy right, universal use of the Lords Prayer would end wars and terrorism as there would be no reasonable excuse for such violence. The Lords Prayer should not be offensive to anyone of any religious or non-religious belief. What is in it that is not universal? Perhaps I should cease calling myself a Christian, which immediately puts me in opposition to all major faiths, and call myself Universal, with my whole creed being no more than the Lords Prayer. Richard, I assume you call yourself a Christian Fundamentalist, why not join me and be a Universalist? Are you saying it would be good for they're to be a one-world religion? That is what the world is heading for. It will be controlled by the Antichrist and be worshiping Satan. We cannot compromise with evil or non-Biblical doctrine. The men of God in the Bible opposed other faiths that served other God's that were not the true God of the Bible. We cannot compromise or join with other faiths. No. As you even raise the question I immediately drop the Universalist idea. Instead I put it to you that almost all Christians recite the Lords Prayer without thinking or acting in accordance with the words they recite. I put it to you that as Christians, where there is conflict in the scriptures, we should be following the words of Jesus Christ and not the words of others. Or should we debate some more? I just looked up Universalist on Google and saw nothing as I am suggesting. Try dictionary.com or dictionary.msn.co.uk/ Also look at the meaning of universal. As an example, just suppose Arabs replaced the words 'Our Father' with 'Allah', what would be wrong with the rest of the words? I think nothing would be wrong. I think the same could be said of the other religions. Then why have religion wars? 7(b) No 7(d) No Email freedom@altnews.com.au John Robertson Church of England List: Yes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted Tuesday, February 19, 2002 at 23:49:59 4(e): The book ALL IN ALL, by A.E. Knoch, is obtainable from the CONCORDANT PUBLISHING CONCERN, 15570 Knochaven Road, Santa Clarita, Caliornia, U.S.A. 91387. It demonstrates that a literally translated Bible (such as THE CONCORDANT TRANSLATION) teaches universal reconciliation, not endless suffering in hell, or even annihilation. In American funds, it costs $7, plus $1.50 for postage. name: My name is Rodger Tutt. My website is http://www.angelfire.com/on4/hope/ The contents of the book ALL IN ALL enabled me to recover from a nervous breakdown caused by the doctrine of endless suffering in hell. My email address is rodgertutt@hotmail,com My website has access to the testimony of Charles Slagle whose journey through, and out of endless-hell theology was very much like mine. To access his testimony, go to my website. On the left side there are subject boxes. Scroll them down and click on MINISTRY OF CHARLES SLAGLE. Then click on the bar ABSOLUTE ASSURANCE. Then scroll down while reading his testimony. List: YES!!! email address: rodgertutt@hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Monday, February 11, 2002 at 10:03:40 A1.: True Christianity is the LOVE in which we all Lack. For it is simple to understand when you realize that God is LOVE and LOVE is God. For if we have that greatness of LOVE in us, We would be like Christ A4. a): Perhaps it is impossible for Gentiles unless they are willing to pick up they're cross and DENIE themselves from all the things in which they were born in. In other words totally giving ones self to the word and the Holy Ghost. Wanting nothing but the things of GOD A11.: You must understand that God does things always for his purpose Email: mtnhunter1@juno.com List: sure ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Sunday, February 10, 2002 at 17:12:09 A4. a): I know ushouldnt advertise healings in public Email: pausejesans@hotmail.com Church: Christian List: yes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Sunday, January 20, 2002 at 13:22:39 3(a): They hold on, no matter what comes God will answer in His own way. Church: Missionaries of the Chief Shepherd List: yes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Thursday, January 10, 2002 at 06:51:58 A1.: Before continuing, in the will of God, I ask that you be open minded and read all of these answers before closing yourself to my opinions. Many things come to very conclusive answers without considering the other options. A2.: yes A3.: no A4. a): yes. they CLAIM to. A4. b): sure they can. It is called a placebo effect. If one believes that they will get healed, they will heal faster. For example, patients that needed heart pills were split into 2 groups. Half were given real heart pills needed to heal, half were given useless sugar pills. They had the same amount of people healed even though some didn't take a pill. This is the same effect as this question. The people believe that god is really healing them and their mind does all of the work. A5. a): nope. A5. b): it doesn't. it only affects one's mental status which can prompt them to heal or change their actions without being conscious of it. A6.: no A7.: some coincidences have occurred but they are very low in number. I could guess what will happen some time and eventually get lucky and call it a prophecy...something is wrong with this. A8.: They were not guided by god, but because they believe in themselves more. A9.: there cannot be no doubt that a god is talking to someone. If I knew something about the stock market for some reason that nobody else knew and claimed that god told me it, does that mean that god talked to me? There can never be conclusive evidence that god (if it exists) talks to people A10.: No. Again that is the placebo effect mentioned above. The mind tries to regain memory and it happens. A11.: supernatural is not the correct term to classify this type of healing, again it is a placebo effect. Nothing "supernatural" is conclusive. No is my answer. A12.: My friend's name is Arthur K. His email address is akalm@hotmail.com he is actually interested in you contacting him for guidance. A13.: NO. That place is full of crocodiles and kangaroos and people reckoning things. A14.: they never do. 1(a): because god might not exist. How do you know that god loves us and wants the best for us? There is no proof. 1(b): because once they don't use their mind to do what god SHOULD do and wait for god to do something, they are frustrated because "god" doesn't do anything - god might not exist. 1(c): where did Satan come out of all of a sudden. I didn't know religious people believed in another "god" of sort, the "god of the underworld" What if I don't think he exists? The answer again is no. 1(d): It is the people's fault. When they expect "god" to do something for them and it doesn't they claim it is Satan. 1(e): no because if they fail it is their fault. It isn't true. 1(f): no because god doesn't exist. 1(g): it isn't. No such thing as god. 2(a): because they blindly follow a book that could have been written by almost anyone a long time ago. 2(b): because they become enlightened that the bible isn't everything. They realize that they may be wrong and eventually start believing more logical things like science. 2(c): no they are leading themselves to the wrong things 2(d): No 2(e): because god does not exist. 2(f): we don't 3(a): because they are only human. They feel that they need to have faith in something and it will help them, even if they die just the same as a non-believer. 3(b): because god might not exist. Think of that. 3(c): if when saying hell you refer to the place in the earth below where we live (on a topological level) then where is your proof it exists? There is none. Nothing can survive and exist in the molten rock (that is liquid rock, it is very hot) inside the earth. 4(a): because some person might have wrote it without considering that it might be followed by millions of people one say as if actually true. 4(b): well first of all I don't think god is righteous, let alone exists. This devil deal is not true in my opinion and this question does not apply. If the god and the devil exists, the answer would be because god doesn't care. 4(c): because god doesn't exist. 4(d): he didn't. You probably want me to say that god has always existed but that is not true. 4(e): HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! No. 5(a): because god doesn't exist 5(b): we have to show them the true calling, science. 5(c): the devil does not exist. It is that easy. 5(d): it isn't Gods will. It is their fault 5(e): yes they should, so they can see that they are being led blindly. 5(f): no because nothing mentioned in this question exists. If I am a millionaire am I of the "devil" 5(g): Do you think that to follow "god" everyone has to be poor? What does a high social and economical status have to do with one's affiliation with "the devil"? No because god doesn't exist. 6(a): no they wouldn't get blessings anyways. 6(b): no because the devil does not exist. 6(c): no because the bible was written by humans who could have lied and done whatever they wanted. 7(a): no. 7(b): no 7(c): in god's sight? That to me is like claiming a half horse half elephant to exist and ask the same question - well you tell me. Would they be as bad from something like that's point of view? They are bad from anyone's point of view - a humans though. 7(d): no. Is it worth ruining your life for a blind faith that does nothing for you? Email: Lord_Vegeta_69@hotmail.com name: My name is David Isaac. I am supposed to be Jewish, but because I am somewhat more intelligent than many people (the average) I have turned to science instead of god. My father is faithful and Jewish, but even though it somewhat bothers him, I do what I want and need factual information to believe in most things. I do not choose to devote my life to something that might not exist. If this god exists and as does the devil and I am sent to hell, then so be it. I would rather live a life believing real things with proof than things without. It is then "god's" fault that he or she or it didn't make its existence more obvious and give factual information. Church: I am an orthodox Atheist. (no religion) You know, by the end of this I realized that I don't believe in god more than before. Thank you Matey List: Yes, please do. I want people to read this side of the story Post my email if you want. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Friday, January 4, 2002 at 13:21:36 1(a): Are you asking to do His will or your will? Also sometimes or should I say most of the time we get ahead of ourselves and when we think we are ready to take on the world God doesn't think we are quite ready. How many of you out there if they had all the money in the world would go to a homeless person and cover him over with a blanket and feed him with your own hands in an ice cold snowstorm. Think about it are you really ready for what you think God wants you to do or is it what you think He wants you to do and is it to say look at me or Give Glory to My Father!!!!! Why or how could you be any? 1(b): How can you be angry with God when He gave His son to die on the cross so we may be allowed to live eternally in heaven. God never said there would be peace on this earth. Our peace is in heaven. Death is a necessity. There are wars and sicknesses, car wrecks and many other things that will happen to us. Because we are Christians or God's Children does not mean we are immune to being human. As long as we have life's blood running through our veins so are diseases. Also do you not think God had some frustration when the night before He was to be crucified His own disciples would not even pray with Him. Yet you want to know why life is so hard on us. We are not yet in Heaven until we are it is called life. God will help us to get through these times of trouble, but we are not immune to them. To be angry with God is to be but a fool. 1(c): you give Satan too much credit. Sure things happen but the man who was writing the book and then died someone had to read it to know it was being done. If we know more than witness or are there for another person we are doing God's will. Last week we clothed fed and gave Christmas trees to three families. We meaning. It is usually my husband and myself. I called a few people and they called a few people and we bought each other nothing for Christmas. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves and get off your duffs and do something. God has something that all of us can do. I don't know what it might be, but He will show you if you ask and stop whining and saying I can't. We all can just do it. Take a blanket to the homeless shelter. Play with a kid and read them a Bible Story. Read the Bible to an elderly person. The Bible says we are to take care of the widows, orphans, prisoners, We are to take care of His children now just get out there and do it. Let your imagination run wild believe me there is always something you can do. 1(e): All of us will come short of the Glory of God. If not in one way I guarantee you it will be another way. This seems to be a judgement call and that is not ours to do. 1(f): How do you dare question your Father. The creator of everything. Do you truly feel you have the authority to ask such a question? I will let My God Judge Me!!! He does seem to be better qualified than me. 1(g): The only way you can not please God is to not do His will and if you are so interested in being Big shot in heaven then I recommend a better job here on earth. God is a true and Fair God and therefore I have no worries as to whether I will get what is coming to me. 2(a): Why do you worry about different Christian groups. Read the word, ask God for His will and sit back and listen. God will guide you if you pray for discernment and for wisdom to do the job He has given you to do. Remember. Listen and do. 2(b): Satan is the author of confusion. Satan will do whatever is necessary to try and steal our blessings that God has for us. If people will stop giving Satan so much credit and go by the roadmap that God has given us (His Word) then this would be less likely to happen. Lots of times, however, Satan comes as the angel of light and these people who say they are Christians are what you could call altars. People sent by Satan to cause problems in the churches. Remember the first one in the church is Satan. I think th 2(c): I think the word lead is misleading. People do stupid things but they are not lead by God to do these. People do things because they think God leads them and they don't sit back and really listen with wisdom to hear what He wants. When He wants you to do something there will be no doubt. Just listen and then do. 2(d): A prophet is someone who prophesies from God and it happens. If the prophecy does not come about then it belongs to someone other than the Lord. 2(e): GOD TELLS US WITH TRUE CLARITY. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE JUST SAID. Are you doing what God said to know His will in your life? Have you fasted lately, have you been in His word, have you done any Bible study, what have you done to be able to know His will? Don't BLAME God when the fault lies within. 2(f): WHEN god wants us to do something and you have fasted prayed and asked for wisdom. Something will happen in your life to know that it is His will and that He is leading you. 3(a): In the Book of Revelation it tells you that in the end times that the church will be tried by fire. This means that God will allow us to go through things to see who is really going to stand for God and His Kingdom. Where will you stand or will you just continue to ask questions, which are judging God. 3(b): Many people have no idea what they are asking for. How many are doing and how many are just wanting to say look at me. I cannot nor will not judge, but stop asking so many negative questions and get out and do something 3(c): The Bible says that before His return that every man will hear the gospel. The Bible tells us that every knee will bow before our Lord therefore no one will be left out without hearing the gospel 4(a): Before you read the Bible ask for wisdom. If there is some confusion it will not be confusion that will allow you not to be able to discuss your disagreement with your fellow Christian. 4(b): Since the Garden of Eden God has given us a choice. We decide if we want to do the right thing or the wrong thing. Satan will be allowed to roam the earth for a very short time and then he will be here no more but live with his imps in the pits of hell. 4(c): Well, I am not God and therefore I cannot answer this question, but I couldn't agree with you more other than the fact that I have many more people to talk to about the Lord and hopefully can help gather the sheep 4(d): Good question maybe someday you will have the opportunity to ask our creator and find out the correct answer 4(e): yes, the Book of Revelation clearly states this will happen 5(a): Because God knows their heart and sometimes they may not be what they seem at other times I must cop out and just say I am thankful that I am not God and do not need to answer these questions. Sometimes we are also not equipped to handle what we think we are so desperately in need of doing. 5(b): Have you read in the Bible where it says to take your tithes to the store house which is 10% of your earnings. This scripture says to try the Lord to see if He will not take care of you. This is where faith comes in to play. I have a $900.00 house payment due now and only have par of it. Do I start pulling my hair out or do I trust in the Lord to take care of my needs which He has said He would do? My answer is to ask the Lord for help and continue praying and studying and wait upon the Lord for Him to take care of me. My husband says if I take care of the My Fathers business first then He will take care of mine. Not saying it's easy but it's how we live. 5(c): God is your Father. He loves you with all His might and the devil is so mad at God he can't see straight. He use to be God's right-hand-man and then he blew it. Now he is out there just trying to do all he can to make God look bad. The thing of it is the Bible says that as long as we hang in there until the end we will have our mansion in heaven with the Lord. Not saying it is easy because it isn't but it is worth it. 5(d): Money seems to be a BIG issue. The Bible says that money is the root of all evil. You don't need money just a way of taking care of your bills and living and God said you do for Him he'll do for you just live His life and the paper will be made available to take care of personal necessities. Also, the Bible does not say that it is evil to have that green paper stuff called money. The bad thing is to covet it or to make an idol out of it. 5(e): This has got to be from the pits. Why would anyone in their right mind give up their job if God didn't tell them to do so? That's how the devil is really messing with Christians. God didn't make us stupid. He did give us a brain now let's try and use it. You can help people without giving up your livelihood. 5(f): Satan always messes with Christians. He has no reason to mess with his own he already has them. If you're being tormented by Satan then you must be doing something right 5(g): Why do you think God punishes people? God loves us to punish us is to chastise us if we do something wrong so we can repent and correct our actions. Please don't allow yourself to think you are being punished for hard work 6(a): It seems that Satan has been throwing mass confusion at some people. Why would you think it is wrong to clean your yard up too much? Some of these things are to the point of being from a cult. God gave us pleasure. God gave us husband wife sexual pleasures. This isn't wrong either. I think you need to really search the Bible and read it for what it is not what you might think lies between the lines. God is not some kind of prison guard that allows you to do nothing but be a robot. Please read and see what the word says. You can truly enjoy life and love the Lord at the same time 6(b): I don't know what doctrine that you are using is, but please check, I think it is man made and not of the Lord. 6(c): An idol is anything that you put ahead of God. I can mow the lawn and sing to the top of my voice the praises to my Lord. I can wash dishes and tell Him all my cares. I can love the Lord and still do other things. Love the Lord and have a great time in doing it. A sour-faced Christian is about as much fun being around as a dead dog. Get a life and enjoyyyyy the Lord. 7(a): The disciples were under the law we are under the grace covenant. If we were still under the law we would all be in big trouble. Why are you beating yourself up? It sounds as though someone is trying to convince you to give up what you have to them because it would be the GODLY thing to do. That is so wrong and many people are out there trying to make themselves rich by confusing God's people and making them feel guilt to make money. Don't let Satan take your blessings. Ask God what He wants for you and tell the devil and his imps to go fly a kite. If you gave up everything you had then you would be the poor man who Joe Blow down the street had to take care of. Get your head on straight and don't let anyone tell you what to do with your finances unless it is your Father in heaven and pray and fast before you even go there 7(b): The Bible tells you that no one goes to heaven except by Him You have to be born again you have to accept Christ as your saviour that He died on the cross for your sins and that He shed His blood for you. If you have your salvation you will be in heaven. God says I will never leave you nor forsake you. You may walk away from Him but He won't walk away from you. Therefore, hell is no option for a christian 7(c): If you had a sack full of hamburgers and you saw this man sitting there on the corner asking for food would you give him a burger or would you walk on by smacking on that burger? If you are a Christian you will feed His sheep not only with meat but with spiritual food as well. Stop judging so harshly and get this person out of your life that is judging you so harshly 7(d): These two died because they lied to God straight out if they had not sold their property and then lied to Him they would not have had so much trouble. They blatantly lied and did not repent of their sins. Repent Repent Repent Email: Please do show them I pray they will help someone Church: Christian List: most definitely because I believe these answers were God's to you ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Friday, January 4, 2002 at 11:31:17 A11.: I can tell you without a doubt that I have been supernaturally healed. I was at a church one night and God spoke to me to go up front and to be healed. I fell from the second floor to the first floor of The Tower National Bank Building on April 7,1980 and had excruciating pain from the moment I was take to the local hospital as I passed out many times from the pain. I went for many years where I could stand for only a few minutes at a time and where going for trips was very painful. I had three small children at the time and became addicted to Darvocet because we owned a restaurant and I had to try and work since I was single mom. The doctors could find nothing they could put their finger on to be able to help me accept drugs, which after the Darvocet I refused to indulge in. I therefore took tyleno; to ease the pain a little but never enough to where I could live the life I missed so badly with my children. Four days after I was hurt I married a very good Godly man who has taught me a lot about the Lord. I have learned that I can trust in Him and also that if I take Him out of His little box and allow Him to do His will and not mine that yes He will perform Miracles that are unbelievable. Going back to the night of my healing, I was sitting in church and God said Go Up Front If You Want Healed! I sat there for a few minutes thinking I'm not going to interrupt this preacher when it's probably just me anyway. I sat there for a while, and the feeling started going away. I got a little scared and then I heard the preacher say If JESUS WAS HERE I'D RUN TO HIM NOT WALK. I SAID LORD IF IT TRULY IS YOU TALKING TO ME THEN BRING BACK THAT FEELING AND I WILL INTERRUPT THIS PREACHER. JUST AS SOON AS I HAD THAT THOUGHT IT CAME BACK TO ME AND I DID WHAT I SAID I WOULD. I STOOD UP AND SAID TO THE PREACHER THAT GOD TOLD ME IF I WANTED HEALED I WOULD COME UP FRONT AND I WAS SORRY BUT I HAD BEEN HURT FOR 20YEARS AND I NEEDED TO BE HEALED. I WALKED UP FRONT AND TOLD HIM I WAS NOT LEAVING UNTIL I WAS HEALED. I WAS THEN RELAXED IN THE SPIRIT WITH THE LORD AND HAVE NOW BEEN HEALED FOR TWO YEARS. It truly is wonderful to not feel the pain nor the scream welling up inside of me when I would try to even turn over in bed. YES, GOD IS REAL AND GOD DOES HEAL IT IS OUR FAITH THAT IS OUR ONLY STOPPING AGENT. ALSO WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER WHO GOD IS. He is our Father and we must not allow Satan to tempt us by thinking we have to be shown something before we believe God has power. God made you and He made me what more proof do we need? He allows us to raise every morning and lie down every night. He allows us to live, love, and witness to others about His love that was so big He died on that cross for the sins of the world. I understand you think you need something tangible to tell your friends. You have that also, you have your friends and you have prayer and the Bible says the prayer of the righteous availeth much. The more you pray and the harder you pray the more you will believe and the less time you will have to ask questions. A12.: Just go forth in His Glory and pray that everything you do is giving Glory to Him. God Bless All Of God's Children Brenda Fox royalway@wcoil.com Email: royalway@wcoil.com Church: Christian List: whatever God wants is fine with me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Wednesday, October 31, 2001 at 10:06:39 A4. a): Yes, my sister and I, Nancy Hack and Judy Murray. A4. b): Yes, my sister and I, Nancy Hack and Judy Murray. A5. a): Yes, God answers my prayers - Nancy Hack. A5. b): Yes, God tells us through His Word that we have not because we ask not. Also, many other scriptures point to God's promises including answered prayer - noteably asking His will be done. A6.: Yes, Nancy Hack. A7.: No, however Brother David South, once mentioned an old man in his 90's to be a true prophet. This was early to mid 90's - so I would like to know if he is still alive. Reason being: Bro. Dave stated this prophet had 100% true prophecies - many in his life - and he stated that God told him he would be living and caught up in the Rapture. I have since lost contact with Bro. David South to discover the name and status of this prophet. A8.: No A9.: Yes, myself - Nancy Hack A10.: No. A11.: Yes, I would be willing. However, ask God for the faith you need. He will lead you. A12.: Nancy Hack A13.: No. A14.: Frequently. Name: Nancy Hack Church: Spirit filled Christian List: If you so choose. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Thursday, October 25, 2001 at 12:27:35 These answers are for Part B 1(c): Doing God's will is much more than just "doing". Doing God's will can include everything from praying to being a witness to the love of Jesus. You don't have to preach the gospel to reach people for Christ. All you have to do is live it and God will provide the rest. 1(g): Ephesians2:8,9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and not from yourselves, it is a gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast." The only way to please God is by having faith in Him. That's how you find salvation. After that, pleasing God means living a Christ-like life. When someone fails, it's because that person failed. God makes the opportunities; it's up to us to take them. Sometimes doing God's will and pleasing Him simply means praying...and no one can take that away. 2(b): That's humanity! 2(c): It's sin. God doesn't tempt us to do evil, Satan and his minions do as does our sinful nature. 2(e): He does tell us clearly. We just don't always listen. 2(f): Prayer...lots of it. 3(a): First of all, I believe that God answers ALL prayers. It's not always yes. Often it's no or wait. Almost always it's answered in a way that we never expected. How do you keep believing? It's called faith. Faith that God is who He says He is and that He keeps His promises. Promises which include "All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord." Rom 8:28 and that He has plans to prosper and not harm us, Jer 29:11 3(b): And many seek and find God. Name: Laura Church: Pentecostal, saved 15 years. Come from an occult background. List: sure ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Saturday, October 6, 2001 at 19:52:50 A4. a): yes, I do know of healings of individuals, and also men with faith to believe God for healings. Email: mehre@familynet.net Church: Apostolic, a Bible based church, Crossroads Christian Church, teaches Bible, and the new birth according to John3: 5 and the book of Acts, where the church was established, there, people were filled with the Holy Ghost and baptised in the name of Jesus for remission of sins. List: yes I would like these to be listed --------------------------------------------------------------------------- All the below answers for all the below submissions are for Part B ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Thursday, September 20, 2001 at 07:31:39 1(a): The want of money is the root of all evil. It is this want that can separate us from knowing God. Don't store up treasures on earth that will corrupt, but seek the kingdom of God and know that all things happen to good for those who love God. 1(b): Put your trust in God, and don't ask for things with repetition for God knows your desires and loves you. What can material wealth profit you when you are dead. Build up your riches in heaven that will last forever. Approach God with a pure heart accept your salvation that was given freely. And remember not my will be done but Gods. 1(c): God does not make mistakes; people make mistakes. 1(e): When Jesus died for us, our sins were washed away. Seek love for others, read your bible give up earthly desires. Ask God all things and READ YOUR BIBLE. Remember God does not make mistakes people do. Seek first the kingdom of God and all things will be added unto you. Does a pot ask the potter why did you make me this way? The pot was needed the way it was designed. 1(g): A true Christian lives in the love of God. All things become new, our desires of flesh nature become less, and we seek spiritual knowledge and wisdom. As we come closer to God our desires are for others. A person of the flesh can strive as hard as they will. Just as you can't earn your salvation you can't seek spiritual rewards with a selfish heart. 2(a): A Christian is a person who has accepted salvation through our Lord Jesus. God makes no mistakes people err when they split apart from the word of God and create false doctrines. Remember to check all profits by the word of God. Church: Christian List: yes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Wednesday, September 26, 2001 at 11:02:52 1(a): People are given every opportunity and many they don't recognize. Often we miss a chance to be successful because we are afraid to yield and be obedient. Our blessing (success) comes when we yield to His will and not our own. It's like any parent, He wants to bless us beyond our biggest expectation, but first we must come to Him.
1(b): I believe that the devil gets busy when someone is a threat. If you're serving God and others are seeing Him in you, then Satan gets nervous and goes into overtime trying to pull you away from your true purpose, serving God. Satan starts by taking your joy, making you angry. "The joy of the Lord is my strength", if we're busy being mad at God for not getting our way, then we are most certainly not praising and shining for Him. 1(c): As long as there is a breath in the body, there is a witness for God. Some of the most precious people I know have disabilities. Often we let our children, sickness or disability become an excuse to do nothing. Being a single mom, I've known times when nothing seemed fair or right. But then I yield to the Spirit and begin to count my blessings. I start with thanks for my health and abilities, thanks for allowing me to be a mother, thanks for blessing me with love for my child, thanks for his health and abilities, thanks for my job, thanks for my family, thanks for not having to live in the streets, thanks for having food on the table.........etc. We so many times take for granted the little things. God blesses us with children, parenthood isn't a right, it's a privilege. We have a tendency to forget how blessed we really are, there is alway someone that would give all they have to trade places with us. As humans, we always want more, better, faster, etc. Satan enjoys it when we blame God or try to find fault with his plan. It opens the door for anger and draws us away from our Father. 1(d): There isn't always a place to place fault. We just have to trust that everything and person is part of God's plan. We may not understand why or what, but we have to show faith and just trust him. 1(e): "The rain falls on the just and the un-just alike". Our rewards in heaven are based on our works here. If we're lazy Christians, then our rewards will be given accordingly. 1(f): God doesn't have to appear as fair. To look and see Him as unfair, is to judge Him and His plan. If you feel that something is unfair, then ask for confirmation and questions your own motives before questioning His. 1(g): We are never denied the right or the opportunity to please God. He inhibits our praise. Even in the lions den, certainly feeling forgotten and failed, Daniel looked to God and sang His praises. Fault is a convenient excuse provided by Satan to not accept responsibility for our actions. 2(a): We know because He promises in His word that if we seek, we will find. If we ask His guidance, He will lead us. Groups disagree because they listen to men instead of what God is telling them in their own hearts. All points are important to God where we're concerned. That's why it's vital that we not follow leaders blindly, but seek first the wisdom of the Lord. 2(b): People don't realise that they are passing judgement when they do this. They get rapped up in doctrine and start looking for differences instead of seeing that we are all a part of the body of Christ. 2(c): "All fall short of the glory of God", but once forgiven, always forgiven. We do wrong because we live in the flesh and world daily. The closer we draw to God and seek His counsel before acting, the stronger our walk and witness will be. 2(d): God lead all that let Him. We are all wrong to start with, but thru Christ we are forgiven and washed clean. 2(e): He did tell us, it's in black and white.......... "yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thy rod and staff comfort me". We are His flock. The rod and staff are used by shepards to protect and guide the sheep. Walking through the valley is dangerous for sheep because that's where lions and other animals hid to kill them. The sheep follow the shepard because the TRUST Him to protect them. With such a well armed shepard guiding us, we should not be afraid if we truly trust Him. 2(f): The spirit can discern if we are doing God's will. All we have to do is ask and seek confirmation. 3(a): God doesn't operate in our time. He doesn't always answer prayers the way we think He should. We continue to believe and have faith because He tells us to. 3(b): If you seek God and feel like you aren't getting anywhere, then maybe you aren't being patient or aren't really doing His will. And sometimes we have impacts on others that we are never aware of. 3(c): God is in all places and make salvation available to all who seek Him. 4(a): God tells us to take fellowship with other believers. This is so we can better understand His word and learn the answers to our questions. 4(b): The victims that the devil captures are anything but innocent. All the innocent will be in the kingdom. 4(c): Because God don't use white-out or delete. It's all in His plan. If you want to know how it ends, read the Book. 4(d): He is the first place, "I am the alpha and the omega". 4(e): Yes. His word tells us they will and He doesn't lie. 5(e): We are to shine and be a witness for those lost in the darkness, even in the workplace. You don't have to preach to be Godly. Actions speak louder than words.
5(f): No, just because you have a lot doesn't mean you're of the devil.
God enjoys blessing His children, ABUNDANTLY!!!!
5(g): God does not punish people for trying to serve Him. 7(a): God wants us to speak boldly but to also use wisdom and compassion as Christ did. 7(b): Only those that do not accept Christ as their saviour and His salvation will go to hell. 7(c): All sins are equal in the sight of the Lord. No one sin greater than the other. 7(d): Any one advising other than God's will is promoting the devil and will be judged accordingly. Name and Email: godsown33@yahoo.com Church: I'm not religious, I'm Godly. I'm a member of an Assembly of God. I've been a former Baptist, Hindu and other. List: Yes. It is my duty as a Christian to do everything possible to lead others to Christ
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1(e): turn to Matthew chapter 20-versus 1 through 16 it is stating that whomever enters heaven will be treated equally. "so the last will be first, and the first will be last" basically.. all are equal Name and Email: do not wish to show email. My name is Mark Church: Christian... Duvall Baptist church. Recently found to be baptized by the spirit. I have studied the bible everyday for a long while now. List: yes, that's fine
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1(a): We always have the ability to succeed. But we have free will, thus a choice. I use the example often of a small son or daughter. If you command the child to love you, it means very little even if the child complies. But if that same child comes to you and tells you that he or she loves you, it means everything. God will never make us love Him, it is our choice, but even if we choose not to, He will always love us and be pained to see us fail, not only at all aspects of our life, but our permanent separation from Him. 1(b): I have been a Christian for 6 years, I too, struggle with the pain of putting God first. Our selfcenteredness is hard to set aside. It is almost impossible for a human to allow anyone but himself to control his life. I have managed to put God first as well as any human, but it too, has caused me pain, as the cost of discipleship is a high one. This pain, is not a frustration with God, but a frustration that more and more people reject God and will not or cannot see what and how God can change your life. 1(c): Good question! I don't believe it is always Satan that gives us these feelings or causes these things to happen in our lives. In the parable of the tower, Jesus explains that one should count the cost before taking up a task, can the task be accomplished, or will one not be able to finish. To put God first requires total commitment, most of us are not willing to make that commitment. Name and Email: kgeorge52@centurytel.net Ken George 3312 Waterford Way Avon Ohio 44011 Church: Lutheran Hope Lutheran Church Sheffield, Ohio 44054 List: Yes
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1(a): God does love us and want the best for us. We as a people are given the opportunity to succeed, God didn't promise us that it would be easy. Jesus went through everything for us, so that we may live, not in this life, but the next life to come. We have the opportunity to do His will and praise Him through hardship. 1(b): You talk a good game. God is our creator, and everything He made is good. Take a look at self, there was a point and time that I was in the church, but the church wasn't in me. Read Exodus, Job and there are many other who love the Lord, but went through frustration, but they weren't wavery in their faith like we are. 1(c): The problem is that we have to make the time. Its call stepping out on faith.We are not here because we have been so good. We will never be good enough. We are here to help one another, so if you are hungry, I am suppose to feed you. We are living under the law of Jesus. Love thy neighbour as thy self. Satan may be great, GOD is GREATER. 1(d): Because I we are not trusting God for everything. We have to be fully committed to God and His word. If you think you want, than more likely you want. If you think you can't, then you can't. I'm here to let you know you can do what ever you want to if you want to, but you got to want to. You have to press toward the mark of a higher calling which is Jesus Christ. Name and Email: walkbyfaith@yahoo.com Church: Primative Baptist List: yes
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1(a): Most people who turn to the Lord will succeed in god's eyes 1(b): Because of freewill all these things are possible. 1(c): Satan has power over people to a certain extent, and God is a mysteries being, sometimes not revealing what his true will is. 1(d): This is so because its the way God intended it to be, its nobody's fault. Bad things happen even to good people and there's nothing you can do about it. 1(e): The only true way to fail is to not believe in God. 1(f): God is fair. 1(g): Do not worry about these things, only worry about doing Gods will as best as you can. 7(d): God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicket. Name and Email: Mturkdysandwhich Michael 17 Church: Babtist Lake Forest Babtist Church List: Yes please.
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1(a): The Israelites always had the opportunity for success and prosperity, but they took forty years to make an eleven day journey because they did not keep God and his law first. Success is promised to all Gods children, but not arbitrarily. Until we get to the point where God is more important than success itself, we are not ready for success, because this itself may draw us away from God. Name and Email: Benedict Church: Church Of England List: Yes
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1(a): I do not see that God loves us. No one can come to the Father except through Me. God so loved.... He gave... His Son. I do not understand... succeed in what? We are called to be one in Christ Yeshua(Jesus). Only in Him you can know His love. We are called to die. If you are successful in fellowship of His sufferings of the cross...confirmed to His death... you will be resurrected in Him. (Phil.3) No one can do the will of God. One can only receive what He has done... perfect will of God. Only Christ Yeshua. Name and Email: jmbsn@hotmail.com name joshua List: yes
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Don't you believe God loves anyone or did you make a mis print?
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Hi Richard
I should have been more clear as to what I am saying. John said "God so
loved ... He gave." The love of God is in Yeshua. If you are in sin you
might receive His mercy but you are not in His love. "If you love the world
the love of God is not in you." Does God love every one? His love only comes
to us in His Son. Yeshua is coming to judge the world. We are running out of
time. God is a jealous God. He gave His only begotten Son and He loves the
Son. Anyone who has not the Son... still have time to repent that he may
receive the love of God in the Son.
"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him."
Jesus is coming soon. Saying that God loves me is not going to save anyone.
It is time to abide in the Son. Soon the judgment. Many are already
falling (to stand against) away from the Son.
Email: jmbsn@hotmail.com
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1(a): That question unfortunately does not reflect the true nature of Christianity. God helps the individual by having situations that a beneficial to the inside of that person. Such has problems so that that person may solve problems before rather than later, plus also help others solve those problems. The trend these days is that wise people must have a lot of experience of pain such that they be able to help others. 1(b): There is a balance scale within a life, it relates to this example, two people are going for a test, one studies very hard, the other parties all week and has not studied at all for the test. Clearly who is more likely going to pass the test? The one that studied. It relates here, where pain is experienced, but is paid for if a Christian reaches Heaven.
1(c): I have two opinions for this one.
1. Life was meant to be hard, just take a look at the prophets and Jesus, the tough times they experienced when they were on earth. For Christians, we shouldn't expect any better because this world isn't a producing plant for God to create Christian, but rather it's more like a wild garden where he selects the sweetest fruit and then trash that garden later to form a more controlled garden for those fruit seeds to become trees.
2. Evolution must take place where survival of the fittest must be ensured. As for Christians, a new species of Christians must rise, and help the old ones, they are the ones that will be doing all the planning, since the world has changed a lot. There are new methods and techniques, and also upgrading old methods.
1(d): No one should point the finger to anyone unless it is God, God is the one that Judges and not us. 1(e): Yes, that balance comes in. Also God can see this unfairness and help even it out as much as possible plus give more gifts. We must not look at God as some computer that only recognises commands, but rather a super thinker and super doer, must like a person but better in every aspect. 1(f): Ummm yeh the answer before... 1(g): A church cannot say what God thinks. God knows a persons hard work and effort. Practically, if you had desires other than with God, then there's a problem, else God will still recognise you as having tried your best to achieve God's will. If your on God's side then God is more than happy to accept you, just as what Jesus has said. 2(a): A Christian cannot depend on a church, but acknowledge that there's a church there to support or be supported. Those high authorities in large denominations go within meetings to discuss and get around aspects. Clearly they did not consult God, and since there are people there relying on the church as a key to Heaven, then they hold a lot of power. Else it's all for the individual to decide, cause God judges the individual itself, not as a whole church. 2(b): Then that is not a genuine Christian, A genuine Christian, is one that takes account then investigates further, without making assumptions. If he/she is to prove something wrong, then they must have substantial information in context with God and Jesus.
2(c): Philosophy has stated that no humans are free because there is a need. God and Jesus are free, because the only need they have are themselves. 2(d): the prophecies are ambiguous, but it turns out to be wrong because there are groups that manipulate this information into their own belief. Problem lies where that is not what God planned. 2(e): All humans have a so called bad characteristic of ignorance. I had that too and I still have it. But I try very hard to get rid of it. God did tell us, not through the Bible but through the heart. If one cannot read the message from the heart then it shows that they have other things in their heart that they are worried about. 2(f): I only knew God was giving me a path when I took a scope of my history, I realised how I developed to help depressed people, mainly because I was very depressed when I was isolated. Not only that, but now since I was small, I use to listen heaps and not talk, and it turns out that my listening and acquiring of information, in relation with God and Jesus has turned into wisdom, and my friends acknowledge that but what I hoped a lot is to have heaps of wisdom so that I can blote it out at anytime. 3(a): That's a question that is hard to precisely answer, I'm still thinking about it for a yr or two now. But heres my opinion. People should not look for short hopes but rather a long term devotions for a life. God technically is not a slave to humans, and neither is God's words God's master. So it really is Gods intellectual decision when miracles occur. 3(b): No Christian can expect to heal others as soon as problems arise with their family member. If they seek God, they will find their true destiny, but if it's not what they expected, then they don't feel like continuing and hence that's where the "get nowhere" comes in. 3(c): You have to ask God that one. No one on earth can answer that one properly. Cause it's not our decision. But Jesus did say that if now one believes in him then they can't get into the kingdom of God... 4(a): The Bible wasn't written for people, it's written about people and actions. I would say that I've solved a lot of impossible questions from the Bible, and I've slowed down a bit now. I would say that think is the best way to get past them. 4(b): Survival of the fittest... Clearly God wants the strongest and those that can withstand the most amount of pain for his word. Hence he allows evil to reign, and hence it is easier for him to pick out the strong and unique ones. 4(c): Umm...ask God that, my opinion is that he wanted powerful(inside) Christians... 4(d): Oh boy, ask God that pls, I don't think humans can answer that...cause we are not above God, so only God knows 4(e): There's no indication that they won't, unfortunately, that's why Jesus asked us to preach. 5(a): They didn't properly listen to God, God may have made him successful if say he went on a missionary. 5(b): I did think of suicide once, but that's not quite the reason why I suicided, it was to think that my existence is unnecessary. It's a tough question, but I'll answer it through email by request. Name and Email: Icystwolf@hotmail.com Jim Umm, I didn't have enough time to type all the things up, but pls email me and I'll discuss the things piece by piece Church: More as a freelance, but I go to CPC, chinese presbyterian church List: yes
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1(a): Everybody is given the opportunity. People are to praise God in spite of their circumstances. In the book of David 3:1-30 Shadrach, Meshach and Abendago where ordered by the king to worship an idol of gold. They refused but notice their words: "17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Dan 3:17-18 (KJV) See regardless of weither or not God provided from then there faith was such that they would not reject him, and to the death they would glorify only God. We are told to be content not jealous of others opportunity. The opportunity God has given an individual is what he intended. People should praise God through whatever life they have. 1(b): Most Christians have not realized true joy comes from the Lord and following his will. 1(c): Discerning God's will is a result of a strong relationship through Jesus Christ, sometimes we do indeed get sidetracked and follow are own, but it is our sinful nature and our own free will that causes us to do this. Satan can only tempt, he cannot force a Christian, Satan could only have greater power if God let him, which he hasn't 1(d): It is not about trying hard, it is about faith. God's will is determined by a right relationship with him. Some hardship is from God (see the book of Job) and fulfils a purpose. 1(e): absolutely not, I see now scriptural evidence to support such a claim as Jesus' parable in Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus clearly implies all get paid the same amount for their work, judgment is based on our faith and what he have done with what God gave us (see the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:14-30) 1(f): How can you judge the fairness of God? Do you know Justice better them him? 1(g): You please God by the faith you excerted in your circumstances, salvation is not based on money/success. The fact that you did God's will with what you had is what pleases God, the fact that your worshiped and praised him through trial and tribulations pleases God. But heaven is obtained by faith in Jesus' atoning work on the cross. It is by Faith we are saved not by works (Eph. 2:8-9) 2(a): By individual prayer and fellowship with God, also by Faith. Most Christians do not disagree on the "important points" 1) Trinity and Oness of God 2) Incarnation of Jesus Christ 3) Substitution Atonement on the cross 4) Infallibility of the Scriptures as God's word 5) Resurrection of Christ physically on the third day 6) Work of the Holy Spirit in the believers life 7) Second coming and final judgment 2(b): On their important points they agree, only the fringe consider the others "of the devil" but yes come some others are wrong in their interpretation of Scripture. Something can be A or it can be B but it cannot be both A and B, that is why when it comes to disagreements one side must be logically wrong. This however is not evidence of the lack of Gods guidance on other matters 2(c): What wrong things? If they are unscripturally wrong then it is their fleshly nature. 2(d): Ye, prophets and visions of revelations are only one way God leads his people, sometimes it through a still small voice (1 Kings 19:9-13) 2(e): I'm not Pentecostal, he does say it clearly but he speaks in spiritual way, and most importantly we need to be patient! 2(f): by how it lines up scripturally and by the power of the Holy Spirit 3(a): Keep up the relationship with God and realise prayer is not a magic genie, never was intended to be, it is communication with God. If a persons idea of prayer is a "wish list" then they are not following God's Spirit with prayer, all prayer must be done by the guidance of the Spirit. 3(b): Actually many people seek God and DO get places, many places! I speak to people all the time who by their faith and patience and devotion to him he has blessed, even in times of trouble like Job they held on and God has been faithful. Also remember the Apostles where constantly in jail or persecuted, but we don't see bitterness or cynicism in the Bible because they rejoice in their afflictions as credit to the glory of God (read the whole book of acts) 3(c): No, God foreknew who would accept him, and those he predestined. God knows our hearts better then we do, and he knows those that would never accept him if given all the opportunity in the universe. Those that never would accept him are some who never heard. The devil can only be blamed for temptation, are sin is our problem. 4(a): Which verses contradict? Some may "seem" to, but with further study one can see they really do not (www.tektonics.org), the Bible is very clear about the important things (see one of the above questions) this does mean some people still read it wrong, but part of that is our flesh nature. I believe God left some things unexplained for our benefit so we could enjoy studying God's word and probing those mysteries. 4(b): All are given a fair chance, because God is just. God will destroy Satan, but not yet, he is being patient and waiting for all you will to come to him, Satan is allowed to deceive to show better the goodness of God. 4(c): You mean destroy our free will? If we could not truly rebel we could not truly be loyal. 4(d): God created time, time is the 4th dimension (quantum physics states) and is actually a substance. To ask that question implies he is subject to time, which he is not. 4(e): Yes, until I am proven that scripture says otherwise. It is only fitting. Those that want to live against and apart from God get their wish. Hell's "fire" is symbolic of the suffering of being separated from God forever. But when one is separated from God they are also separated from all he is. 5(a): huh? If their motivation was greed God doesn't bless them, what's your point? We do God's work every time we witness to someone. Also I couldn't find "pension" in your verses, I also did a computer search through the KJV and the word does not appear in the entire thing 5(b): They should have faith and be content 5(c): What the Bible says, i.e. if what is being thought about lines up with Biblical principals then it is good. 5(d): If it's God's will it's good regardless, and where is the scriptural proof about earning no more then a pension when I couldn't find the word in the Bible? 5(e): If it's God's will, if they feel it's his calling. Sometimes he wants us in certain situations like that to help others (like Queen Ester!) 5(f): No, just like it doesn't imply that the less someone earns the more they are of God, income is no measure of Faith. Only the LOVE of money is evil not money itself 5(g): It's possible, but "punish" is probably the wrong word, more likely from the examples of scripture when someone' heart is in the right place but they are not exactly where God wants them to be, God re-directs them not punishes them. 6(a): God blesses all his children, and to say that something is "esteemed by men" automatically makes it evil is illogical and unbiblical, your verse is out of context as it is not implying this to be true in ALL cases. If doing what is right in God's sight is esteemed by men it is still right in God's sight. Jesus was warning them about making sure they are following God, not everybody else, but if everybody else happiness to be following God it is still good. 6(b): Do you have any evidence to back that claim up? I know many who spend a lot of time doing God's will and still take the time to enjoy life and Jesus came so that we may not only have life but have it more abundantly (John 10:10) 6(c): not nessacarilly, an Idol is anything which we worship instead of God, anything can be an idol, and an idol to one person may not be an idol to the next. 7(a): I think it's going too far, it's wrong to be polarized on one end as much as the other. Not all Christians gave up their jobs, the disciples did, ys, b/c that was their new job. Some, like centaurians, didn't and they where not condemned for it. Those that lied cheated and stole and where hypocrites actually where doing those things with God's money that belonged to the temple, notice these words where to the priest. 7(b): No, hell is for unbelievers only. 7(c): Those that lie, cheat and steal? Yeas, obviously, they broke God's law. You mixed up a lot of verses there. The rich (in context of the verse) can go to heaven (as it's faith alone!) the "eye of a needle" was not literal, but an actual gate in Jerusalem, so called b/c it was so small it was hard for camels (but not impossible!) to get through, the point was the rich are more likely to be seduced by greed, but the poor can also turn from God. While the rich say, "I have supplied myself" and denied God from pride the poor say "God has done nothing" and deny God by jealousy. Both are bad. 7(d): Ananias and Sapphira did nothing of the sort, what they did was lie about their income for the purpose of with holding some. The problem was they lied about what they made, not that they made it. Name and Email: Wesley Evans Knight4God@hotmail.com Church: protestant-Interdenominationl semi-reformed non-charismatic Baptist List: sure
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1(a): Because there was a war in heaven Michael and his angles fought against the Dragon and his angel, and was cast out on to the earth. According to the word of God when Lucifer saw that he had been cast out he went fourth to persecute the woman that brought fourth the Man Child which would one day rule the whole earth who is JESUS, is the nation Israel, because the nation of Israel, Is - Real in the eyes of the Father. Then Lucifer went fourth to persecute the remnant of her seed, which are the Jews, those also who kept the commandment of the Father, and those that had the testimony of Jesus Christ meaning all true believers not all of those that call themselves Christian. As Revelation 12 states Wo! Unto the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea for the Devil has come down unto you having great wrath for he knows that he has but a short time. 1(b): Because the word of the Father dictates that "my people meaning the people of God are destroyed because of a lack of knowledge. Remember that the last church spoken of in Book of Revelation stated the rbke of are Lord and Saviour himself, because they where rich increased with goods and thought that they had need of nothing. Yet Jesus said that "they did not know" I repeat that "they did not know" that they where poor, blind, wretched, miserable, and necked. So now I will ask you a question are you in trouble when you don't know, that you don't know, that you don't know it? 1(c): Lucifer, or AKA Satan cannot stop the will of the Father. He can impede progress as he done in the case of the angle that was sent by God the Father for 21 days until Michael the great prince, but not the Prince of Peace had to help. So is it also with believers, but it is only a test if you don't believe me ask Abraham about his test with Isaac, or ask Job about his 7 sons, 3 daughters, all his worldly possession, and health. But you must keep the faith, repent of all sins known, unknown, and believe in the WORD of God, for it is written " sent his WORD and healed them for my WORD shall not come back unto me void, but it shall accomplish that where I sent it, because in the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God, and Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every WORD that proceed out of the mouth of God. 1(d): It is written in the WORD of God HOLY SPIRITUAL formula that we must ' trust in the Lord + with all are might + mind + soul + strength + lend not to are own understanding+ in all our ways acknowledge Him = that he will direct your path. Why? "Because your ways are not my ways, and your thoughts are not my thoughts", " there is away unto all men that seems right, but they are the ways of death", but the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his ways, and he might fall but he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord is able to uphold you. So then a lot of troubles in supposed children of the Father are spiritual Russian roulette, or self inflicted, because Jesus said that I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly. So I'll ask you a question is it his fault or ours? "Behold this day I lay before you a blessing and a curse. Choose the blessing that it might be well with you. 1(e): Not every believer is a disciple, every disciple is not a servant, every servant is not a soldier, every soldier, every soldier is not a warrior, every warrior is not a slave, every slave is not a bond slave, and every slave is not a overcomer. These are spiritual offices that as a believer in Jesus you can chose to pursue, obtain, and hold in this lifetime, and each position carries with it a degree of rewards. For it is written " to him that has shall be given, and he shall have more" " blessed are those that are persecuted for righteousness sake, rejoice, and be exceedingly glad " " to him that overcomes are the only ones who can be a pillar in the temple of God the Father " " for behold I come quickly and my rewards are with me to give to every man according to his works rather they be good or rather they be evil " and he that has a ear to hear let him hear what the spirit says unto the Church 1(f): The Father is a righteous God, and Jesus is coming back to earth to rule, and judge in righteousness. " So can the clay say unto the potter what are you making ". 1(g): " Your saved by Grace not of works least any man should boast " a gift of the Father all you got to do is truly believe in which only Jesus shall judge, for its written " depart from me you workers of inequity for I never knew you 2(a): " As many that are lead by the Spirit of God are the sons and daughters of God " " why call me Lord and you want do what I say " " not everyone that says Lord, Lord shall enter in, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, and " a hose divided can not stand " Name and Email: Currently the Lord have out in the wilderness my address is AKA Preacherman 1750 38th Ln Vero Beach Fl 32960 Church: NONe List: Yes
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1(a): Maybe because the only people that will have a successful life is the ones that don't sin. Since everyone sins, God cannot give them a perfect life. God only gives people that fairly don't sin an almost perfect life. That is why there is no perfect person. Name and Email: Rockjr400@yahoo.com Boris Yagudayev List: YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
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1(a): Ah, but we are given the opportunity to succeed - all of us! 'The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' -2 Peter 3:9 Define success? Define Riches? The riches of this world are dung compared to the riches of God's love. Success on the other hand is the proving of our Faith - the faith not grounded in ourselves but anchored in the Rock which is Christ. As for our trials and troubles I leave you again with the voice of one Peter: 1:7 'That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 1(b): What did the only acceptable sacrifice of sin look like? It looked like a humiliated, whipped and spit upon man nailed naked to a cross where in His dying hour his closest friends, followers and disciples had deserted Him. It looked like a man, Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Phil 2:6-7; and after having finished the task given to Him by His Father became the Lamb of God who took all our sins upon Himself so that even His Father could not bear to look at Him. Does that look like success to you? Are God's ways the same as our ways? I don't know about you but I am floored by this kind of love. I've heard of guys jumping on hand grenades to save their friends and we all admire heroes who give their lives for others but did Jesus look like a hero that last day on the cross? And yet it was the very essence of the Father's love - the love that crushed sin; the love that conquered death with life. The will of the Father is the deepest drink we can ever attempt to quench our overwhelming thirst with but the cup is heavy indeed until you have drunk its last drop. I look to the tomb knowing that He left it empty - and that after all the world can throw at us, whether we look foolish and are considered of low account that Jesus has already carried my burden and so I kneel at His feet and wash them with my tears of thanks. Who though in the form and likeness of God, did not esteem equality with God but submitted 1(c): I reckon that trying hard has never really accomplished God's will. I say this because every time I read the Bible I come to the conclusion that God is the real hero in spite of the weakness of the men whom He chose. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 1 Cor 1:27. I would recommend that we forget trying hard, forget trying to be strong for if we realize just how bankrupt and weak we are without God we will learn to trust, learn to listen, learn to follow and learn to obey. It when we rely on ourselves that we get into real trouble. What real Christian doesn't know God will deliver them? Only one whose faith is weak in spite of their human strength. Faith comes from recognizing this kind of strength is useless and trusting in God's strength even if we stutter, trip and fall. Fix your eyes upon Jesus! 1(d): I know God disciplines us and I am glad for that. Job 5:17 says 'Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty'. He lets us go our own way - and in doing so I have learned from my failures to trust God. He allows us to be tempted and from this I have learned that God alone is my strength. He allows us to be persecuted and from this we learn as Paul did, ' For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalites, nor powers, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, nor things present, nor things to come, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1(e): Honest Christians? To be honest one must distrust himself. 'God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. Rom 3:4. If I run into arms of my Father or I crawl on all fours to Him while leaving pools of tears before me does it matter? If I am in the true Vine I am with my Jesus and it matter not how I get there - only that I can be there with Him who has saved us.
1(f): Whom am I but clay whom the potter has formed and blessed with my end which is in Him. I am made for Him and His reward to me is how He has created me to reflect His light. I am forever grateful and owe Him a debt I can never repay.
Matt 20:5-15 Name and Email: mcadam124@aol.com Patrick McAdam Church: Religion: Christian Church: First Baptist Shrewsbury List: Sure!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4(b): God is not going to force us to serve him. We were all born with free will. He lets Satan tempt us because he wants us to be able to serve him by choice, not by force. Name and Email: 01galdeen@fr.noacsc.org Matt Galdeen, 17, Ohio Church: Catholic List: sure
1(a): Everyone is given the opportunity to succeed. Many don't because they are neither HOT, nor COLD. They are LUKE WARM. What this means is, if someone is HOT for the will of GOD, their entire focus is to do his will in everything, and they always succeed at GODS will. If someone is COLD, their entire focus is on the world, and everyone succeeds where they are focused. However, the majority of people are LUKE WARM. Not focused. Torn between two directions. Kind of wandering back and forth across a narrow line. They are angry at god because they are not successful in the world, and angry at the world because the are not successful in GOD. 1(c): First you have to understand what GOD's will is. It is first and foremost to Praise, Give Thanks to, and Honor his Glory. Second, to follow his commandments and lead a godly life as an example to others. To find out what his will for you personal life is takes consistent, continuose, constant, prayer. Sometimes it isn't even close to what you thought it was, sometimes you do it without even knowing it. Sometimes, when you think your whole day is going wrong, it is actually going right where GOD wants it to go, so that you may do something GOD wants you to do, that wouldn't have been possible if your day was going normal. Some are sent here to do great things. Others are sent here merely to worship, praise, and honor him. By doing just that, they are setting an example for others, and doing his will. No matter how small the job is that you were sent here to do, if done in his will, it is great in his eyes.
1(e): You will be reward according to your work. That's what it means to lay up your tressures in Heaven. 1(f): GOD is a just GOD and is always fair. ALWAYS. As children we do not always know what's right. In fact, hardly ever. We do not know the heart of man, GOD does. So how can we judge what is fair and what isn't? 1(g): Again, You have to measure success and failure through the eyes of GOD. As long as you measure through the eyes of man, you will never understand the answer to this question.
2(a): It takes consistent constant prayer, a personal relationship and daily walk with Jesus, and focused eyes and ears on the word of GOD. His will for your personal life will be revealed to you in his own time, but only if you are focused on him.
2(c): They are not focused on GOD. They have strayed from his word, and allowed world view and deception into their lives.
2(d): The path is straight and the gate is narrow, and FEW shall enter. Thoughs FEW who are on that straight and narrow path, are lead by GOD. Thoughs who are not are lead by the great deceiver. 2(e): GOD's will is very clear. The problem is, the Christians you say are trying hard to do GOD's will but fail, are not doing his will at all. They have been deceived. In actuality, they are trying very hard to do their own will, and calling it GOD's. 2(f): Go back to the Bible and pray. If it is not scriptural than it is not of GOD. If GOD is truly in your heart He will lead you. We all make mistakes, we are human. But if we are truly one of GOD's children, He will get us back on track. Sometimes that can be painful, and not very much fun. But he loves us and wants to lead us. 3(a): First off, If you are a true Christian, than ALL your prayers ARE answered. It might not be the answer you were hoping for, but you received an answer. You have to remember, we are praying for GOD's will, not our own. If you are not praying for GOD's will than you will most always be disappointed. The person who burned the Bible was obviously either not a Christian, or he/she got so caught up in seeking his own will he forgot to ask for GOD's will. 5(a): Well, obviously it wasn't GOD's will that they do this. Name and Email: ahabthearab37@aol.com Church: Christian, no church presently, raised Baptist. List: sure.
1(b): The reason is that Christians forget that God is in full control of their lives. They try to take control back in their own hands and do not enjoy God's daily blessings such as our breath of life and communion with Him. Instead they only see their suffering and chose to dwell on that. They'll never enjoy a victorious life because even though it is being offered to them, they still see things superficially instead of seeing things with the eyes of faith. 1(c): To do God's will is to obey His commands. His two greatest commands are to love God above all and to love one another. To love one another is to do what God has commissioned us to do and that is to share to others the gospel of Jesus Christ. Although we all want to be able to do something great for the kingdom of God, living a Godly and righteous life is in itself a testimony to unbelievers and believers alike. Your lifestyle may be the only bible your unbelieving friend may read and with a lot of time on our knees plus the power of God's word to convict, we are doing more for God's kingdom than to write another book wherein an unbeliever would not even be the slightest bit interested in doing. Do well in your present situation and God will use you in His vineyard in ways you never thought possible. 1(d): No ones fault. People just have the misconception of doing something great in God's kingdom as doing something obvious and tangible. God works in our present situation and we don't have to be Benny Hinns to do His work. Just do your best in what you're doing now and someone will be watching you as you live your testimony before them. 1(e): Christ did not die for you and me on different degrees. His death was for the redemption of all. He regards us all as brothers and sisters. To Him there is no rich or poor so there will be no such distinction in heaven. Besides, isn't having Christ in our lives a blessing far greater than anything? Whether you are well off in your life on earth or living in poverty, I still see that we are all blessed to know Jesus. 1(f): If God had to be fair, we wouldn't even have this hope of a resurrected life in Jesus because of our wickedness. In all fairness, our wage for the sins we committed was death. However, God was NOT fair. He still gave us a chance and even sent His own son to redeem us. Aren't you glad that our God is so unfair that He still gave us a chance to live? Name and Email: JCLoti@yahoo.com Benisa Bautista Church: Free Believers in Christ Fellowship Int'l List: yes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1(a): He gave us freedom. The freedom to chose our own destiny. Therefore we must learn from our mistakes. I am a mother and I have shed many tears as I had to discipline one of my children or deny them something they wanted badly....But in the end we still love one another and have learned from the mistake as well. I believe it breaks God's heart to see any of us suffer but it is usually for a better cause or to help you to learn from the mistake. Just as parents pray and worry and cry for their children so does our God for us. Name and Email: TamHrm@aol.com My name is Tammy I am a mother of 3 and happily married for 10 years. God is the ruler of our home although sometimes He goes on vacation and we have to go bring Him back. We are not perfect but the one thing we know is that we love our Heavenly Father with all our hearts and souls. Church: God is God is God...The bible are His rules to live by there are no maybes or since you went to this church your o.k....Read his book and you'll know everything you need to know. I do attend church but it is nondenominational. However my walk with God was not strong until I spent private time with Him and He has showed me more than you can believe. His love is so very awesome and He showed me this love when I was away from the church for a period of time. People you don't need the church you need God and He is EVERYWHERE.... List: Yes that is o.k. with me.
1(a): Because God's idea of success is not the same as most people's idea. We are not here to succeed in Satan's system. 1(b): The question sounds like it came from the "Positive thinking doctrines" which have flooded the churches and brought about the Laodicean age Money and power don't bring people closer to God, but distracts and when it doesn't fulfil the people are angry and disappointed with God. Those that don't achieve what they think they should, or what they have been taught that they should, also even more so experience a life of frustration, sickness and are angry with God. They have been taught wrong. 1(c): This is a block buster question. I'm not sure any of us has the answer. I have tried all my life to find the will of God. As I look back I can see many places that I was in the will of God and didn't know it at the time. Maybe that's the way it should be. If our heart is set on doing the will of God, we will draw closer and closer, whether we hear from God or not. If God told us everything to do, we would become puppets. However I don't claim to have the corner on this. I still wish I could hear from God more clearly. And yes I think Satan does stop us, but he uses our own selfish or greedy or sinful desires against us. And I still feel as we get closer to God, we will hear Him more. When we are striped of everything during the great tribulation, God's true Children "will be strong and do exploits." 1(d): Ours, False teachers. False expectations 1(e): Yes. "And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection." Heb.11:35 1(f): He is just and fair. 1(g): How can you be denied the right to please God, if you are striving to walk in all the light that you know? 2(a): I think I've already answered the first part. The second part is so sad. Christians constantly play follow the leader. The hierarchy of the church has been wrong ever since Constantine. The blind have led the blind. And false doctrine is passed down from one generation to the next. 2(b): See my answer above. I believe all denominations are wrong. However there are good honest people in all of them. If they will forget what they've been taught, take their Bible and ask God to show them. If their heart is right, God will show them. Of course, they will get kicked out of their church. 2(c): Both. This is how we get our senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 2(d): Yes, God leads. But maybe not as much as people think. 2(e): You ask good questions. Hard to answer. I know God heals. I have been healed of a fatal disease, Myesnthia Gravis. Yet I have been sick with other things most of my life. The only reason I believe He healed me, is if He didn't I would have been dead. The other problems have led me to study herbs, and I feel better now in my 60's than I did when I was 20-40. 2(f): Try the spirits. Is it according to the Bible? What is our motive? If our motive is driven by, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes or pride of life, it's not of God. And walk slowly, one step at a time.
3(a): It's not God that's the problem. It's the system. Don't give up on God, give up on the system. Sounds like they've already quit the church, or are getting ready to. That's good. They are right were God can speak to them. If they can find one or two others. Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I will be in the midst of them." And they will take their Bibles, go back to the foundation of the Church, and study with an honest heart, God will lead them. 3(b): Because they gave up everything to follow.
4(b): I need several pages for this answer. I believe, Lucifer was the ruler of the pre-historic earth. But he let the, "Lust of the flesh, lust of the eye's and pride of life," which is, "the spirit of this world," enter into his life. And God de-moted him, changed his name to Satan. 4(c): He almost did, but then He found Noah. One righteous man, and God being the true God that He is could not destroy the earth. 4(d): That's a question that I never could answer for my children. 4(e): Yes
5(a): I am trying to get a web site going (Don't know what I'm doing) And one of the articles is "There Were Two Trees in Eden." I believe, the tree of good and evil, represents the "spirit of this world."which is
The tree of good and evil, is GOOD, and it is EVIL. And the main tap root of this tree, is the love of money. It feeds the other three roots.
We have to have money to live, that is good, the love of money is evil. We have to have homes, that's good, when we have to have a show place, or keep up with the Joneses, That's pride.
5(b): I think I answered this question in the above answer. We have got to find the way into God's rest. Many people as the above article states, deceive themselves that they want more money to give to the ministry. If the ministry was what it is supposed to be, they wouldn't need much money. If there weren't monster churches that have to have a huge budget. Ministers with a large salary, what do they need any more than any one else.
5(c): All positive thinking, mind power systems are of the devil. I find there are positive people. They don't try to fool them selves. They just won't give up. Then there are negative people. No amount of positive thinking will change them. They know it won't work 5(d): I think they would be better off starting a house church. 5(e): Volunteer work should be for the glory of God 5(f): It's according to where you draw the line. Money is power. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. 5(g): What is the will of God that they want to do with it. Do they have a purpose? Do they need a certain amount? Or do they just say, well if I had more money, I'd use it for God's will. Are they using what they have now for God's will? 6(a): YES 6(b): If they are keeping people from entering in God's rest, yes. But every one has to decide what is necessary. 6(c): I think so 7(a): I don't know. I guess it would be according to who you were talking to. Although most are guilty, I don't think I'd make money the issue. 7(b): If they don't get the spirit of this world out of them, I don't know how the Spirit of God can grow. 7(d): Well it sure is wrong advice Name and Email: atharene@aol.com my name is Irene Church: I've been in Pentecost since I was about 6. I believe they have the right foundation, but they have added man made laws and standards until they have made the word of God to no or little effect. I intend as God leads to start a house church, patterned as much as possible like the early church. List: Yes
3(a): The Key to this question could be "they tried hard". Trying hard is not the way to God. God saves us through his Grace, for it is by Grace that we are saved. Not from our good works, good deeds, or "trying" to be good and find Him. He is found by those who did not seek Him first. He is There. He is Here. He is Everywhere. He knows what we need before we even ask. Open up your heart... talk to Him and tell Him that you can't find Him. Tell Him that you need Him, ask Him to come in to your life. He wants you to want Him. We don't have to "try hard" to find Him. He knows every detail of your life already. Human suffering can not be avoided. Life is a series of trial and hardships. Our problems come because we think life should be easy... that we should be happy all the time, and that good things should come to us regularly. Probably because we have been lied to regarding the meaning of life... from childhood, well meaning parents, schools, teachers, Hollywood, etc. God is there to help us cope and understand hardships and problems, and to overcome them through His Son, Jesus Christ. Behold, He stands at the door and knocks. Confess your sins. (He knows them all) and ask Him in. That is not hard to do. He Loves You. Totally. Unconditionally. Forever. Name and Email: vicki55@webtv.net Church: Christian List: yes
1(a): Succeed? Well, this word certainly comes attached to many strings. Succeed in what? Career? Family? Finding peace in this success-oriented world? 1(b): First, people would not turn to God and praise him if they were successful. They would be consumed by pride and greed, so much so that God would not even be in the picture. It is only through trials that we as humans stand a chance of truly knowing God, and thereafter praising him. Name and Email: Michael J. Musella email: mikemoose@aol.com Church: Christian List: yes
1(a): I don't believe this is true, unless the individual is looking to expand his own borders, not the Kingdom of God. 1(b): It says in the bible that in following God our flesh must suffer so our spirit can thrive. Also, it is a matter of being sinful. 1(c): Never in the scriptures does Satan have more power than God. 1(d): The frustrations we have, are truly OUR own that we make. Even secular psychologists say "It is a choice one can make to be mad, sad, happy, etc . . ." as are all things on this earth 'choice' because God has given us a free will. God never says, however, life will be easy. On the contrary, Paul and many others speak of their problems with the world. What you need to believe is that if you are doing the will of God, THAT is ALL you need to worry about. God will use you inevitably whether you can see it or not. 1(e): No, God has plans for everyone. One may be a missionary to a small tribe, who gets killed trying to convert them. Another may be Billy Graham. The fact is both did or are doing what God asked them to do. They both will be great in Heaven. (Also I didn't understand whether you were saying that the second category of Christians were enjoying the fruits of the earth or were also doing what God had for them like the first.) 1(f): I didn't understand the latter question enough to answer this one. 1(g): If you are doing the will of God, but yet didn't see anything come out of it, you still pleased God by listening to him. 7(d): We ALL deserve to die according to God. But God sent his son to die for us. It is a sin to lead another away from his/her calling though (This principle is found many places throughout the Bible). We all make mistakes, whether it be leading someone in the ungodly direction or adultery, but God makes it very clear that our lives were bought by Jesus who died for us.
Name and Email: peterpan0@juno.com List: Yes, I'd love to clear up the questions people may have about the bible/Christianity.
1(a): I'm afraid I don't really understand this question. Isn't 'success' in Christian terms the result of doing His will and Praising him, not the cause? 1(b): Still struggling with your use of 'successful'... 1(c): Surely God does not demand any more than he has made people capable of? To do so would suggest a very nasty taskmaster of a God 1(d): It is part of the defined nature of God that, if all-good and all-loving he cannot require what is not possible. 1(e): It COULD be so. It is logically possible to be so, and there is no conflict with scripture, but I can't say that I'm really an expert on how God chooses to arrange rewards. 1(f): I have never heard anyone suggest that God is fair. Omnipotent, omniscient and supremely good, but 'fairness' requires a human evaluation of alternatives which implies the sort of reasoning which would make the very concept of God impossible. It is clear that God must use a system of reasoning quite above and beyond the one we use (otherwise He wouldn't be a God, would he?) 1(g): You have heard wrong. 2(a): God's revelations have come through human agency and are interpreted by frail humanity. Our mere use of words leads to continual misunderstandings- try translating 'God' into Hindi and you'll se what I mean 2(b): See above 2(c): We cannot know, this is the judgement which God makes. We must instead take a 'leap of faith' and humbly try to do our best to ascertain God's will. 2(d): Probably. 2(e): I disagree. It is the non-Godly life which is like walking around blindfolded in a dangerous place. The Christian life has the blindfold at least a little lifted. 2(f): ...or perhaps an evil demon? We cannot know with absolute certainty. 3(a): By looking for God in the silence of lost understanding. 3(b): I'm afraid I'm not really the one to answer that. 3(c): They could go to hell in the sense that such is logically possible, in the same way that it is possible that I might sprout wings and fly to the moon. However, this is not my understanding of how God operates. 4(a): I could even say 'which bible?', making things even less clear. Refer to my previous answer about human agency. 4(b): It is the price we pay for the glory of free-will. A God who perfectly controlled the world and us in every last detail would not be the God we know, and we would be mere automata. 4(c): He did. 4(d): I cannot answer this, it is beyond what physicists call 'the event horizon'. Its like asking 'what happened before time'. 4(e): Yes. But then again, I cannot know God's criterion of unbelief. 5(a): Their time is not wasted. The bible is entirely clear on this one (A splendid choice of verses, incidentally). Anyone wealthy enough to even consider the possibility of a pension is among the richest 1% of the population, they already have a gross excess of wealth. They must give every last penny. 5(b): You have only listed the risks. They are numerically tiny compared with the potential benefits. 5(c): Sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand your use of the word 'positive' (being English hampers me somewhat) 5(d): I hear what you say, and I agree. But I think you are mistaken to assume that most people who gain great wealth do so corruptly- many gain it accidentally, by inheritance or even quite honestly. It is quite possible to earn money fairly 5(e): Under a corrupt system, certainly not. They should seek to make the system honest. 5(f): Probably so. 5(g): God could be. That doesn't mean that he is. 6(a): You are quite correct. To answer the question- no, God doesn't hand out blessings like wages, it's the other thing that gets wages. 6(b): Thinking, as CS Lewis pointed out, is, like friendship, strictly speaking unnecessary. 6(c): No. 7(a): Yes. 7(b): I'm afraid I cannot know the answer to that. 7(c): Certainly. 7(d): The two proposals are not of necessity in conflict.
Name and Email: Glyn Hughes List: Yes please !
1(a): We have a misconception of what success is. There is material success which is seen. Then there is a success that cannot be seen. Real success in life lies in the areas of love of family, trust, integrity, wisdom, honor, discipline, concern for others well being. "Friendship", a powerful, unseen human quality that God loves dearly. "Loyalty" is another dynamic force in our Father's mind. It is present throughout the Bible. True success in life comes through thinking like our Father and following his guidelines in life. You will never see or receive any rewards, you will feel his approval and recognition, that is the greatest success of all! Name and Email: jogger2@msn.com Church: Methodist, catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Islamic, etc. No specific religion. A follower of our Father's will. List: Yes
1(a): It is not for us to question god behaviour. he is in control and he is souvergn. we have fate in him as a loving creator. If we don't understand his ways it does not mean that they are wrong. We should recall Job and his story. Some time when we are in trouble we blame god for it. But this we do out of lack of fate and trust. It should be clear in our mind that in the end god makes it all to the best of who loves him (Romans 8:28). 1(c): What is god will? Does it take something spectacular as go evangelise to all world does it study god word all day and publish many books are we saved by our deeds or is salvation the act of god to us. God want us to lead a life dependant on him not on ourselves and this life if other wise not possible can be a life of a martyr but God looks at the heart he want us to love him and love our fellow man like we love ourself this is god will and this can be exercised every where in even the worst of external condition or with demanding jobs God can be loved every where and we always have other people around us so since God and other people are what is kneaded to do gods will so there is no question in the environment the question assumes that to do god will is something difficult but god want us to be like his son and this means to love god and other people and be ready to even die for your brothers. 1(d): The fault is in our mind that we see that God will is something that will give us status and pride. But we should look at our example Jesus he did nothing on this earth except god will and he ended on the cross. This is our model to do gods will is to deny the self and carry the cross and have our eyes and heart fixed on Jesus. And this we can do everywhere even in prison. 1(e): We cannot know it. God looks at the heart and this is the heart of the matter. We can do great things according to man standards which mean nothing to god an vice versa Name and Email: Lior Gun, e-mail: lior-63@zahav.net.il Church: Messianic Jew. Born in Israel. Lives in armies, Israel List: yes shure it will be an honour.
1(a): The secret of God's love for us is not in visible success. His greatest gifts are invisible and have no material value. The love of family, friends and honouring Him are the greatest things that life has to offer. You may be very surprised how successful certain people are that are favoured by our Father! They have the greatest riches in the world, yet they are penniless paupers! Careful in equating physical wealth with our Father's love. Mental and physical well being are the greatest gifts from our Father! Thank him for these things every day! 1(b): They are angry with our Father because they fail to see the greatest things he has given them. Their eyesight, the sense of smell, hearing, touch and feelings of emotion. 1(c): Satan has no power if you commit your love and loyalty to your Father. Our Father will stand with you in these troublesome times. 1(e): Failure is a material concept. If you value our Father's judgement, you will never fail. 1(f): It is never how our Father can be fair. How can be honour him and serve his best interests. For without him we are nothing. 2(a): There is no true perfect way. It is one of abiding by your Father's better judgement. Think of the many times you went astray due to your poor judgement. Follow your father's path and you will live a normal, healthy life. Not necessarily in wealth and riches.
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2(b): They are fooled into thinking they are true Christians or believers. It is truly the hardest thing in the world to be a true Christian. However, if you practice Christ's teachings of brotherly love in your day to day relationship with people, you will be amazed how great life can be! AND the friends you will make will last a lifetime!
2(c): They have not served our Father's will. They have taken it upon themselves to make incorrect decisions. They have exercised poor judgement. 2(d): You have a free will. You can follow our Father or exercise the wrong decisions. 2(e): We have a free will. We have the power to choose between his way and ours. Our way leads to ruin. 2(f): They are lost and do not trust our Father's will. They focus on the wrong things in life. Look at families in this world. You will not hear your Father's voice leading you, you will feel his presence and direction if you let yourself do so! 3(a): They pray for the wrong things. They need to pray to our father for inner strength and confidence. They need to appreciate the greatest things in life and not expect rewards to reinforce their belief and confidence in our Father. Trust his judgement and direction and you will take the correct course in life. 3(b): As you may recall, the apostles learned the invisible quality of loyalty and honour in Christ's teachings. This quality had no material value and our Father did not personally thank these people for their acts. They experienced our Father's essence and greatest possessions of love and honour. Loyalty to him and each other. People who get nowhere today are looking for the wrong things in life! So they fail. 3(c): There is no hell. Hell resides in our inner being. A life without our Father. 4(a): The Bible is a history book. It is not a map of the inner mind. If we reside in our Father, you will always do the right thing. 4(b): The devil cannot enter us if we reside in our Father because we hold his inner qualities. 4(c): Our Father promised he would never destroy the world he created. Why should he destroy his greatest works! 4(d): We will never know the answer. We see our Father every time we look into the mirror. 4(e): Never. Our Father is too great to allow such things. 5(a): These people are thinking incorrectly. They are associating their works with a reward system. The greatest reward is to receive nothing, but humble honour to our Father. 5(b): People must be helped to recognize that life is a rough path. Ups and downs. Sadness and happiness. Hold the mark and persevere. Honour our Father's most simple blessings and ask for nothing more. 5(c): Thinking positive in putting your life in our Father's control. Pray to him to give you wisdom and good judgement. You will earn the respect and friendship of others. Name and Email: jogger2@msn.com Church: United Methodist. Very rarely go to church. A man once told me that we are God's church. We need to think of him every day. List: Yes, perhaps others will thank our Father for his greatest gifts! Love of family and friends and his gracious blessings of good health and wisdom!
1(a): Success as measured by the world's terms usually has nothing to do with doing God's will or of praising Him. Remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man? It was the beggar that went to heaven, not the rich man. Successful (rich?) men get their opportunities to succeed from Satan, not God. Read Matt.4: 8.9. Praise costs nothing. 1(b): A battle rages on between the flesh and the spirit. Jesus told us to seek spiritual treasures and to deny the flesh. A life of frustration, sickness, and failure is NOT the life of a Christian, only a wannabe. Trials and tribulations ARE the life of a Christian. The rulers get fat and unhealthy because they have it so easy. The slaves (servants) remain slim and healthy because of their toil. Guess which one sleeps better at night. Its what Jesus meant when He said the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Want your reward now or later...want to rule now or later? 1(c): I am sure you are closer to doing God's will if you are hungry than if you are stuffed. Once again, putting others ahead of ourselves, of being servant to all, that is the way of the Lord. Deception is Satan's tool against lost souls, not against Christians. Worry, fear, doubt, and confusion have no place in a Christian's heart or life, only faith and trust and peace. 2(a): a) The Holy Spirit b) and the lack thereof 2(b): Many are called but few are chosen and even Satan appears as a minister of righteousness. 2(c): Not their imagination...but demon spirits or the spirit of the anti-Christ, Satan, the Great Deceiver. 2(d): Yes, and untrue. Just because a painting LOOKS like a Van Gogt does not make it a Van Gogt...beware the counterfeits, the fakes, the phonies. 2(e): The Christian life is full of light...there is no darkness and all is very clear...made that way by the Holy Spirit. 3(a): If you ask and do not receive, it is because you ask amiss or without faith. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter. The fruits of the Holy Spirit include love, peace, joy, and contentment. 3(b): All of the apostles were murdered (some even tortured) except for John. Seek and you shall find....did you give up?...perseverance is a big key. 3(c): No innocent person is ever found guilty in God's court. God's judgement is true and fair and exists with or without the law. See Romans 2:12-16. List: yes
4(e): Eternal torment in hell is another LIE fed to the world's religions by Satan by wresting meaning out of a couple of obscure verses while ignoring many, many verses that say the EXACT OPPOSITE. Popularized by Dante Allegheiri's "Divine Comedy", this view is still held by many misguided but otherwise devout followers of Jesus Christ. My search for 'hell' delivered 22 verses. Of those, only ONE seems to suggest an eternal torment in hell: Lk:16:23: And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Now, obviously, this parable is not literal. If the rich man was tormented in the flames of an eternal hellfire, he would ask for more than a finger dipped in water to cool his tongue. The reason for this story is made evident by the last verse: Lk:16:31: And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Here Jesus is making a reference to Israel not believing in Him even after He was resurrected from the dead. More prophecy. The two verses in Mark (identical, except one is hands the other feet) indicate a fire that will never be quenched. Notice there is no mention of eternal souls in it: Mk:9:45: And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Mark 9:43 uses hand instead of foot. Mark 9:47 uses eye but does not mention unquenched. In Matthew, the word destroy is used: Mt:10:28: And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. This says that BOTH body and soul are DESTROYED in hell! As most know, three different words with very different meanings are all translated as hell. Only the 'Gehenna' hell's refer to the literal lake of fire where condemned men will be thrown. Most of the hell's mentioned refer to the grave as used in Revelation: Rv:20:14: And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Notice, it is called the second death. Second death is mentioned again in Rev. 2:11, 20:6, and in this one: Rv:21:8: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Second death DOES NOT sound anything like eternal life to me. Three other verses in Revelation mention the lake of fire but only one speaks of eternal torment. Notice: Rv:20:10: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. The DEVIL is tormented forever and ever, not people! This, of course, makes perfect sense because Satan has eternal life...He was created that way! But don't we have an eternal soul?, you may ask. The answer is a most definite NO! This lie is the basis for many of the false religions in the world. Re-incarnation is one example of wrested meaning from God's Word. We cannot earn eternal life but we can receive it as a FREE GIFT! Notice: Rom:6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That should be plain enough. A sinful life will earn us death but a relationship (marriage) with Christ will result in eternal life. Practically everyone has heard this verse but somehow the obvious meaning of it has escaped almost everyone. Oh, the power of deception. Let's look at an Old Testament verse and you tell me how this one can be wrested to put sinners in an eternal torment in hell: (Malachi)1:1: For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 3: And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. Let's see: stubble, burned up, neither root nor branch, ashes under feet. Can anyone tell me how we come up with eternal torment here? A few more: 1Cor:3:17: If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Jn:8:51: Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Rom:8:6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Jms:5:20: Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. This scripture is often cited as proof of eternal damnation: Mt:25:46: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Everlasting punishment is NOT eternal torment. The second death is the everlasting punishment referred to. Once a person is judged and condemned to die the second death, he is ETERNALLY separated from God with no more chances. It is finished. The wheat (harvest of souls-the elect) is gathered in the barns (heaven-eternal life) and the chaff (wicked sinners-the unworthy) are cast in the oven (the lake of fire) where they are burned up (destroyed). As in: Jn:3:15: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. A commonly wrested verse used to 'qualify' this eternal torment: Mk:9:44: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. This is repeated twice in verses 46 and 48. Not sure about this translation but this obscure verse does NOT negate all the other scriptures cited above. May be a prophetic allusion to the Diet of Worms. The last and most persuasive verse used: Rv:14:11: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Those who have no rest day nor night are said to be those who worship the beast and his image and those who receive the mark of (the beast). This clearly does not include all sinners since the beginning of time but only a select few in a limited future time. Those that receive the mark may well be people who have replaced their physical bodies with a future non-human one. It would be very foolish indeed to conjure up an eternal place of torment for all sinners from these last two verses when one would have to flat out ignore all the other scriptures cited. Of course, there are many more that speak of the death and destruction of sinners. Are there any more that SEEM to say that this lake is an eternal abode of sinners in torment? 5(d): The Bible gives many scriptures that explain the difference between the physical and the spiritual and how they are at odds with one another: Mt:6:24: No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon means material wealth or money. Rom:8:5: For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. Gal:5:17: For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Gal:6:8: For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Rom:8:13: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 1Jn:2:16: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. One that cuts right to the chase is this one: 1Tm:6:8: And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. He says to be content with food and clothing! And this one: Heb:13:5: Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Be content with what you have and quit wanting (things) is the message! List: Yes, please.
1(a): First we must ask, "What does it mean to succeed"? In order for one to succeed, one must go through a time of testing and trial. If there were no testing and trial, then how could one possibly say that they have succeeded? What would they have succeeded? Can one say, "I succeeded simply by watching the world pass me by on my couch. I have everything I ever wanted and never had to lift a finger." That's not success, that's slothfulness. If only "good" were to come "freely" ones way, there would be no meaning to the word success. When people say "He was a success" or "He was successful", what does that mean? Could a college student be considered a success if he made all A's by cheating on all his/her tests and exams. I'm sure that we all would agree that the student would be an upmost failure. So, what does it mean to succeed? To succeed means implicity to pass the test manfully. To say that one doesn't receive the opportunity to succeed so that they may do God's will and praise him is a falsehood. It is the same thing as saying that one doesn't experience the test of life. Temptations, frustrations, and sufferings are all part of the test of life. To say that one doesn't experience this test is a false statement. To conclude, I would have to say that everyone in the world is given the opportunity by God to succeed by the simple fact that they are tested. All are tested differently, so all may succeed differently. But to succeed doesn't mean to be cured of temptations, frustrations, and sufferings. It simply means to come out stronger wiser, and ultimately a better person just as the college student becomes a better person in his/her field of study by taking many tests. If the student were cured of taking tests, he/she wouldn't learn anything and risk being a danger to the world around them. manfully. List: yes
1(a): As simple as I can put it. We are closest to God when we are on our knees. Most people who are successful in the monetary world have little hunger or need in their own lives. This makes it difficult to be humble, and place themselves on a more even level with those less fortunate. Even though God has no favor on those who stick their heads up in the air and ignore the facts. 1(b): As answered in question 1 - God knows we are closest to Him when we are on our knees. A taste of success, is Satan's drawstring, and boy does he use it. 1(c): God's will shines through even in the lowliest of peoples. I once gave a poor family 8 boxes of food and a trunk of clothes. They in turn gave away 6 boxes, and most all of the clothes. 1(d): I am not sure who could be blamed. Some extremely poor Christians seem to have little will to do better. Some seem content to stay as they are. Most are not encouraged by other Christians that God has better things in store for them, even while they are on earth. 1(e): Wouldn't we like to think so. I have heard Pastors say that some people will be so thankful just to make it that they will volunteer to be your servants. It could be that way, those who have it tough now, but really are devoted, versus those who live so comfortable, but hardly say a good word to anybody. If fortunate to see the Kingdom, may just be Kingdom servants, and glad of it. We just don't know for sure, and shouldn't think that way. 1(f): The Bible tells us He is a just and fair God. Do you believe the word?? 1(g): Again, this is something we really don't know. We do know however that there will be total peace, total love, and a serenity that can't be explained. I wouldn't worry about what I was getting, just live to get there. 2(a): Prayer, studying the word, having quiet times with Him, and letting Him take your talents which I believe change at times to do His will. / Many times to fit their own personal whims. If we use the Bible as our guide, even though parts are unclear, God will steer us in the right direction. 2(b): Again, this comes from self justification. Trying to read something into the Bible that's not there will do this, and so will trying to justify our wrongs. Many people don't like to talk about Satan, but He is as real as the air we breathe. I f we deny that, we may as well deny salvation. 2(c): God does not lead us in wrong directions--- point blank!! Satan does however attempt to lead us away. Even as Christians, we have weak points, and Satan goes for them. It's our choice and our choice only when we get led astray, Not God's, Not even Satan's. Get never leaves us, it's us who leaves Him. 2(d): These are only wrong, because man has made the erroneous choice to step out with predictions on his own. Jesus tells us that we need not worry about times nor dates of His return, just be prepared. Too many are bent on predicting and as long they keep throwing out dates, I think nothing will happen. Again, Mans wrong choice. 2(e): The Christian life should not be a blindfolded life, but one where we wait patiently on the leader. We try to get ahead of God, we try to go on our own, and most every time it will fail. Even if we are blindfolded, shouldn't we be reaching out for the Masters hand to lead us?? Remember, if it ain't for the King - It's not worth a thing. 2(f): Your skills or talents will be exhalted. No skills or talents you say??? Pray seriously to God for Him to use you in a mighty way, anywhere He can, and anywhere He needs you. Your skills and talents will come to life. Most people, even seeking Christians really don't want to know what God has in store for them. It may take them out of their comfort zone, and this will seem like an unclear direction. 3(a): This is tough yet simple. Are people just using the term Christian as a label, or are they really seeking to serve, worship, and honor our Lord?? We don't know what kind of transformation has taken place in a persons life for sure. Saying we believe is one thing, living it another, and too many are just going through the motions. We must realize that prayer is a direct line to God, but many times our prayers are misdirected by --- us. Yes, us. So, make sure the answer to your prayer is not already answered in His word, or that it's not selfish. 3(b): They were like little children. Brand new, and willing to make themselves available, and approachable. Are we like that? 3(c): Can't blame God or the devil for YOUR problems. YOU have a choice to make, how you make it is up to you. It can be a Godly choice, or it can be on your own, which will probably have no validity at all. 4(a): It's part of the wonderful mystery's of the Bible, and keeps us searching. If you are a true seeker, the word will come to life, and if your a new Christian it will made clearer as study becomes more a part of your daily devotional life. 4(b): Again-- God gave each person a mind, and a mind to make choices, right or wrong. Sometimes I wish we didn't have choices, but then what loving, holy, righteous, and just God would do that. It's our choices that make us victims. 4(c): It's not Biblical, and I am thankful He didn't. Each day of life is another chance of mercy shown to me. Each time I fail, His grace says get up, try again. Really, I don't know. 4(d): We will find out when we all get to Heaven. Maybe. It's another one of those wonderful mysteries of the Bible. 4(e): The Bible tells me so. Name and Email: mcrowe@se-tel.com Church: United Methodsist and Interdenominational Ministries List: You can if you feel they will help.
1(a): This is because God has an individual plan for our lives that He wants us to discover through fellowshipping with Him. The bible gives a splendid answer to your question in Timothy 6: 3-16. Here we see a clear focus that the man of God is called to maintain. We are to flee from the desire for riches and develop a heavenly perspective for every moment of our lives. Please, please, please, give this portion of scripture some deep evaluation and take up the cry of God's Holy Spirit to let Godliness with contentment be your great gain. List: Amen!
2(f): LISTEN TO YOUR DEEPEST FEELING IT IS GOD THAT WILL ALWAYS LEAD YOU IN THIS WAY FOR HE IS THE DEEPEST OF ALL FEELINGS IS HE NOT JC 202-333-34484 Name and Email: JCHARMSWAY@HOTMAIL.COM Church: ALL List: YES
2(a): When you seek me with all your heart you will find me! Many people refuse to seek God by putting aside other Wills (their own or their friends) consequently we are unable to" hear " God's voice. Jesus said " my sheep hear my voice" and what an awesome privilege and necessary experience it is. How bad do we want God's will? The first few verses of Romans 12 tell us how we can understand what is the perfect will of God. I believe there are many reasons why believers differ on understandings. It can be just because God is so immense and beyond our comprehension that like and elephant I may be looking at the tail while you are looking at the trunk and our perceptions of god would be correct but different. On the other hand we Devil is the father of all lies and he has many that he tries to influence us with. The Lord Jesus showed us with his experience in the wilderness that the Word of God can counter all the Devil's lies. On another note we can be assured that the worldwide body of believers (the church) will be one even as God and Jesus are one...Jesus asked for it in his prayer in John 17 so it is a guarantee! Praise his name. Name and Email: matt.ziemer@telus.com Church: I love Jesus List: Sure! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Wednesday, February 2, 2000 at 22:27:01 2(e): Jeremiah 29:13 tells us that we will find God when we seek him with all our heart. Do you want your spouse or your children to love you half heartedly or do you only want to give them half of yourself? God desires us to have all of him . We can only have all the riches of Jesus Christ if we truly want them with all our heart and love him and him only. So God promises us that as we seek him wholeheartedly we will find him...seek and ye shall find, ask and it shall be given, knock and the door will be opened. Romans 12 tell us that as we offer ourselves as living sacrifices and fill our mind with the word of God (have it transformed by the Spirit and the word) God's will becomes plain to us. It takes a genuine seeking the Lord but believe me it is more then worth it! Name and Email: matt.ziemer@telus.com
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Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Thursday, February 17, 2000 at 20:27:10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1(a): Praise GOD in everything! Let everything thing that hath breath, PRAISE YE THE LORD! I just wrote to give God some Praise. He is Worthy of it! I just want everyone to know that I love Jesus. He is my "all in all." I couldn't ask for a better savior. I succeeded the day I got saved and I am going to give him praise for an eternity! If you are not saved, you need to get saved. God wants you to get saved so you can worship and praise him too. God wants praise on our good and bad days. We should praise him in everything. Paul and Silas praised him in prison and took the walls down. Name and Email: Elizabeth Church: Religion: Born again Christian, Child of God, saved Church:Bellville Freewill Babtist Church Attendance: Everytime the Church doors are unlocked
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Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Friday, May 19, 2000 at 15:49:37 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1(a): Life is a choice. And God was so true that our decisions will affect to the third and fourth generations. So some of the things in our lives are unbroken curses that through the authority in Christ Jesus we are able to break off. But through mere laziness and mumbling instead of finding the Scripture and speaking it over our situation we feel as if we have no opportunity to suceed. But Jesus said I give you life and death, curses and blessings....CHOOSE LIFE.In Jesus is that life but it doesn't come easy we must put as much effort in our study of what he would do as we do in our murmurings of what is not going right. We serve an awesome God but until we get our self will out of the way we tie up Gods ability to operate in our lives. We have the keys to the kingdom but not by merely sitting down and doing nothing. Everything requires an effort. Jesus said I stand at the door and knock if any man hears me and lets me in I will come in. So you can have the keys to something but if you never put them in the ignition what good are the keys? God is patiently waiting on us to put him first and then the opportunity to succeed will come. Patience is a virtue. I hope this answer was not much for the question cause I could really continue on & on but...... I will not. Thanks for your time. Church: Christian, attend a First Assembly Church of God in Goldsboro North Carolina
List: If you think that I answered them correctly based on the Scripture, sure!!!
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Fri, 17 Dec 1999 15:52:07 EST --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is my answer specifically to question 4e, and other questions that address this issue. The Bible clearly says that nonbelievers will not suffer throughout eternity. I have written a book on this subject and the whole thing is on my website: Title Page: God is not Sadistic! Nonbelievers will rise to face judgment, will suffer then cease to exist. I would love to have long discussion on the subject. We can show anything in the Bible we want if we only look at a few verses and ignore the rest of the Bible. However, we must analyze all Scripture. Preaching everlasting torment turns people away from God, instead of scaring them into believing. It also causes unnecessary grief to Christians. We must show the fairness of God who offers the choice of life or death. We must make our beliefs conform to the Bible. Instead, people have been brainwashed into believing that the soul is eternal and they twist the Scripture to conform to that assumption. This totally contradicts the Bible. I look forward to long discussion on this subject with anyone willing to rigorously study what the Bible has to say on the Subject. Email: GJGriz@aol.com Religion: I am a Christian and I follow the Bible only
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Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Monday, January 10, 2000 at 07:27:17
1(g): God is not impressed by the acts you do just as we are not saved by doing good things failing or not in the act of trying to please God doesn't matter it's the love and faith that you expressed that pleases God. For example if you tried to save some people in a war zone but failed and they all died or tried to set up a church but it was burned down and you were imprisoned. would God condemn you because you didn't succeed? Of course not if you did it through love then that is your boast. Or maybe your a housewife and you feel that you want to do more for God but are unable because of children then the answer is to start around you. Paul says not to change your current situation to do more (pick up your bags and go to Brazil missionary) because we are all given a gift and all have a part to play. Some pray some preach some heal others are kind-hearted. God has a future for everyone. Name and Email: 15 years old Church: Adventist Pentecostal List: yes please
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted on Tuesday, December 21, 1999 at 04:23:02 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1(a): God offers us eternal life. The apostle Paul had a situation for which he prayed three times. God's answer was that His grace is sufficient and that His power was manifested in Paul's weakness. Paul's faith was so great that he (admittedly) worked more than all the apostles and loved God even through his pain he considered what he was offered: eternal life. Your salvation is valued more if it doesn't become an uneven exchange of indescribable eternal life for cheap riches in this life. God would not lure you into a hypocritical life on earth. He'll rather love you throughout your pain and at the end of it all, welcome you into His mansions above. Name and Email: eherrera@home.com Church: Repented Catholic. Serving at an Independent Baptist Church.
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1(a): Must we succeed? And what is success? At work? Perhaps we are successful at something besides work. God`s will may be to have us successfully come through a bad situation & show others our faith in Him even in hard times. 1(b): Hardship is a pretty good way of drawing people together. When you are frustrated & angry is a great time to reflect on your faith. Also it is the devil who makes things hard on us, not God. You`re pointing your anger in the wrong direction. 1(g): How can you fail to please God if you loved him with all your heart & soul, & made the effort to do his will? Those things are pleasing to Him. 2(a): We can read in the Bible what God wants us to do. Jesus pretty much spells it out for us in the New Testament. It also tells us of why churches are in disagreement now of all times. 2(b): Because the Bible warns us of false prophets, & to be ever watchful. 2(c): The devil plays his mind games, & God does not lead us wrong. It is Satan & his minions who are the great deceivers not God & His angels. 2(d): Most prophets today are sent not by our Father but by Satan. We are warned to beware of false prophets , seers & people saying they have predictions from God. For the Bible says that no man shall know the date or time but the Father, Himself. 2(e): It`s all pretty clear in the New Testament. And it`s in red letters! 2(f): If it is good , if you have a clear conscience , & it helps someone , you can be fairly certain it`s of God. 3(a): No one knows for sure what God`s answer to a prayer will be. Only He knows what is best for us. And blessed is he who believes but cannot see. There is no " false hope" .That sounds like an oxymoron. Like "deja vu" all over again! 3(b): They probably didn`t consider themselves too fortunate at that time. It is very hard to follow God when you`re going against the popular opinion. Not to mention , it was likely to lead to your death. 3(c): He makes a special concession for those who have never heard the Gospel. But you would have to live very far from civilisation to have never heard His Word. 4(a): Are you praying for understanding before you read? The devil will do his best to cause confusion. He hates it when you read the Bible. 4(b): He allows us choice between good & evil. He wants us to come to Him of our own free will. 4(c): He did. Remember Noah? 4(d): Only He knows the answer to that. But He says we will understand all eventually. Wouldn`t you like to ask Him in Person? 4(e): You must believe His Word. God states that you must believe in Him or perish. 5(b): Your perception of success sounds warped. Success is not about money. Perhaps God needs you for, to you, something that may not seem important right away, but we don`t know God`s Will. And when you commit suicide you`re thwarting His will, because He doesn`t want you to give up, & you wouldn`t be here if there wasn`t a purpose for you. Eventually it all comes down to faith. Name and Email: Tialaw@webtv.net Church: Protestant
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1(a): Greetings DOES God love us? The Bible does not say that God loves everybody. That is specific people. You all know that "God so loved the WORLD (kosmos) that he gave his only begotten son..." Jn 3:16 Whether God loves each of us past that generalized love of the world he created depends on whether we enter into and stay in his "goodness" rather than provoke his "severity." Romans 11:22 Goodness--moral excellence. Severity--rigor. If some are receiving God's harshness ought they not ask themselves if perhaps they are not pleasing God and what needs to be done about that? Those who think that God is blessing them ought to also ask themselves if they are merely using up God's patience toward them. As I develop my website these questions and much more will be answered fully and clearly. Don't embrace religion--embrace God and His truth. Truth is from God. Religion cannot be truth (This explains why there are so many religious opinions--truth is one thing (thy word is truth) but ! religion can be anything.) Name and Email: gtgtg@webtv.net Judith Church: Independent Sabbath keeper (this is a description not a denomination)
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1(a): How can we say absolutely that success is God's will for us? Success is not mesured in material things with God, but success in bearing your cross and following Him, now that's pleasing in His sight! Mr 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. Lu 12:33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. 1(b): We are commanded to be content with food and raiment...that is all, and CONTENT is the key. Those who find anger in God's sovereignty are at their own fault, not God's. He gives us power to live holy, no matter what the circumstances. It gives more glory to God for someone to see a poor person praising Him than a rich person. Mt 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 1(c): If they wanted to seriously do God's will, they would not complain about where God has placed them and do what He is asking them to do IN that present circumstance. We are not all called to be great missionaries or evangelists, our whole mission in life may be the testimony we show to the man next door. I spend all day every day looking after my children, and that is three souls I am accountable to before God. That may be the only ones He requires of me...maybe it's the lady at the grocery store, or the man at the elderly home...or even that starving person in the Philippines who I just sent a bible to...I don't have alot, but I do live in America, so I have the obligation to use what I do have to help others when I see the opportunity, that is the will of God in my life. Mr 12:41 ¶ And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. 1(d): It is the fault of the person who has not obeyed God in their present circumstances. If you obey God in the little things, He is more apt to bless you with more responsibility, but many a worthy Christian has been burned, beaten, or hung for His sake, and they have chosen the better part. Jesus said we too have a cross to bear, is it right for us to assume that our cross should be any less than His was? We should be grateful we are in the circumstances we are, our very breath is mercy and grace from God...we need to put things in the proper perspective, not the world's. 1(e): Again, satisfaction is in contentment, and those who are content in what God has put them in are not failures...and there will be reward for those who endure till the end, but not those who complain until the end, you have your reward, self pity. That is not meant to be mean, just that it is selfish for us to think we should be in a better place than God thinks we should be in. He created us!!! Ro 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 1(f): We will receive of the things done in the body, whether good or bad. That doesn't mean we will recieve of what God "has done to us" but rather what we have done with what God gave us. Again, it is a matter of being content in where you are. Is there SOMEONE you can minister to? Is there idle time that could be used in prayer for others who do have opportunity to preach? Have you read about Paul, and all he managed to do in his circumstances? How about Foxe's Book of Martyrs? God is fair, and He will reward fairly. 2Co 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. 1(g): same answer as above, you please God by being pleased with God. You have not failed if you do His will right where He has placed you. Mt 7:21 ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Re 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. Ro 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 ¶ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; 2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Heb 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 2(a): 2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. God allows division because He allows free will. He gave us a book, and that Book, if read, studied, and prayed about, and lived out, will bring the truth to a person. The division comes when someone thinks their interpretation of His Book is absolute, and here we have "denominations" and instead of seeking truth from the Book, people just follow along with what feels and sounds good to them. 2(c): We are called to test the spirits, and the only way we can know absolutely that something is of God is this...1. Are you obeying His commandments? If not, the Holy Spirit will not dwell in you. 2. Do you believe that Jesus IS (present tense) come in the flesh? Did you know that Jesus was called the Word? Jesus IS here in the flesh, in His Word, and if you don't believe in that, you will be led astray. (btw, there can only be one word of God if there was only one Word, Jesus) 1Jo 3:23 ¶ And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. 1 John chapter 4 1 ¶ Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 2(e): He gave us 66 books that tell us what He wants...it's called His Word. 3(b): they had the Word with them, and they gave us the Word to be with us...the Bible. We are just as fortunate, in fact, we have more information and the Holy Spirit to help us live holy, we should be more holy than they were! 4(a): 2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 4(b): Man has a mind and a free will, He is just by giving us the opportunity to choose Him over evil. I am not sure who are these innocent victims, but all will be judged on what they do with any knowledge they have received. Lu 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. 4(c): why would He want to do that? His greatest glory is in us choosing Him over everything else. Read about Job! 4(d): Ro 11:33 ¶ O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. 4(e): No, because hell is not eternal. They will, however, spent eternity in the lake of fire. Look at Rev. 20 and you will see that there are those that come up out of hell to be judged that do not go to the lake of fire. Re 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. It should be noted that question 5(c) has been changed since this question was answered below. The old question corresponding to this answer was:
Q5(c) Is positive thinking dangerous or evil considering it can get us into trouble and cause us to become discouraged when things do not work out like we had hoped? 6(a): Yes!!! And I think that sums up all the previous questions you have asked...If we are not faithful in the little things.... 1Co 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. Mt 25:23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 6(b): Lu 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 22 ¶ And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. 23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. 24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? 25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? 26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? 6(c): yes...anything that takes our mind off of God's Word is an idol. 7(b): Re 3:14 ¶ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 7(c): All Christians who are not pleasing to God will be chastised at His judgement seat, and they will have a portion with the unbeliever, but everlasting is not an eternal word in every context, it often means "lasting the age" which simply put will keep them in punishment until the kingdom rest is over. Re 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. Name and Email: pampalmer@home.com sorry I didn't have time to answer all questions Church: Ind. Fund. KJV Baptist who believes that God's Word holds accountability for the Christian. List: sure, if it will help.
Hi Thanks for your feedback to the questions at http://advantagein.com/philosophy I will soon upload your answers. You are welcome to answer more. I would like to question what you said below as I could not find it in Rev 20. Look at Rev. 20 and you will see that there are those that come up out of hell to be judged that do not go to the lake of fire. Let me know if you want to change it.
Regards Richard.
Re: Let's take the whole chapter by verse...to get the proper context. Re 20:1 ¶ And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. **During the thousand years, Satan is bound in prison, or hell. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. **those with crowns are on thrones...no mention of those who weren't worthy of a crown. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. **Rest of what dead? They live again? There must be a second resurrection...of the dead perhaps? 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. **here we go! escape from the second death required holiness, and after the second death is...the second resurrection! Guess what happens between those two? the thousand years... 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11 ¶ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. **after the thousand years, end of the kingdom 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. **Here is a resurrection of dead people! Out of hell, to stand before God. What were they judged on? works...but what else? Let's read on. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. **Listen to how it reads....books opened, who is being judged? those that hell gave up before she went to the lake of fire.....what OTHER book is opened? The book of life...life where? In eternity, there is no life in the lake of fire, it just told you it was a death. So those NOT found in that book of life were cast into the lake of fire, or eternal death. And in context, there are those that ARE found in that book that get eternal life. The second death for them was to be cast out of the kingdom life, and to be raised up on the LAST day....not the seventh day rest. Here are a few (just a few) more verses for your consideration on this. I look forward to your reply... Re 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Ne 8:18 Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner. ***the eighth day is shown to be the last day, not the seventh day of rest. Joh 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. **All the believers that God has given Him He will not lose, but not all will be with Him until the last day. Joh 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. **ALL believers get the last day. 1Co 6:9 ¶ Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Ga 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. **Who is he talking to here? The unbeliever? No, he is talking to brethren (v. 13) as well as referring to them as "we" and having the Spirit. He is upset with them because they should know better than to do these things, and he is reminding them that they could miss out on the kingdom. Mt 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Lu 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. Re 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Mt 25:1 ¶ Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: Mt 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. **All ten virgins were invited to the marriage supper, but only five were worthy through faithfullness to enter therein. The foolish five called him Lord, and He refused them reward. Lu 13:23 ¶ Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, 24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. 28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last. Mt 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Lu 12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. 45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. **but and if THAT servant..what servant? the one who was just described as faithful and wise, but then chose not to be obedient and began breaking the rules thinking he had some time. NOW, what is this portion with the unbeliever???? Something that the SERVANT shares with the unbeliever....whatever it is, he was cut in sunder and put there. Let's read Matthew's version: Mt 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. **now we see weeping and knashing of teeth...where else can we find this... Mt 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen. Mt 25:22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mt 5:13 ¶ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Mt 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21 ¶ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Mt 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. **Talking to His disciples....about hell! Mr 9:38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. 39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. 40 For he that is not against us is on our part. 41 ¶ For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. 42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. 43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. 50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. ***VERY IMPORTANT VERSES: He is talking to JOHN, a disciple, and He said if THY hand offend THEE, meaning that John better be careful of hell. Mt 10:24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? 26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. 27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. **Clearly speaking to the servants about their Lord, and about how they should not fear what men will do to them...but they had better fear GOD! That is the beginning of wisdom, you know. Lu 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
**Jesus didn't come preaching belief in Him, He preached to follow Him and
get rewarded. He preached "seek ye first the kingdom of God" and His whole
ministry was teaching about that kingdom. Those that had an ear heard, and
followed, and knew He was the Messiah, so they believed in His salvation,
but learned works from His preaching...His and every other writer of the NT.
John is the only book that gives the salvation message in detail, and the
rest are written to the believer. Read the first few verses of any NT book
and you will see words like brethren, our Lord, our God, we are, etc...these
are people that already know the gospel. I look forward to hearing from you.
God Bless.
1(a): I think that God ALWAYS gives people the opportunity to succeed and do His will, it is just that it conflicts with the person's personal wants and desires so they ignore it and then say "I never got a chance!" Jesus wasn't rich, he didn't have a car, newspaper, television, etc. to broadcast the Good News, but he was however given feet to walk, food to eat, clothes to keep him warm, shelter, etc. We don't always like what God wants from us, but we are ALWAYS given the opportunity. 1(b): I think that people turn to God in the pits of despair because there seems to be no other way. When they are rich and have everything they feel like they don't need God because they can do everything on their own. Name and Email: Holly Malott Holly.Malott@student.oc.edu 19-F-OK I will answer more later. Church: Church of Christ I didn't grow up in the church. I was baptized 1.5 years ago.
List: yes
1(a): You are assuming that succuss in life is related to doing the will of God. If God's will is to bring glory and honor to Himself, can we not do that in whatever situation in which we find ourselves. Paul was in prison, a far cry from what the world deems a success. Do not Christians look at Paul as a success, and did he not do God's will and praise Him, even from a prison cell? We are always given opportunities to do the will of God, but not necessarily opportunities to succeed as the world defines success. 1(b): Does God promise a life without struggle, or a life that is significant in the larger scheme of things? He is not the cosmic Grandfather who gives everything that His spoiled grandchildren ask. God promises to be with us through the frustrations and hard times, not necessarily to deliver us out of them. Paul told Timothy that anyone who desired to live a godly life will be persecuted. If the apostles' lives ended in such tragedy (as the world defines success) why would rich American Christians think they deserve any better? Why do we follow Christ anyway? Most people serve God because of what they get out of it--blessings, good health, financial success, and even heaven. What if we did not hope to get any of this, perhaps only hell during, and at the end of this life? Would we choose to serve God anyway, simply because it is the right thing to do, and He deserves it? Disappointment and anger with God is simply ignorance to His global purpose and our own selfishness to think that God owes us anything better than hell anyway. 1(c): If we believe that freewill is a good thing, the consequences of freewill are that mankind may choose evil. This cannot be the fault of God. Otherwise we must assume that freewill is not a good thing. All that God intended for good can be perverted into evil by the choices of men. Doing God's will is not dependent upon our own efforts. We are not saved by doing good works. It is because we are saved, having received the grace of God that we want to do things for God. He will empower us to that which He calls us to do. He requires nothing other than absolute surrender to Himself. If we had to DO something like "good works," we are often trying to earn our way to salvation. Paul told the Thessalonian church that the will of God is your sanctification. What does it take to become an imitator Jesus Christ, to be more like Him? That is God's will. Satan can only use our own selfishness in us to keep us from becoming more like Christ. In the Revelation (7:9) John writes, "After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb." Is this not the global purpose of God (His will)? Satan's power can only keep us focused on ourselves, not caring about the nations (ethnolinguistic groups) around the world. 1(e): We often talk about blessings and rewards in heaven, but to tell you the truth it really doesn't matter. What is our motivation for serving God? Possessions? A mansion? Streets of gold? "stars in our crown?" John also tells us that all of our crowns will be thrown at His feet (Rev 4:10-11). Just to be in the presence of Jesus is reward enough. Can you imagine separate classes of people in heaven, based upon what they had available to them while on earth. If being with Jesus forever is not enough satisfaction in heaven (no matter the surroundings or realm) nothing will make us happy. 1(f): We define fairness from a human standpoint. Don't we all simple deserve hell anyway? How can a holy God stand to even look at us in our sinfulness? But because of Christ, the Father sees the sacrificial blood of Jesus, and that we are trusting in Christ alone for our salvation. What is fair? Anything short of hell anyway is more than we deserve. 1(g): We don't get to heaven by pleasing God. We get there by trusting Christ as our only advocate with the Father. Because we love Him, we will want to do things that please God, but those good things will not make God look at us with more favor. Church: Evangelical Christianity
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2(c): Yes, All Christians are tempted to sin. God does not lead them into temptation. "lead us not into evil, but deliver us from the evil one." I believe many people have the opinion that they are tested by God. However, God would allow Christians to be tempted. But not allow His children to undergo temptation to great for them if they are truly His child. Going through a period of temptation strengthens the believer to be stronger against the enemy. Church: Chritianity - Mennonite brethren < which is neither here nor there.
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1(a): We are always given the opportunity to succeed, but sometimes we hinder his work by doing our will instead of His. I have had to learn that the hard way in a few situations. Bad situations kept happening to me and I kept asking God why? First, I had to learn that when you ask God that question, be sure to listen and wait for the answer to that question!! With me, I was living my life and not seeking God's will and finally realized that I had to give EVERYTHING to God. He can't work if you don't do that first. When you do this, then you can find that whatever you are going through, good or bad, you can always praise him! See, you asked, why we didn't succeed so we could do his will, and it needs to be just the opposite. Do his will and you will succeed!! 1(b): I think that a lot of Christians' frustrations come from expecting the wrong things from God. When we become Christians, God doesn't promise a peachy perfect life, and for all the right reasons. When you think about it, we honestly can not grow from all good experiences. Our growing comes from learning through struggles. I feel that I have gotten so much closer to God when I have been in need. We can not learn about all the good that happens. The book of James explains this pretty well. Its hard sometimes to see past the circumstances, but we have to. We have to try to see God in our trials and find what it is He is trying to teach us. It is sooo hard sometimes, but we have to. 1(c): The first thing that you must realize, that many people don't understand is, God's will for us and what we think we need to do for God can be entirely different. God's will for our lives will not be something that we are unable to do. Sometimes we can think, Oh I'd love to do this or that for God, but that isn't how it works. We can't say, "OK, God, I am going to do this for you, can you help me please!" Imagine that you are cleaning the house and you have a child that wants to help. So, while you are sorting the laundry the child is trying to help by putting the folded laundry back in the basket. To the child it seems like the right thing to do! But to us, the child has missed the point of the task. We can do this to God, too. I learned in a bible study called, "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby (I highly recommend that you read this book,) that you must see where God is working and join him. Don't start working and expect God to join you - that would be like the parent in my story joining the child in putting the folded clothes back into the basket! Also, you were right, this is a complex and deceptive world and that is why it is so important to seek God's will before we make big decisions such as marriage or career. You do this by staying in a close relationship with God by reading the Bible and praying - every day!! But, when we do make the wrong decisions, and I am an expert in wrong decisions, don't think it is a waste of time to get everything figured out, because let me tell you, it is that during "enormous amount of time" that God can teach you sooooo much. See, I did marry someone without first seeking God's will and I faced the consequences. It has taken a long time for me to face God again, ask for his forgiveness, learn to forgive myself and move on with my life in Christ, but I look back and really am able to see how God has loved me through every part of it, despite my imperfection. This has taught me so much about God's love and mercy that I would have never known. I have learned how to overcome mistakes, and how to give your mistakes to God, since only He can make them right. And he will!! Don't make the idea of "finding God's will" soooo hard. He teaches us in the Bible to live daily. We should not worry about doing God's will in the future, do God's will right now in the little things and this will weave our future! Think about the moment, what attitude should you have in each situation to be in His will. You will begin to look back on all of these moments and see how God has worked for you. And, when you are unable to do anything else - because of illness or a disability - pray. I have a lady in my church that will tell you that she is a quadraplegic - sp? - because people needed someone to be able to pray for them when they needed it. She is the happiest person that I know and she is confined by her illness. But, she has seeked God's will in her situation and helps a lot of people with her prayer. Many people can not do this. They get too caught up in all of the bad and can not see God's hand in their lives. God's hand is always in your life. You! need to earnestly seek it, then do his will and you will be happy and not frustrated! 1(e): Everyone faces their own problems, and failures that only God can know about! 2(a): We can know what God wants us to do in our lives by having a close relationship with Him, which we can only do by prayer and reading the Bible. One thing that really works for me is to journal. I write my prayers to God in a journal by just writing to Him like a friend. When I am going through a problem or facing a decision, I write it down. First, this helps define it a lot better than trying to organize choices in my head. Then I read the Bible. What I read depends on what I am doing as far as Bible studies. I try to get into Bible studie program at church that has some type of "homework" which is daily bible studies. If your church does not offer these types of group studies, then go to a bible book store and look for a study book. Pick a topic that relates to what you may be facing like, "Learning to pray" or "Learning God's will for my life" or pick one that helps you study a book of the bible (If you do this, I suggest you do this in order starting with the! New Testament - so Matthew). So, after you read the Bible or do the Bible study, write in the journal what you learned and how this applies to your life. You will be amazed how much God will show you about your life in this way!! As for Christian groups disagreeing, don't get caught up in that. That if anything is a waste of time. You seek God, and let him answer questions for you, don't get caught up in debating with other Christians. I believe that if Christians spent more time seeking God instead of arguing with each other, then there would be less disagreements because God would be showing them all the same thing instead of them saying, "well MY interpretation of this is.." or "I feel this about this matter..." Who gives a ringy-dingy what anyone "thinks" or "feels". Seek God for your answers. Its great to get advise from other Christians, but be sure to not only go by this - get it from God, too!!! 2(b): See above answer! 2(c): I think if you make a wrong decision it is because you have not truly waited for God. I have done this lots. Tried to reason why God would want me to do something, only to find out, I never really waited for his answer! 2(e): God wants a close, daily walk with us because He loves us - just as we want to be close to our children. So, instead of sending us a letter or something so impersonal to let us know his will, He requires us to get His will from a personal relationship with Him. Once you get personal with him, as I explained in an earlier answer about journaling and Bible study, you would not want it any other way, trust me. To get done with a Bible Study and know that you just experienced really being with God, I would be hurt if God decided to do it any other way. 2(f): With prayer, Bible study and journaling, you will have no question! 3(a): I would have to really question if this person was truly seeking God correctly - was he/she just saying, "God help me" everyday, or was he/she was really reading the bible and praying and waiting for God to answer. The Bible says seek and ye shall find, and every Christian friend that I have has always found this to be true. In order to really become strong and not get weak as easily you have to really trust God. If you believe that God is out to get you, then Satan can turn any situation into a bad one and keep you from finding God's will or hand in it all. If you live life trusting that God is loving and is there for you and quite blatantly tell Satan to shut up when he tries to tell you otherwise, then you will find that when you think that you have "failed" you have God there with his hand out reaching to take you where you need to be. Trust him and seek him. If you are really doing this and everyday, you will find God, you will!! It may take some time to get ! used to seeing God, but don't give up. Its never Him that goes away from us, it is us that goes from Him! 3(b): See above answers of mine, we get nowhere because of us, not God! 4(a): Again, he wants us to have a close relationship with Him so that he can interpret the scripture for us, to us! 4(e): The Bible says it, I believe it Name and Email: r_danna@hotmail.com Danna Church: Christian
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1(e): I don't believe that any born again person in Christ is ever satisfied on this earth. The only thing that keeps me motivated is to know that every day I wake up is a day closer to being caught up out of this fallen world to meet my Creator in person! The Holy Spirit keeps me focussed when I fail or fall down, so it gets easier and easier to get back up and stay fixed on Jesus. Everybody fails at times- it's simply inevitable while we are in this flesh. This whole question is written from a worldly perspective- everybody has different life circumstances but all in Christ know that the sufferings on this present earth are not comparable to what is in the near future!!! So the answer to the question is no; and how could a person be blessed more in Heaven than another in Heaven----it's not possible to get more when you have everything. Name and Email: desire2c@hotmail.com Ryan Church: religion- born again Christian church- Living Word Ministries I was always a believer in my heart but I started living everyday for Christ about a year and a half ago....I can't even remember my old self because that man is dead, literally....thank you Holy Spirit for bringing me into the Light and Truth. Thank you Father God for my existence and my eternal life through the Creator Jesus Christ.
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1(a): It depends on what you mean by succeed. Sure God wants us to prosper, but not if it means compromising what we have been called to do. We were called according to his (Jesus) purpose according to Romans 8:28. Remember what Jesus' purpose was. He came to seek and save what was lost. So, that has to be our purpose. His will does not require a lot of money. It takes a Bible and the heart to reach out and share the Gospel with people. Now, what if God doesn't prosper you. You have to look at what He is trying to teach you. He will put trials and sufferings on us so that we may become like His perfect son. Romans 8:28 says that all things work to the good so that we may be conformed to Jesus. Romans 5:1-5 says that we should rejoice in our sufferings because it produces perseverance and character and finally hope. James 1:4 talks about perseverance must finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. So, God is interested in our character and in our heart. He wants us to lack nothing and to have hope. If that means we should lose a job or a loved one, then we need to see the lesson to be learned. Christianity is not about health and wealth. Paul had a thorn in his flesh that he pleaded to God to remove. God said no because His grace was sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). The thorn was there to one humble Paul, and two to show him the power and gift of grace. Through that, Paul learned to be content whatever the situation (Philippians 4:1-12). Why? because he trusted in God and he relied on His strength instead of his own. That is what we need to learn to do. 1(b): Becoming a Christian is not stepping into a life full of blessings and health, and wealth. Hebrews 12:11 says it best. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful! But look at what that pain will produce when you read on. It says that it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace. For who is that produced for? Those trained by the painful times. The apostles had no money. And yet, because of them, the whole known world was turned upside down. We don't have to be successful in the world's eyes to be effective in the ministry. God commanded us in Mat 28:18-20 to go and make disciples of all nations. That must be the first purpose and first priority in our life. In fulfilling His will, he will discipline us along the way. Look at the parable of the vine and the branches in John 15. Jesus said that we will be pruned so that we will bear even more fruit. All of the trials in life, life in general is the chance for us to become more like Jesus through the training of our trials, and to bring others to the same truth and light that we have found. Life is not meant to be easy and successful. If it was, where would the character be developed? 1(c): The bottom line with this is similar to the above question. God's will for us is two fold. First, his will is for us to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:28). Second, he wants us to go make disciples of all nations (Mat 28:18-20). All other things are secondary to this and are used to support them. It is Satan who tries to stop the true Gospel from being preached. No matter what the circumstance, God's will is to have the Gospel preached, and Satan's will is for that not to happen. So, when you get into worldly distractions such as career, money, stuff (ie homes,cars...), and social status, they hinder you from being effective in sharing your faith. As far as people with circumstances beyond their control such as prison, famines and so forth, there is always an opportunity to share your faith. You don't need anything except a Bible, and even if one doesn't have that then that person can still witness. To People with disabilities or parents with children that have disabilities I simply say the parable of the talents (Mat 25). When a person is given one talent, God doesn't expect the same yield from him as He does the one given 5 or ten talents. So, a person can only do what God has enabled him to do. In short, there is no reason why a person cannot do God's will under any circumstance. That is only true if you look at God's true will for our life. A person in prison has an excellent chance to witness to the other inmates. I know in my church down in the places struck by the hurricane, many people studied the Bible and became Christians even when their houses were completely destroyed. So, the disaster was not an excuse to not do God's will. On the contrary, the disaster motivated non-Christians to study the Bible and get their life right with God. Was it worth saving souls for eternity over some houses being destroyed? That answer is pretty obvious. 1(d): Satan provides the snare and we fall into it. It is as simple as that. It is our own hearts that are enticed away and give into the worldly desires. However, God does provide a way out and he will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Cor 10:13). The reason this is so is because we were put here to either choose to love God which means to obey Him (John 14:15), or to choose not to love God. So, it ultimately rests on us. It is our decision to obey or not to obey. God enables us to make that decision, and Satan tries to convince us otherwise. Therefore, whose fault is it? Why it is our fault if we do not obey. Obeying is not about success or failure. You could share your faith everyday for one whole year and not one person decided to follow God. Does that mean you failed? By no means. You obeyed and had the heart to share the goodness of God. As long as the heart to obey is there, and you make every effort to do so, God will be pleased, because he only looks at the heart behind our actions (1 Samuel 16:7). 1(e): I assume from the contrast that this is talking about a Christian who had little on earth as opposed to the one who had everything and enjoyed the finer things. Again, God is not interested in what we can achieve or gain in life. He is interested in our heart. He wants our character to not be lacking in anything. He wants us to live as Jesus lived. 2(a): God is very explicit about what he wants for our lives. He wants us to live as Jesus and make disciples of all nations. 1 John 2:3-6 says if we claim to know him (Jesus) then we must walk as Jesus did. Mat 28:18-20 says to go make disciples of all nations and they are to be taught everything that he taught the original twelve. Why do religious groups disagree? They allow too much interpretation and put too much merit on what certain individuals have said instead of just relying on the Bible. Quite simply, if you were to look up every scripture that dealt with salvation for example, then the Bible would interpret itself and there would be no room for human interpretation. The Bible interprets itself. We must see what God was trying to say. 1 Peter 1:19-21 says that no prophecy ever came about by the prophet's own interpretation. No revelation from God needs to be interpreted. The trick is to use the Bible to answer what a certain Scripture means instead of turning to a person. If the Bible is not clear on a certain topic, and there isn't anything else to reference it too, then I believe it isn't that important that we understand it because it will no effect our salvation and our purpose here on earth. Some things are left for us to not know exactly. For example, what happens to our soul when we die. Do we go directly to Heaven or Hell, or do we stay dormant until the end? The Bible is not real clear on this, so God must not care if we really understand it now. It is like we are on a need to know basis. 2(b): They don't allow the Bible to settle the dispute. 2(c): God cannot be tempted nor will he tempt anyone else! Period! James 1:13-15 spells this out clearly. Satan tempts. God will allow it to happen though. But, he is faithful and will always provide a way out (1 Cor 10:13). Through prayer, fasting, and reading the word, we can discern whether or not a decision is correct or not. 2(d): Sure. It is through the Bible. God no longer provides any more revelations or prophecies because all that was needed to be said was done so throught the canon of Scriptures. Consider 1 Cor 13:8-13. It says that we know in part and we prophecy in part. That described the gifts that some of the disciples had. They were given in order instruct and strengthen the early church, and to correct any false doctrines, and to spread the Gospel more rapidly. However, the few people that had the gifts were only given part of the whole picture. The whole picture wouldn't come until the canon of Scriptures. Until then, God needed to let the church know how to operate, what things to do and not what to do and so forth. When the Bible would be complete, those gifts were no longer needed. Thus we have in the verse, when perfection comes, the partial will be done away with. Now, the point at which perfection comes is the point in which the gifts of the Holy Spirit are no longer used, they are stilled. Well, due to the fact that the Greek word perfection had a non-specific gender notation to it, I believe the perfection was referring to the complete canonized Scripture. Plus, look at verse 13, it says and now remains faith, hope, and love. So, after the gifts are gone, faith, hope, and love is left. That is what we have today. This verse gives us a timeline. The gifts ceased before faith and hope. In other words, before the second coming when we would be united with Christ. Notice the last part, the greatest is love. Why? Because it will exist for eternity. Thus, faith and hope will cease to be needed after the second coming and the only thing left then is love. So, no there are no more prophecies or revelations. That is why they are wrong, because they are not from God. The only thing we have is the Bible which was given to us and it thoroughly equips us for every good work (2 Tim 3:16). 2(e): He is quite clear in what he wants as stated before. Again, it goes back to the fact that he looks at the heart, not what man looks at. Yeah, he wants us to obey and follow him, and yeah we will fail at that, but we will not fail ultimately if we have the heart to please him. It only seems that the Christian life is walking around blindfolded simply because people do not open their Bibles up everyday and learn. God is so clear on what he wants. He wants a heart that loves him and obeys him. Our success is not based on the number of times we share our faith, or the number of people we bring to the Lord, or the number of times we read the Bible. Those things mean nothing to God if the heart is not behind them. So, in that respect, we cannot fail in doing God's will. 3(a): They can have faith because the Bible promises that God is sovereign over all things and that he will answer us. The problem lies within the people's expectation. A person may pray for a loved one to be healed, but God allows that person to die. Now, to the person it may seem that God did not hear them and so they will get mad. To God, he sees the whole picture and knows that the death could be used to strengthen and teach that person to rely and trust in Him. The scriptural references would be those I have used in the above answers. It basically boils down to the fact that we look at a very small part of a more grand picture. Not only that, we see it from a worldly point of view and not the divine spiritual perspective that God does. Therefore, we look for answers that are worldly and that give us the easiest life for the most part. But, God wants us to see the spiritual perspective and realize that the easiest is not the best in the long term. 4(e): Well, we have to look at what the Bible says. Consider the man who was at the wedding banquet but did not have wedding clothes. So, he was thrown out where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mat 22:13). Or the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. Verse 24 says that the rich man was in agony in this fire. Also, consider the vine and the branches in John chapter 15. Jesus said if you don't remain in the vine, you will be cut off and thrown into the fire. So, what does the Bible say? Weeping and gnashing of teeth indicates severe suffering and torment. So I would say yes to the question. We are tormented. I don't think we are literally burned since this is a spiritual realm. Fire is used to explain something that we cannot understand. This is just like the streets of gold in Heaven. We try to use the finest things on earth to describe Heaven, and we use the most horrible things on earth to describe Hell. But, for both it is just a way to describe something that cannot be described. Of course Heaven is way better than any gold or silver. Unfortunately, Hell is more horrible than any fire also. It is simply the complete separation from God. So, if you are afraid of fire, don't worry, it is much much worse. Name and Email: abslt00000@aol.com Tim Loper Church: a disciple of Jesus Christ.
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1(a): Success as we think of it is in our minds...however, many minds are polluted with "world given" barriers and obstacles. Success is the realization of a worthy ideal. God made us successful in the beginning (look at the chapter on creation)..."we" blew it. God gives us free will - it is our choice to be successful or unsuccessful. No argument will be accepted-God wants us successful!! We think our success is gauged by our material worth. A child of God has been given an opportunity to praise Him no matter what our circumstance...Again, the choice is ours. Name and Email: Darryl LaCour dlacour@tsixroads.com Editor of "Church News", nondenomination, Christian Newspaper, print media ministry,
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1(a): The posed question is a typical one. First of all, we don't necessarily know the hearts of others!!! The perfect work that God does in peoples lives is designed to increase our faith and trust in Him. God wants us to realize that we need Him. A person may seem "good" and "deserving" of God's devine intervention in a given situation or crisis but we don't know exactly how God sees the person's heart and their future. Millions of people are successful and in turn never praise God or do His will for their new found success. I can do God's will (obey his commandments) in good and bad times. EVERY person in Christ Jesus already has the best success achievable which is eternal life with our Creator. Success can be disastrous to unbelievers because they don't feel that they have a need for Jesus, and Christians can also fall into a trap when Jesus is not the center and focus of all their success. SEEK THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN FIRST and you will have all that you need according to the WILL OF GOD. 1(b): Many Christians are frustrated , sick and failing because they choose to be. That is the bottom line. God wants trust and faith in Him and hope in that Day when we are caught up to meet Jesus. If you are frustrated, sick or in a state of failure you need to pray in faith knowing that your prayer is answered; and it already has been according to His perfect will. YOUR HEALING WAS ACCOMPLISHED AT THE CROSS, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS RECEIVE IT IN THE NAME OF JESUS!!! Check your life; are you living right by God. If you are not living right by God that may very well need taken care of before you advance. 1(c): The simple answer is that God's will be done. Satan has no power against God's will. Satan has as much power in a Christian's life as the Christian allows to enter in. The powerful name of Jesus can eliminate Satan's strongholds in ALL aspects of life. A Christian will face difficulties no matter how hard they try if they are not in the will of God; and there is no confusion when you are in the will of God. Think hard about your true motives in everything you say and do. 1(d): See answer C. Name and Email: email: desire2c@hotmail.com Church: religion: born again Christian church: Living Word Ministries
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Re: By God's will, I also mean God's desire. I will ad God's desire soon to the questions. Regards Richard. 1(a): God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours. It must be that what we as people think is "success" is not what God wants for us. 1(b): Who exactly are the "unsuccessful" majority? The questioner posits a correlation between what a human views as "a positive outcome" and what God wants. It also presumes that God wants to draw people closer in praise, etc. by Christians giving testimony. But it is the Father himself, hot humans, that draws us to Jesus and it is the Spirit, not human, that must convict them of their need for Jesus. 1(c): First, the question is too long. Secondly the answers are obvious if the person is convinced of what God's will is. In every one of these examples it seems that people want to escape the hardships of life by doing "God's will". But they may be failing to know God's true will. God is not dumb, he KNOWS some of us are in prison, are starving, have family obligations ..... we should learn to live with these conditions and not escape them. Mind you, I am no great one, I have serious struggles myself. Here are my comments: 1/3 of the worlds population are hungry and many of them would be Christians. All their time would be spent trying to survive so they would have little money or time to minister to or help others. ==== who says this is not God's will? Other Christians are in prison for doing nothing wrong, therefore they would have almost no way of doing God's will. They would have a very limited number of contacts. --------who says this is not God's will? Others are so sick or disabled they cannot even read God's word let alone be able to minister or do anything to help anyone. --------- who says this is not God's will? Even well people in countries of high standards of living have technical difficulties to stop them doing God's will. ---------There are absolutely no "technical difficulties" in doing God's will. God's will may be delayed, or the person may not really know what God's will is but be action on his or her own desires. Nothing stops God. For example a Christian works full time to write a book to convert others. But he has difficulties which make him take much longer than he intended to take to finish it, and he therefore dies before he gets a chance to show anyone. His life was full of frustration as he hoped to do wonderful things for God. -------looks like writing the book was not God's will or else God wanted to teach him something in the process of writing it whether he finished the book or not. Some have no finances to purchase the tools they need to do God's will. -------who says they need tools? Others have no people to help them over the difficulties that stop them from doing God's will. ---------who says one needs people to do God's will? Others are deceived that something is God's will (such as marriage or a career) but it may not be. The time it will take to sort out their problems will then prevent them from doing God's will. -------------- Who says this is not God's will, taken the time to sort out the problems in the blessing of no deception? For others, the enormous amount of time to make the correct decisions in a complex and deceptive world and the mistakes made would prevent them from doing God's will. --------time and mistakes "PREVENT" doing God's will?! Don't think so. Also Christian parents would hope to do many things for God, but they can't if all their time is spent looking after their children, especially if the children have disabilities. -------who says the "many things for God" they want to do are what God wants for them? (c) Could Satan have greater power to stop people doing God's will, as people say it is not God's fault and it probably is not a Christians fault, if they try hard? ------I don't' understand this question. Satan can have more power than us but not more than God. People chose which side to be allegiant to and things flow accordingly. There are many examples of prevailing only after heroic effort and a very long time. But this is not necessarily Satan blocking the prayer request. 1(d): It is always man's fault. 1(e): l. Anything is possible. 2. Jesus agreed with workers to give the ones who worked all day l denarius and the ones who worked three hours the same pay. 3. It could be possible to be blessed in different ways that look like the blessing is unequal. 4. What do you mean by failure? 5. Who made this failure a factor when God gives out blessings? 1(f): God created us he can do what he wants. 1(g): The Bible sets out what will be rewarded in heaven. What do you mean by "failing"? Why does "failing" "deny the right to please God"? This kind of thinking is too legalistic to enable a real relationship with God. But not for a relationship based on works, which Galatations decries. 2(a): The Holy Spirit is truth. He shows us things to come. Ask and you shall receive. Different groups are at different stages in hearing what the Spirit says and they also have different callings. Some are missionary-oriented, some evangelistic. It's the same with Christian friends. 2(b): l. They may not be Christians. 2. They may not be born again. 3. They may not be walking in the Spirit. 5. They may be led of the flesh. 6. They may be led of evil spirits. 7. They may be contentious. 2(c): By definition if they do "wrong" things God did not lead them. That leaves flesh and/or Satan. Flesh includes the lusts of the flesh and of the mind. Flesh includes imagination. Evil spirits work on our spirit not our flesh. 2(d): You presume the prophecies or revelations came from God!!!!!!!!!! You must be a beleaguered Christian to think God does not lead people today. 2(e): Haven't you heard of false teachers entering the body? Haven't you heard of false prophets abounding? Haven't you heard of Satan working miracles in the last days, trying to deceive the elect? We can fail in trying to do God's will because we are doing it in our flesh and not allowing the Spirit to control and direct. God need not be more clear, he can have us seek his will in whatever way he wants. Also, again you are positing equality or correlation of God's love for us and how efficaciously we do his will. I strongly advise being LED of the Spirit but keep the blindfold on the flesh so it can't lead. 2(f): Gotta have a relationship with God via the Holy Spirit. Gotta be born again of the Spirit. Gotta seek God via the Spirit. Gotta be willing to do anything. Gotta subject the flesh to the Spirit's leading. If you know God you really know who is leading you. 3(a): They have to persevere. If they want the result badly enough they will indeed persevere. If they were lied to they should not believe the liar anymore. If they are under trauma they should take care of themselves in that way. If they were deceived they should examine their beliefs. 3(b): They followed the Spirit. Many of us today don't. They were more willing to suffer. Many of us today aren't. 3(c): The concept of people going to hell when it's "not their fault" is a wrong one. It is always our fault if we end up there. God wants all to stay out of there and nature witnesses to us that God exists. 4(a): I don't know. I do know the Spirit will witness the truth. Sometimes it takes maturity to grasp it. The Spirit teaches "line upon line, precept upon precept" and by direct revelation. People can be at different levels. 4(b): Your question seems to indicate that the devil can send people to hell. No that is the second death. As for the first one, he is on earth to steal, kill and destroy. God set it up that way. I don't know why. Who was NOT innocent when they were born into this world? We were all innocent. 4(c): Who knows? He already rebooted once with the flood. 4(d): He did not have to "come into" being. He always was. That is his nature. 4(e): I believe what the Bible says about hell, the lake of fire, etc. If you are asking what hell is like I can only refer to the Bible. 5(a): . Many Christians try to get into a career or business hoping to earn more money than a pension so they can give the excess to missions. ------Laudible goal. You would think in this case God would allow them. -----no, it all depends on where God wants them to work. And/or how much money he wants them to make. But often they fail to earn more money than a pension so their endeavour to do Gods will did not eventuate and their time is wasted. -------Then they were deceived as to what God's will was. Your whole question is set up with the idea that we should earn enough for retirement (pension you call it). That idea is not in the Bible, it only says don't be a burden on people. Also, we are not to plan too much in advance: James 4:13-17 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: [14] Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. [15] For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. [16] But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. [17] Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. 5(b): I confess I did not read this question. I see it is more of the same fleshly/worldy reasoning: presuming that what the person thinks and feels is ipso facto the will of God. It is not. Christians encourage each other by getting together and loving each other. We pray for each other. We bear each other's burdens. Some of us use the gifts of the Spirit in ministry, this helps a lot. We are to be separate from the world, called out of it, and this is the root of many problems. We must be holy as well, in body and mind. We must flee sin. It should be noted that question 5(c) has been changed since this question was answered below. The old question corresponding to this answer was:
Q5(c) Is positive thinking dangerous or evil considering it can get us into trouble and cause us to become discouraged when things do not work out like we had hoped? 5(d): Yes. If God is not leading you then the flesh is. And/or Satan, 5(e): They should ask God what to do and do what he says. 5(f): The Bible says it's hard for the rich to enter into the Kingdom of God. It doesn't say it's hard-ER for them than the poor. The Bible says the poor are rich in faith, it doesn't say the rich are rich in faith. The love of money is the root of all evil. But not the possession of money. 5(g): It's possible. But you need to rephrase that as "teaching" not "punishing". 6(a): If people are doing and asking for the correct things, God promises that they will receive a blessing. -------where is that promise in the Bible? What are "correct" things? Presently many are asking but not receiving a blessing. James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. ------this is not the only scripture about God withholding blessings. "Christians??? are doing or buying things that rich people accept as normal": ----there is nothing in and of itself that makes gardening or the other things you mention wrong. Many are harmful (drugs, gambling). Just because rich people can afford to do them more often than poor people does not make them more wrongful or more harmful. In all of your questions in this post, you are quite obviously trying to maintain that God should bless the poor and take things away from the rich. But that is not necessarily his will. As for your specific question, the short answer is the reasons we don't receive THE THINGS WE ASK FOR (which are not necessarily "blessings") are as varied as there are individuals. The reasons we don't receive BLESSINGS are found in the Word but are in my view still as varied as there are individuals. 6(b): These things are not giving people enough time or money for God's will and are denying other people an opportunity to do God's will. They are also destroying honest Godly businesses that provide useful goods and services, as people won't have the time or money to use useful goods and services. ---------it is hardly the things themselves working all the evil you see, it is of course the people. The things themselves are not necessarily wrong or demonic. It is why we want them, what we intend to do with them. However the bottom line, again, is DID GOD SAY TO DO THAT???????????? 6(c): Strong's gilluwl, Hebrew 1544, Strong's gilluwl, ghil-lool'; or (shortened) gillul, ghil-lool'; from Hebrew 1556 (galal); prop. a log (as round); by implication an idol :- idol. galal, Hebrew 1556, Strong's galal, gaw-lal'; a primitive root; to roll (literal or figurative) :- commit, remove, roll (away, down, together), run down, seek occasion, trust, wallow. 1 Cor. 8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. 2 Cor. 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Ephes. 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Col. 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: Rev. 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: --------to me it is covetous you are referring to, not idols. And yes we can covet anything. 7(a): I will repeat myself: the love of money is the root of all evil. We must walk by the Spirit not the flesh. We are to be in the world but not of it. 7(b): We are to obey the Word of God and what the Spirit reveals to us. IF we do we don't go to hell. 7(c): I am not God so as to judge. Only he knows. 7(d): Not per se. Perhaps a false prophet or teacher. Name and Email: foxter@webcombo.net - TERRY
Church: Born again l98l
List: yes
Reply to the below post: What if someone who got saved and wanted to be baptized but got killed before they arrived at their baptism? What about someone in a desert area where water is scarce? What about someone in a prison who was about to die but wanted to be saved, where the jail keepers forbid any baptism?
Regards Richard. 2(b): It should be noted that there is only one way to salvation, and that is the way taught in the Bible. I do believe that we must be baptized in order to be saved, and the following will support this statement. However, it is not just enough to be "baptized." We must become a disciple before the baptism.(Mat 28:18-20). 1. In Matt 16 verse 19 Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom. What do you do with keys? You open doors. In other words, Peter held the keys to enter the Kingdom of God. He was given the knowledge on how to enter the Kingdom or in other words become saved. 2. In Acts 2 Peter stands up and addresses the crowd. This is a very important event because this is the first time the Gospel is preached to anyone. What I mean by that is this is the first time that Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection is preached. Peter's sermon includes some Old Testament Scripture to prove that Jesus was the Christ and that he did raise from the dead. Now, when the people heard this they were cut to the heart and they asked Peter and the other apostles what they should do(Acts 2:37). Peter replied "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins..."(Acts 2:38). Now, remember that Peter had the keys, and he just gave them to the people. The people asked them what they should do. In other words, what must they do to be saved. Peter gives them the keys: Repent and be Baptized. Why do you repent and be baptized? The verse says for the forgiveness of sins. 3. Now, lets reference what Peter said to what Jesus said in John 3:5. Jesus said "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." Jesus said that you cannot enter the Kingdom unless you are born of the water, which means baptism, and the spirit which distinguishes between the baptism of John. The reason I make this argument in regards to born of water is because this is the scripture used by Polycarp and Tertullian, among others in the 2nd century, to prove baptism was and is still the only way to enter the Kingdom. This was during the time a few people were trying to teach otherwise. Anyway, Jesus makes the distinction about this baptism though. He said it must be of the spirit as well, so just any baptism wouldn't do. It had to be a baptism that would result in the forgiveness of sins and in the receiving of the Holy Spirit which is what Peter says in the latter part of Acts 2:38. The point is, Peter's announcement to the crowd is in harmony with Jesus' requirements to enter the Kingdom. 4. 1 Peter 3:21 says "and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also - not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Now, Peter, who has the keys, says that baptism saves us, and it saves us by the resurrection of Jesus. Reference this To Romans 6:1-4. Paul said that we are baptized into his death in order for us to live a new life. If one would want to make the statement "baptism does not save you" see how that contradicts 1 Peter 3:21. 5. Every conversion in Acts ended with a baptism. Look at the jailer in Acts 16:29. He asks Paul and Silas "what must I do to be saved?" They reply believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. That sounds like a contradiction doesn't it. However, look at this verse in context. The jailer was a Roman pagan. He did not know or believe in God or Jesus. It would have been pointless for Paul to say be baptized because he wasn't ready yet. But, when they said to believe, that means to believe that he exists and do what he says. First you believe, and then you obey. Notice how they went to the jailer's house and they preached the Gospel to the entire household. Finally, they were baptized. Let's look at this conversion in respect to the massive 3000 conversion in Acts 2. The people in Acts 2 were God-fearing Jews. The miracle they witnessed got their attention, Peter preached the Gospel, they believed in Jesus which in turn caused them to be cut to the heart, then they were baptized. The jailer did not believe, he saw a miracle, they preached the Gospel to him and his household, from there we can infer that they believed in Jesus, cut to the heart, and finally as it is written, they were baptized. 6. Jesus said in Mark 16:16 "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved..." Pretty self explanatory. Ah, but one might add, Jesus went on to say "...but whoever does not believe will be condemned." So, we can say that Jesus did not say those who do not believe and are not baptized will be condemned. So, it is not essential. Here is the problem with that argument. Besides the fact that it is not consistent with the prior points given, what good would it do for a person who does not believe to be baptized. Absolutely no good at all. So, it is pointless to have to mention that. When it was written that you must believe, for example the famous John 3:16, it is implied that you not only believe in the existence, but you are faithful and obey. You do everything that is commanded by God (We can't really do everything perfectly, but we try). So, when Jesus said in John 3:16 that whoever believes will not parish but have everlasting life, is saying this first of all to Jews. They ! did not believe he was the Christ. However, when they did believe, they had no problem in obeying the command that we must be baptized. In other words, they believed in him being the Christ and everything that he taught. It is a command for everyone to be baptized; consider Matt 28:18-20. Jesus said go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So it is a command which leads me to my next point. 7. Baptism is not works. Baptism is a command by Jesus. It is required by every person (Matt 28:18-20). It is an obedient response to God. Besides, the person being baptized doesn't do any work anyway. The person dunking does all of the work. Which yes baptism is full emersion because that is exactly what the word baptism means. It is taken straight from the Greek language that was used to write the New Testament. It means to submerge or to dunk. It was often used to refer to sunken ships. It was said that the ship was baptized. 8. My last point has to do with the thief on the cross. This is a famous argument against baptism but I think it is a dangerous one to point out. First of all, Jesus had the authority to forgive the sins of anyone he wanted to. He did it several times during his ministry. But, that is not how we operate today. We do not have Jesus on earth to tell us to go in peace because we have been forgiven. We only have the Bible now to tell us how to have our sins forgiven. Second, even if the thief could have been baptized it would not save him at that point because Jesus had not died yet. That is the whole point to baptism. We are buried with him into his death and raise just as he raised (Romans 6:1-4). If he hadn't died, been buried, and raised from the death, how could anyone be baptized into his death? Those are points to baptism. If you have any other points to share I would be happy to hear them. But, the goal to remember is to construct a doctrine on the Bible that is in perfect agreement with every scripture in the Bible that relates to that topic, which is what I have tried to illustrate here.
It is also relevant to point out that baptism alone does not save. We actually need to look at the heart behind the baptism. Jesus said in Matt 28:18-20 to go make disciples of ALL nations. That means that Jesus wanted everyone to be disciples. Now, what is the difference between a disciple and a Christian? In Acts 11:26 we see that the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. This is 7 to 10 years after Jesus ascended into Heaven. This is the first time Christian is used in the Bible and it is only a name given to disciples. So, if a disciple is called a Christian, then it is obvious that there is no difference. A disciple equals Christian. The word Christian is in the Bible only two more times! And, in no place is the word defined. God never defines the word Christian. So, the question would be how would you define what a Christian is today? People will give you many different answers to that question, but they didn't derive that from the Bible. The only way to define a Christian is to look at what the Bible defines a disciple to be, since they are the same thing. That is all that Jesus taught, what it took to be a disciple. The question is would Jesus consider you his disciple?
I am not saying we earn our way into Heaven, but we must obey. Consider:
1 John 2:3-6 says that we know that we have come to know him (Jesus) if we obey his commands. The person who says I know him but does not obey his commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. It goes on to say that anyone who claims to know him must walk as Jesus did. All of his commands define what a disciple should be. A disciple, a Christian must live the life that Jesus lived if they claim to know him. Here are some passages that lay a standard for a Christian: Name and Email: My name is Tim Loper. email: abslt00000@aol.com
List: Yes.
Reply to the below post: Sorry I do not agree with some things in this below post. Regards Richard. 1(a): All are given the same Chance; We All are suppose to first seek the kingdom of Heaven; which is to know God and know we are Children's of God's. What stops people from succeeding is their brothers or sisters greed. We all want to be like and accepted by God even Cain, and we are all hungry for What God really said like Eve who didn't know; that God never said "Don't touch the Tree" or the Serpent naturally do this, don't like fruit, but like Flesh, Blood or Meat. We are All our Own Worst Enemies; Not Satan or the Devil therefore the "Devil made me do it excuse wont work because the Devil already asked God and Gets what ever She wants. 1(b): Gen. 1:26-27 And God said; Let Us Make Man in Our Own Image...Male and Female made He Them; and Gave Both Dominion. The Trinity or Family of God can best be explained by the following: The Father, Son, Daughter and Mother, with the Parent God being a Female whose Heavenly Body, Spirit, Breath and Womb All Come From, Including Jesus Christ himself God Only Begotten Son. Satan on the other hand is God's Only Begotten Daughter, the Blood that Cries from the Ground because Satan is God PMS seed and Blood as Rev. 22:2 clearly shows since a Woman is the only species that bleeds 12 times a year or cast her fruit to the Ground X XY X - A Good and Evil Pair/Pear Tree of Knowledge thats Female but more commonly known as the Holy gHostess 1(c): 1/3 of the population is hungry because 2/3 don't believe the story; and cant explain therefore they made up their own answers which were wrong. The Key lays within the SKJ Holy Bible, Not the NIV (New Improved Version) where the words have been changed. You see Man who has been instructed to teach and preach; can't improve on something He doesn't first Understand; like the Bible, when really its quite a simple story. 1(d): ADAM'S at Fault due to His Ignorance; and Right to remain Silent. Everywhere in the Bible it says And God said. And God Said, but no where does it say "Don't touch the tree" This was a Lie Adam told Eve. We didn't let Mayor of Washington DC get away with "the Bitch set me up excuse" and God didn't let Adma off the hook either. As this is the day ADAM (All Damn Arrogant Man) Shall Fall, but before they do they will know why Eve pushed Him out of Heaven into Hell in the first place. 1(e): This is why all wont get into Heaven. Many will say Lord Lord haven't I don't this that or so and He will say; Depart from Me because I never knew You. Jesus Came for Division; Not Peace on Earth or Good Will toward Man, and Satan is the One assigned the Judgement, or the One who will Collect the RENT! like a Good Servant. 1(f): When sisters and brothers talk to their parent; the first thing one will say; is THATS NOT FAIR. But God Is Fair; Man has had two dog days of his Own; Whereas Woman on the other hand Will Live Forever; and the Husbandman (gardener) will assign Dominion to Her because Man is just too selfish and oppresses Her. 1(g): None are denied; but Salvation was given freely; All you have to do is Believe the Word of God 2(a): If we seek the face or kingdom of God All will be added; but most people seek their own agenda. God wants us to do what God wants us to do willing, gladly and with all zeal. When God gave me my vision; where God showed me all the words meaning, the alphabets, power and positions I answered God question when I hear Him knock. While I was in prayer and fasting and reading my bible a question popped into my mind concerning the Garden. God said Knock Knock and I said God is that You the Good and Evil Tree of Knowledge in the Garden, Is Jesus the Tree of Life and the Tree of multiple fruits Your Wife. " Flesh and blood did not reveal this to me; when I reopened my bible this is what Jesus told me " Blessed are you for many Prophet and Kings have desire to see what you see and have not seen....or heard..Then Jesus called me a Babe and rejoiced in the Spirit because He finally has His Own Wife. Math; 19:4 it was for this cause He left his father and mother in the first place. He had to die on the Cross to Make a Wife presentable for himself. She is Satan, Reborn, Risen and a New Creation and Here just as Schedule to rise in the day of Judgement. 2(b): The King of this Bottomless Pit is the Pope or A Bad Don (Rev. 9:11) if you know how to speak N.Y. Italian or like Lawyers. He has been lying to Us from the Start by telling you that the Lady of Fatima in Portugual 1917 was Mary the Mother of God; when She was really Eve, the Mother of All Living and the One Female Immaculately Made by the Hand of God. She brought the Son down to Earth; and told us all She was the Immaculate Conception; the Pope should have known; but He didn't because He a Man; and Just Plain Ignorant of the Fact that We all come from the Womb as Job told. They should have seeked the face of God, called Her your Sister and Mother or Earth Worm. 2(c): 2 thes. And God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a Lie" God is A Righteous God, and Damn all those who found pleasure in unrighteousness. Satan is Transformed into an Angel of Light; because that was part of the Master Plan all Along from way back when God said "Let Us Make Man In Our Own Image. " 2(d): God is in charge All the time; We do things and we don't know why; God is so Awesome She can Make us do what ever she Wants; she just gave you a choice, but God's Will Be Done all the Time; Think of People like Joan of Arch who heard the voice of God; She was a Christian; but was Killed for Heresy; which only means "God is A She a Her I Say" 2(e): We were to walk by faith, not by sight so when we See that the Word is Actually Alive; God then proves its was there all the time. We just need the Key to Understanding. 2(f): Ask God directly, then listen to what's the answer; Don't let anybody tell you any different. 3(a): Physician Heal thyself; Do you know how many people are in the crazy house because they hear the voice of God. How many people are given medication so they don't think about what they saw, hear or feel. Tell a Dr. you talk to God; what will happen to those folk when the Drs. think they are God; and don't realize they need healing themselves. 3(b): Because the apostles were given the opportunity to believe; just like the Jews when they were released from Slavery. But they just kept belly aching about what they lost; they didn't realize that God was on their side, until they asked for Jesus Blood on their Hands, demanded they Kill him instead of Barabus. and the Poor Jewish Girls failed to recognize their visitation. Now its time for them to Lift the Serpent Up and Look upon it just like Moses did to save their Lives. The Serpent is the Daughter of God, the Earth that moses Hit in Anger. Moses Aint getting into heaven because his brother Aaron stole Moses Black Wife's Coventant on Mt. Horeb. Didn't anybody ever wonder what Hagar Saw; Once God Opened Her Eyes. She Saw Her Son on the Cross, saying to Her and All Woman born before or since "Woman Behold thy Son" Now the Serpent is risen and None believe Her; Now aint that a Kick in the Head. (Gen. 3:15) 3(c): Yes they can; All of the Father and Mothers who were suppose to show them right from wrong will be killed also. God didn't spare those little babies or Rachels' children, and God doesn't want any disobedient children in Heaven. If they didn't preach the gospel as they should, many will be lost. If were learned anything about the story the Boy who cried Wolf we learned the Wolf eventually showed up, and Many were lost, because they didn't come when the Boy cried for real and they didn't know they were also lost sheep. 4(a): Because its a Mystery; You are suppose to Seek; it is complete; but you must have the word of God sown in your heart. People cause themselves to do wrong things because People want there own way. None seem to realize that they are not smarter than God, or that God is perfect and doesn't make mistakes. 4(b): For God Purpose: Image the Devil or Satan is just a Good and Evil Triple Agent of God's like Oliver North. The devil was assigned a different mission but has been working for God all Along. 4(c): So we all would be given the same chance. God will be Done. Heaven and Earth shall pass away, In God's Time not our Own, but a day is like a thousand years to God. So Satan has been free for 1000 year, but pretty silent because; Satan and Jesus both got the same Directions from God. Jesus is the Anointed Satan is Not which makes Satan the Anti Christ, But so are You too since none of you is Christ, you just think more of yourselves than ye ought. Satan on the other hand is a Born Sinner, and Black Sheep of the Family because She is Jesus Twin Sister, the Prodical Child returns and She gets the Best Robe, to be Dressed in Linen and White because She is the Espoused Spirit and Bride of Jesus Christ; or Beast thou saw not. 4(d): God is pure energy, which can not be created or destroy, God is always has been and will always be. God only made up numbers and postions to explain to us. God showed us the difference between left and right, man and woman, but we don't know which hand is which; because our Righteous side is closest to our Hearts and this is on the Left side, not the right. 4(e): Yep; because God saved their life to throw them into hell alive and for all time. You see God figured out a way for Her X(XY)X only Begotten Son YX and Daughter XX to live happily forever after the fall told to come. 5(a): Who are you to say their time is wasted; God answers all question; and God will be Done; some of us have small parts, some have big parts, but we all make up the Body of Christ or have different functions. 5(e): NO: Work and Do your Job; God rewards all, with the penny promised; regardless of when they started working. The amount of money you make is not the question, do you give you 10 or give all you have like the poor widow in the bible who put in her two cents worth, which was All. 6(a): They are not receiving their blessing; because they think they didn't get it in the first place. Ask and ye shall receive but you have not because you ask not; plus your too used to walking by sight; probably not full of the Spirit, but drunk with wine. 6(b): God denies All so that we will See HE/R grace is sufficient for thee, Good is So Good and an Awesome God. You just don't know just How Good and Great God is; but Satan does; and thats why She always asked first to get what She wants. 7(a): Jesus is the Only Example to follow; looking at the others you see that all failed him also, especially Simon Peter, but Satan desired to sift him like wheat; and Satan will have Her Way because She is the Accuser of the Brethren or So Called Friend of Jesus who betrayed him. 7(d): God showed us what will happen on the last day when "Man still denies God Her due and Lies to the Holy Hostess XX or Spirit of Truth sent by Jesus during the Day of Judgement. God showed us this to prove that God can take your life away at any time; just like God did when the Ark of the Covenant fell to the ground and those who were allowed to touch it did; God killed them too because they are not a clean as the ground the ark fell on.
List: Yes: The SKJ Bible is All Truth; it just requires a Female Viewpoint to point out exactly what Man did wrong.
Reply to the below post: Sorry the bible and I do not agree with this below post. Regards Richard 1(a): You see, people who believe that an entity ie God loves them and wants the best for them, stems from the human desire for comfort. If we can create, in our minds the notion of a "god" who loves and protects you it can make you feel better when everybody hates you or you had a bad day since in your mind you believe that a "god" still loves you, seriously, you people are deluding yourselves, thinking in that way only points out a deep emotional insecurity in yourselves, instead of facing the real world you run off and comfort yourself on a make believe figure, grow up, get a real friend not an imaginary one List: yes
Reply to the below post: Sorry I do not agree with some things in this below post. Many people claim to be Christians but are not Christians 1(c): Reality check, don't want to bruise you Christian egos but the Christian population of the world is 1.4 billion compare to a world population of 6 billion! in fact there are more Islamic people in the world then Christians now, also the poorer countries do not tend to be Christians so those poor starving people would more likely be looking towards Allah or one of the plentiful Hindu gods then Jesus! Church: atheism
List: yes
The below answers relate to the old questions. Many of the old questions are the same as the current ones but with different numbers. They are compared below. 1(a) and 1(b) combined are almost identical to q1. q3: John15:18,19,&20-------------------If the world hated you, ye know that hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefor the world hateth you. Remember the word I have said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me they shall also persecute you; If you have kept my saying, they will keep your's also!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! q10: How do we know it is not still burning!? q11: LOL----that is so funny----hahaha Haha, we all have the same choice! It is your fault and your fault only if you go to hell!!! Blameing other things will only stop you from growing in God! We all control our thoughts and actions, you are the only one to blame! q13: To truly love God you must have faith. We don't always know everything, so we must trust that God is doing everything for our own good! Name and Email: AMANDA ---------TRUgyrl015@aol.com Church: non-denominational
List: yes
q5: To who it may concern: To answer the first part of your question I'll refer you to John 3:16, For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son. That's how much he loves us and I don't believe that you are going to find anyone anywhere who could say that he does not love us. As far as that goes, if you were the Christian that you are more then likely proclaiming to be, you should not have to question Gods love for us at all. You could look at it this way, he saved you didn't he. To answer the second part of your question, where do you get that it is Gods fault for the shape of this world. It's not God who is allowing Satin to deceive this world it's man. Instead of the people of this world doing Gods will in life there doing what they want to and that's not how God had it designed. If the people of this world would start reading Gods word and start taking it to heart they would not get deceived by Satin. In James 4:7 Gods promise to us is, that if we submit ourselves to God and resist the devil he would flee from us. So its not God who is allowing Satin to capture innocent people, it is man . As for the predictions of when doomsday is, Jesus tells us in Mark 13:31-32, heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angles which are in heaven, neither the Son, but only the Father. Once again I tell you, stop listening to what man is saying and start listening to what God is saying. In other words, stop putting your faith in man and start putting your faith in God. As for getting a chance to do Gods will, that's up to you. Every single one of us get a chance to do the will of God every morning when he gives us the blessing of wakeing up in the morning. If your not using that blessing to read Gods word and spread his gospel that's your fault not Gods. He's already given you the chance to do his will, you just don't want to. As for satin distroying the world, he's not distroying the world man is. All satin is doing is putting stupid ideas into mans head and thy are choosing to listen to him. God won't let this world be distroyed until his return, then and only then will the rapture start which will bring the start of the end of this world as we know it today. God bless Dave jada@ihs2000.com
List: yes
q1: 1) God does give us the chance to succeed! Everyone has a chance, it is our individual that screws up these chances! 2) If they were not praising God and living with him to begin w/ and then they succeeded, they wouldn't believe God was the one who had helped them. It is when you trust in God, no matter what, when he gives you what you are looking for! 3) Many of the frustrating and angry feelings we have are due to demonic influences! When you follow Jesus and live a truly Christian life, Satan has to pressure you more to get you to buckle more under the pressure! I mean think about it-Why would Satan waste his time with a non-believer, they are already destroying themselves-they are doing his job for him! It is when we as Christians do buckle under the pressure of Satan's attacks that we get all messed!! q2: We are rewarded when we enter the pearly gates of heaven. Life is full of disappointing facts that we all have to live with. We learn the most from our hard times and tribulations, giving us a fuller and more prosperous life, even if you are not a millionaire! Just because they are "good people" does not mean they are a Christian! q3: No one is denied the right to serve God---I'm am sorry, but it is the individuals right to act---God can not make you act on anything, many times Jesus leads us in the right path but we choose not to act on it! This is a cruel cruel world that we live in! It takes Faith to get you through things, and if you want to think that because you don't own a million dollar house, then God doesn't love you--then you go right ahead q4: We should look into and study what we are performing! God will lead you to the truth if you ask him to! If you try to live for him he will recognize your efforts As for the last part of the question---We are supposed to have children and teach them Gods ways, but if you don't want children-please don't have them! AND suicide is out of the question! q5: First of all----all of these questions start with- if God loves us then why does he do......!We cannot understand why god does some things but he does it all in our best interest-wether we understand or not! q6: Satisfaction is a state of mind-----think about it--hard! q7: Ohhhhh no--- We satisfy god with our love and when we live for him---not by our pocket books! WE ALL--that means every one--have the chance to satisfy god! q8: Everything God does is for a good reason--wether we understand or not! q11: If we study God's word we will know that every one can prevent from going to hell! We can ask God to reveal anything to us that we have done wrong! If we have a truly repenting heart then God will understand! I am tired of hearing the word succeed abused! You talk of success like it is purely of the size of your wallet! Succeeding in God is what we need to worry about! q12: The law literally was made to be broken! God made laws for us to see that we are not perfect and to point out our flaws! If you live in God, study his word, and have a repenting heart then you will go to heaven! If you study God and do not live for him, then you might have problems! q13: The Bible is the only reliable guide for our life-----use it! q14: What are they loosing?
Name and Email: Amanda Schaeffer-TRUgyrl015@aol.com----15 year old-sophmore
Church: Not really one in particular I think of myself as non-denominational, but I have gone to a babtist and a penticoastal
church!
List: Yes
q1: In St.John 3:16 Jesus say's, God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son. It's a shame how so many people can read that and not understand it. I believe the reason why people don't understand is because when they read something out of the Bible, they read it like they would read a comic strip, without any meaning. I don't know about anyone else but, I would think that if somebody would die for you I would think that they would love you pretty much, don't you think so. I mean, think about what you are asking? You are asking, if God loved us so much that he wants the best for us, why are people not given the opportunity to succeed. Let me ask you a question? what is it that means the most to you. It's your life, God loved us so much that he gave us his only Son to die on a cross for you and me. Think about that for a minute, I wonder how many people would die on a cross for a world who could really care less about anybody but themselves. I would be willing to say no one would. I know this much, I wouldn't, and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't either. I wouldn't give up the life that God gave me for nobody in this world. Now, don't get me wrong, I would give up my life for the Lord, and I have. So, how much does God love us? he died for us. As far as you having a successful life, you have it when you commit yourself to him. Jesus died for us so that we could have life. In St.John 14:6 Jesus say's, I am the way, the truth and the life, that's what kind of an opportunity God gave us because when Jesus died he defeated death. The successful life that God gave us is eternal life. God wants us to live on this earth for him, not for the world. The successful life that you are talking about in your question is of the world way of life, not Gods way of life. That's where a lot of people make there biggest mistake. They want to serve God and the world at the same time and you can't do that. In St.Matthew 6:24 Jesus say's, No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and dispise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. In other words, you can't serve God and man at the same time, for man is of the world and God is of God. If you want to be successful in life, all you have to do is commit your life to the Lord and you will succeed. All those people who are living a life of frustration, sickness and failure are living that way because they choose to. Now I understand that sometimes people get sick and die, and there faith could be very strong in the Lord, and we may not understand the reasoning sometimes but, God knows what he is doing and he is always in control of everything. Besides, we don't know what kind of life that person lived all there lives. We don't know what they did, for all we know they could have been some big time gangster before they come to know the Lord and the Lord was judging him or her before he took them home, or maybe God was using that person to witness to someone that may not know God. I personally believe that the Lord uses other people to save other people. In 1-John 2:15,16 the Lord say's, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. That right there should tell us that if we depend on the world we are not giving to live a successful life. Any time that you overcome a sickness, or some kind of failure in your life, should give you a reason to praise Gods Holy name for getting you through it. And not only should you be giving praise for his grace and mercy for you but, you could give a testimony to someone who my be going through the same thing that the Lord has helped you get out of. For us to succeed with our life in this world means nothing to God at all. What the Lord wants us to succeed at is our trust in him, not of the world. In St.Mark 8:34-37 Jesus say's, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? In mans way of thinking, being successful is having a lot of money, prestige, or materialism which has nothing to do with a successful life for God. When you try to succeed by way of the world, all your going to get out of that is frustration, sickness, and failure because that's not living a successful life of God. What the people of this world give up in exchange for our souls is, our peace, joy, patience, happiness, our will to obey God, or to sum it all up our salvation. Don't misunderstand God, he wants all of his children to live a successful life, but before we can do that we must stop living for the world and start living for the shed blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ before we can start living a successful life. You need to start praising him for everything that you do or have because its all his anyway. Don't only praise him doing the good times but also for the bad times, and then when he helps you through the bad times use that blessing as a testimony to help someone else to see the light of life. Don't get disappointed and angry with God because of the hurt that you are feeling or the torment that you are going through, instead get angry with the devil because he is the one who is causing all the torment in this world because he controls the world. The reason that I can say that is because there are more people living the way of the world then there are living the way of Christ. In St.John 12:25 Jesus say's, he that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. In other words, if you succeed in this life and put this life before Gods way of life, you shall lose it. But if you are succeeding in life for the love of God you shall keep your life into eternity. Let the Lord worry about your problems and live your life for him in everything that you do, and you will live a very successful life in Christ Jesus. A-man. May the Lord bless you in his word God Bless q2. I'm not sure, but I assume that you are referring to the above web sites as being the small businesses that are not succeeding in there business. If they are, from what I understand they seem to be prospering well. What I mean is, well the one guy is driving a Porsche around. My question to him is, Before he bought that Porsche, how much of that money did he give back to God, & my next question to him is, did God tell him to buy the Porsche to do his will. In my opinion, I don't think that the Lord told him to go out and buy a Porsche to do his ministry, but I may be wrong, maybe he did but I would have to question it. In the first part of your question, you talk about people or inventors with great ideas who could benefit the world. You see that's the problem with some people, they think it's their responsibility to benefit the people of the world when it's not. The only responsibility the Lord gave us was to obey his commands. For example, in St.Mark 16:15, Jesus tells us to go and preach or teach the gospel to every creature. That is how I believe the world is going to benefit from anything, by the preaching and the teaching of God's Holy Word. I have yet to read anywhere in God's word where we are suppose to invent great ideas to benefit the world. The only way this world or anybody in this world is going to benefit at all, is through the preaching and the teaching of God's Holy Word. Jesus teaches us in St.Matthew 16:23, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. He never said, if any man will come after me, let him think of a great idea to benefit the world. From what I can understand from the above two web sites is that they are more concerned about prospering for themselves more then they are concerned about prospering for God. If anybody wants to prosper at all, they must first seek God in everything that they would do. You talk about being rewarded? we are not rewarded by God for the things that we do or have, we are rewarded by our FAITH AND TRUST IN HIM. If you want to prosper in this world you must first put your Faith and Trust in the Lord Jesus and he will give you all the riches that you will need. In 1 Timothy 6:17 the Lord said, charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. In Philippans 4:19 the Lord says, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. People got to remember that they are in this world because the Lord allows them to be, just like the Lord gives us everything that we have including that Porsche that man is so proud to have. I'm sorry, but if someone has a christian business that the Lord gave to them to run and they go out of business, either the Lord has something better in store for them (and if that's the case, don't get mad at God for taking it away, ask him what he desires for you to do next for him)or, there not tithing or trusting in the Lord the way they should be. Otherwise, I would have to say that you would still have the business and would be prospering greatly from it. If you lost your business, I would seek God and ask him why, because it is Jesus promise in St.John 10:14, that he is the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine, but first you have to know him in Spirit and Soul, not just of the mind. For if you only know him through you mind, you don't trust him fully. you only trust him when it is convenient for you, which most of the world does anyway. If that's the case (and only you and God know, for the Lord knows your Heart not any man)then I would tell you to read verse 26 in the same chapter which Jesus says, but ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep. Please don't get mad at me, the Lord just called me to teach the truth about his word, not rewrite it to suite your flesh. All of my quotes are taking out of the KJV of God's word, eather you want to hear the truth or you don't. The choice is yours not mine. May the Lord Bless you in your understanding! God Bless David jada@ihs2000.com Name and Email: David jada@ihs2000.com List: Yes I would Reply Hi David I am not referring to those sites themselves as being badly off. Those sites contain statistics that indicate that approximately 95% of businesses are losing money. I can't understand how you can see why we don't need to invent things. If nobody ever invented things life may be more difficult and we would not even be able to communicate. Many inventions make life more efficient such as my bible indexer at http://www.advantagein.com/bibles which helps people study and spread the gospel. Also electricity and other technology gives people more time to do Gods will as it saves time doing many things that are now automatic. We need small business to create jobs and new goods and services and also counteract the multinationals globalization which will destroy everyone. Far from offending me I think you have good points which I have not long realised myself. People do place far to much emphasis on making money where instead they could be working for God instead of unsuccessfully trying to make money. I think you will agree with many things I have said in my new website I told you about in the previous letter I sent (also below) which I am not sure whether you got? Also my site at http://www.advantagein.com/conspiracy suggests similar things about the money deception. Well maybe if marketing and success was easy I would not have created these sites? Please see the other letter I sent below. Hi David Thanks for your time. Do you know when you will be answering those questions as I am about to upload a few small changes when proofread? I have put up a new Christian site at http://www.advantagein.com/christian I am trying to search for the truth and the answers to my questions after reading the bible again. Please don't be offended as the views are strong but are clearly in the bible. I have to have it proofread yet so there is bound to be some improvements. Please let me know what you think as I am happy to listen to your views and change things. Your help is appreciated Regards Richard q1: True Christians that are subject to a hard life are not angry with God, because they realise that the cause of there hardships is from the sin of man. If a person needs to be successful in order to praise God, then they do not have faith in God. All of our hardships are caused from our sins, our greediness and selfishness. It is not God who has caused these things, nor is it fit for God to interject with the free will that he gave us. For free will is what makes us Human, and we are Human because God loves us. Name and Email: djv11@columbia.edu Damon Velardi Church: Christian I am a philosophy and religion major at Colombia University in New York City. I have a special interest in studying the philosophy of Christianity. Although I have a strong faith in God, I wish to try to explain his existence philosophically. List: Yes q1: Could it possibly be that Christians all start out assuming that just whatever happens is God's mysterious ways, when in fact there was never any evidence that God was a part of their lives to begin with? The choice is a godless life filled with randomness and effects resulted from things we cause by our own freewill, or, spending the rest of our lives trying to reconcile the good God with the fact of evil. I opt for the former since it is based on evidence of daily life. God is quite an unnecessary afterthought. q2: From Sceptical presuppositions, God has nothing to do with life anyway. From a biblical perspective, though, you require that one must "succeed in life" in order to fulfil God's will. I suggest you take correction from 2nd Corinthians 12:7-10/1st Corinthians 9:14/1st Peter 3:17/4:16/Hebrews 11:32-39, all of which couldn't be more contradictory to today's "health and wealth" gospel. Christians are supposed to be concerned about evangelism and living holy lives regardless of what may come their way, and there is nothing in the NT, which supersedes the OT, which supports this idea that success in life is the only way to fulfil God's will. The bible's numerous statements on how God applies his Sovereign power to do things proves conclusively that even "bad" things that happen are part of God's will (Ezekiel 38:4/Isaiah 45:7) q3: Perhaps God has nothing to do with reality anyway? And that's why it's so hard to reconcile the "bad" things that happen, with the alleged fact of a Sovereign and good God? It would seem that Christians who marvel and are perplexed at how a good and Sovereign God can allow things to horrible, is like a Mormon who assumes that Joseph Smith is God, wondering why such a good man to restore the true Gospel on earth, doesn't just get rid of the anti-Mormon ministries now that he is a god! perhaps it is Joe's Mysterious ways? Not at all, Joe has nothing to do with it, and so it is with Christianity. q4: Christians would like to answer "yes", but they don't because God's mysterious ways are an answer to everything, especially when more humane methods of helping ease suffering conflict with what Christians vainly assume that God "said" in his laws. q5: God doesn't love sinners (Psalm 5:5) Israel asked God numerous times whether to do a certain battle, and God said each time "Go" even though with each time they obeyed God's advice, they suffered defeat every time except the last! Judges 20. God knew through foreknowledge that they would lose many lives, yet told them to go, coming just shy of stating "by the way, you will lose this battle". SO they ask God, and God gives the advice which works the absolute worst for them! YOU figure it out, I never thought the Bible was "God's Word" to begin with, precisely because of the kind of sadistic stupidity found in Judges 20 q6: Christians all assume a priori that just whatever God does, is necessarily holy. Therefore, no matter how disgusting the act, or brutal the battle, or gross the language, or immature the temper, WHATEVER the Bible says God did or commanded, MUST be holy and good, and finding things wrong with this or that which God commanded, is supposed to result from sinful blindness of mortals. It certainly couldn't be God's own failures. Name and Email: c2timothy4@hotmail.com Church: formerly Conservative Christianity (Calvary Chapel) for 15 years, the last five of which I was an apologist and cult evangeliser. List: Yep! q3: Please read John 3:16-21, Mt.11:28-30, Mt.5:3-12, Mt.6:19-21, 2Cor.12:7-10. God loves you and everyone with a unique and unending love. He has a plan for you and our time isn't always Gods time. q10: This is comparing apples and oranges. Heaven and Hell are not earthly while Sodom and Gomorrah were. Also yes the cities stopped burning but the people went on to Hell. The bible makes 14 references to Hell 7 in Matthew and 3 in Mark and 2 in Luke and 1 in James and 1 in 2Peter. q11: God gives us free will and the chance to exercise it. The question is do you choose to live in the seventh chapter of Romans or the 8th. Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world. q12: John 3:36 whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but who ever rejects the son will not see life for Gods wrath is upon them. Ephes 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God so that no one can boast Name and Email: Ron Church: Nazarene List: Yes q1: Your question itself misunderstands the Christian message. Christianity has never offered a life of success, it has offered the life of the cross. This includes struggle, pain, frustration, endurance, and above all hope. What hope is there for the Christian, you might ask. It is a hope eternal that is not bound to the flux and drama of life, but bound in an intimate relationship with the father through the son in the holy spirit. With this the Christian proclaims with the apostle Paul that we are content in the midst of all. I ask the person who wrote this question to find success in loving God, in knowing him deeply, and making him deeply known to others. Name and Email: hotheos@juno.com Church: evangelical List: yes q11: Yes, people can go to hell. But to say that it would not be your fault is what I don't understand. If you go to hell it is because you choose to go there. You see, what a lot of people don't seem to understand is God gave us the right to choose if whether or not we want to go to hell or not. If you want to be sure that you don't go to hell & that you will go to heaven, all you must do is confess with your own mouth your sins to God & have that personal relationship with him by reading your BIBLE every day & by praying 7 confessing your sins everyday. In other words you must commit yourself to God just like you would commit yourself to your spouse. That's why there are so many questions like this for a lot of people. You have these leaders in your church that are going by what man has taught them in there schools or seminars instead of reading studying the Scriptures for themselves. Nobody wants to take the time out in there lives to pray to God for knowledge & ! wisdom as they go and study his word. Instead they would rather listen to what other people have to say about his word and just leave it alone at that. So my answer to you is yes, you could go to hell but, if you do it is only because of your own choice to do so. If you want to be sure that you aren't going to hell start a personal relationship with the Lord by getting into his word and studying it for yourself. You would be surprised at what God will reveal to you if you only let him. Thank you and God Bless. Name and Email: jada@ihs2000.com List: Yes I would Reply Hi Thanks for you feedback. Sorry It took so long to upload your answers at http://www.advantagein.com/philosophy/philosophy-answers.htm You are welcome to come back to answer more questions as your answers are helpful. It is sad so many are deceived and have not heard the gospel. Children are brought up a certain way and they think there way is the right way and they may have seeked the truth. In such a situation how could it be all there fault they are going to hell? I look forward to your feedback. Regards Richard Hi Thank you for E-mailing me back. To answer your question about how I can say that it is the children's fault that they are going to Hell is not because they are deceived and don't know the gospel, it's because they confess with there own mouth that they believe in Jesus. Let me try to make this a little clearer for you with the Lords help. Before I go on, I must first get one thing established between us, and that is that the Bible was written by our Lord, and what he say's in it is final. In 2 Timothy 3:16, our Lord instructed Paul to write that all Scripture is given of God, which is telling me that the Bible was written by God. You will find that in the KJV of the Bible. Now, if you don't believe that well then don't bother reading the rest of this letter because all it will do is torment you for the rest of the day, and that's not my motive here. My motive is to spread the truth of Gods word to anyone who wants to here it, because just as Jesus instructed the disciples to go and teach the Gospel ( or the good news depending on how you want to refer to it ) to all the nation, I feel because I am a child of Christ, I'm just as one of his disciples. Now you may be thinking, what gives this man the right to consider himself a disciple. Well, God does that's who. In St.John 8:31, Jesus say's to the Jews, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and in the next verse Jesus say's, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (KJV). You have said to me in your letter that children are brought up a certain way and they think there way is the right way and that they may have seeked the truth. Well, from what the Lord has taught me, there is only one way to not go to Hell and that way is Gods way. Jesus say's in StJohn 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comith unto the Father, but by me (KJV). That's telling me that there is only one way to enter into heaven, and that's through Jesus Christ. God say's in 1John 2:4, he that saith, I know him, (meaning God or Jesus Christ) and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth (meaning Jesus Christ or God) is not in him. If the people of today and the children of today would read there Bible, and study Gods word like Jesus commanded us to do, they would not have any question if whether or not they were going to heaven. But because they choose to believe what man say's instead of what God has promised us, they are living in confusion and get deceived. If people or children don't know where they are going to spend there eternal life, it's not because they don't know the truth, but because they choose not to know the truth. In Hosea 4:6 God say's, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge. In other words, the people of today are being destroyed be Satin because they don't get into Gods word to learn the truth, instead they choose to listen and take the word of somebody else who thinks he or she knows, and they have a lack of knowledge not because they can't find the truth but because they reject or refuse to find the truth. There is just to much literature and evangelist, and missionary groups out there to say that they don't know the truth. The Lord has provided all kinds of ways for this world to know about him if the take the time out to find him. Jesus say's in St.John 10:25,26,27, this is when the Jews try to stone him, he say's beginning with verse 25, I told you, and ye believed me not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. If anyone is a true believer and has committed himself or herself to Jesus Christ, they would hear his voice and pick up his cross and follow him, and by doing that they should know if whether or not they were going to hell or not. People need to stop going around and blaming everything under the sun for what is happening to themselves and for what is happening in this world today, and start being honest with themselves, and blame themselves for there own lack of knowledge and not God. Oh, I understand there are a lot of false profits in this world, but what this world needs to understand is that God has provided a book of knowledge for us to be able to tell what is false and what is truth. All we need to do is pick it up and read it, and then we need to believe it. That's way I feel confident in saying, if anyone is going to end up in hell, it's because of there own fault or choosing. A-man. May the Lord bless you in the getting of your understanding as he has blessed me. GOD BLESS David Marderness jada@ihs2000.com Hi David Thanks for your letter. It was interesting with good points. I am about to upload more answers very soon. Please let me know if you want this uploaded to as it will be helpful. Regards Richard Hi Richard Thank you for taking the time to read the letter that the Lord inspired me to right back to you. I know that my responses are kinda long, but it's like I told the leaders at my church. When the Lord is speaking to me about something that he wants me to address to my class or anyone else for that matter, I listen first and then obey his command. In other words, I'm not going to tell the Lord he must stop talking. To answer your question yes, I would like to have you upload that letter. I trust and believe that it will be very helpful to other people, because God don't tell someone to respond to something so nobody gets to read it. I believe that as long as what is being taught or is being written is the truth, and it corresponds to the word of God, we must let people know it. I am planning on answering all of the questions that you have on your web page, but like I said before, I don't know how the Lord is going to have my respond to them in length, but I do know this, it's going to be the truth and it's going to be out of the word of God and I'm trusting that these people will get understanding if they truly believe the WORD OF GOD. Thank you again, and feel free to put anything that I would write to you or give an answer to a question on your web page. May the Lord be with you always ! David Marderness jada@ihs2000.com Hi David Sorry I did not realise this was you as well until I read this well after sending the last letter to you. You seem to have a good knowledge and good answers and this should help people as they are among the best I have seen. Thanks very much for your help and imput. One thing I didn't understand is this paragraph you wrote which I have on the new file about to be uploaded. Thank you for E-mailing me back. To answer your question about how I can say that it is the children's fault that they are going to Hell is not because they are deceived and don't know the gospel, it's because they confess with there own mouth that they believe in Jesus. Let me try to make this a little clearer for you with the Lords help. Should it read like below with the DON'T added to it? Thank you for E-mailing me back. To answer your question about how I can say that it is the children's fault that they are going to Hell is not because they are deceived and don't know the gospel, it's because they DON'T confess with there own mouth that they believe in Jesus. Let me try to make this a little clearer for you with the Lords help. Your help is appreciated Regards Richard Hi Richard The answer to the question that you had sent me in your last Email letter is NO! I would like if you keep that first paragraph the way it is because, that's the way the Lord inspired me to write it. When I wrote it I thought the same thing at first, but then I decided to trust that the Lord knew what he was doing so I left it alone. I don't have time to respond to that question right now because, I must go to work soon but, I shall have a answer for you this evening after I get home from my Bible study at church. You shall here from me late this evening to explain why the Lord inspired me to word it that way. Thank you, and God Bless David jada@ihs2000.com Hi Richard I'm sorry for not Emailing you last night but, I just got tied up with some things and ran out of time in the day. Like I told you yesterday morning in my letter to you before I went to work, NO! please don't change what I wrote to you because that's the way that the Lord instructed me to word it, or I would not have worded it that way. You know, isn't it wonderful the way God works in our thought's and in our minds if we let him. For instance, yesterday morning when I was getting ready for work, the Lord told me through my Holy Spirit to check my Email messages. Well the first thing that came to my mind was no, I can't, I don't have time to because I must get ready for work. Well that my friend was the flesh speaking to me which is controlled by satin. Now, just hold on there for a minute, I said that my flesh was controlled by satin, not my Spirit. You see, there's a difference, and that's way I told you not to change what I had been inspired to write to you on children going to Hell. In St.John 3:6 Jesus tells us just that, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. If you look, the reason Jesus said that was because, he was explaining to Nicodemus what the meaning of being born again was. To explain that in a way so we can understand it is hard but, with the Lords help, I know that I can do it. I believe what the Lord tells me and what he wrote for all of us in his word we call the Bible, and by saying that you would understand why I say this. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.(Philippians 4:13 KJV) We were all born of the flesh when we came into this world, but Jesus wasn't. In other words, in order for us to have been born in the first place, our mother and our father had to have intercourse. When Jesus was conceived, Mary and Joseph did not, which makes Jesus born of a Super Natural Spirit, which comes from God. Mary and Joseph did not have any intercourse, and for what we know of, that was the only way that you could be conceived into this world. Now, some may wonder where I got that from, well look in Genesis 3:16 the Lord told Eve, unto a woman, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thou conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and in Chapter 4 in verse 1 of the same book God tells us that, Adam knew Eve (now the word knew in Hebrew one of the meanings is to acknowledge or to have an acquaintance with someone or something. In other words to put it in our language so that we could understand it, they had intercourse) his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, that's where I got it from, in the Word. So, up until the time that Jesus was born, everybody and everything that was living on this earth was born of the flesh. When Jesus came into this world, he was born of the Spirit(St.Luke 1:34,35, then said Mary unto the angle, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angle answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that the holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God KJV). So you see, even Mary said that she was not with a man, everybody has heard Mary being called the Virgin Mary, well if Mary was a Virgin then she was never with a man simple. Now, we were not conceived by a Virgin or were we conceived by a Holy Spirit, so that makes us born of a flesh and not of a spirit. In order for us to be born of the Spirit, we must be born again. Not born again of the flesh, we have already done that, but of the Spirit. That's why Jesus said in St.John 3:6, that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Now you may be thinking, what in the world does all of this have to do with my question to him on whether or not I should word something different that he had wrote. Well, be patient my friend, I'm getting there. In Acts 2:38 God told Peter to tell us that we should Repent, and be baptised everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's how we get born again of the Spirit, by being baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. There is no other way, that is the only way to be born of the Spirit. There are many many Christians of today that claim to be born again and there not. How can we tell, by the fruit that they bare. Jesus tells us in St.John 15:5, I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Jesus also tells us in the same chapter in verses 17,18,19, These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Now I ask you, how many times did you hold a conversation with someone who proclaims to be born again, and when you said something that convicted them they said to you, well theologically, God didn't mean it that way. Instead they tell you there interpretation of what God meant, instead of what Gods word said. That my friend is called, comforting someone's own mind or guilt. In St.John 14:26 Jesus tells us that the Comforter is the Holy Ghost, which God will send us in his name, and he shall teach us all things, not man! We are Gods children born in the flesh, and unless we give up the flesh to Jesus Christ when we are born again, we are living a lie. There are many people or Christians who confess with there own mouth that they believe in Jesus Christ, but its like I had told you before, believing in Jesus isn't just believing that he was here and existed on this earth. It means to commit yourself to him totally, and if you commit yourself to him totally you commit yourself to his word to be the truth and the way of life totally. Their are many people in this world that confess that they believe in Jesus Christ and are not saved, and for them there is hope. They don't proclaim to be saved or believe in all of his teachings or even go to his house to worship him, because they think that all the churches want is there money, and believe it or not, in many cases that is true of today. Some churches are more concerned about how much money is in the offering plate then they are in getting people saved, and the reason for that is because there are to many preachers out there teaching what people want to hear instead of what God has to say. Those people are as God calls them, COLD. What I mean by cold is not that they are in body, but that they are cold in spirit. In other words they don't want nothing to do with Jesus and his teachings. They just want to live there lives by pleasing themselves and worry about Gods way of life later. God refers to them as being lost sheep! and those sheep he can find and save. Its the warm Christian that I am talking about. The ones that proclaim to know God, but want to live life for themselves. The ones that go to church on a Sunday morning, put on a big show of how much of a Christian they are, but then doing the week they don't think about Gods will for them in their lives, they are more worried about there own will in life. Their not concerned about pleasing God, their more concerned about pleasing themselves. That's way the Lord has told me to tell you not to change anything in that letter, because people need to hear the truth. They need to be on FIRE FOR THE LORD and not warm. I believe the Lord has inspired me to write that because there are a lot of warm Christians that read you web page, which is good because now I believe they will hear the truth about what the Lord has to say in his word. In closing I would like to quote the Lord out of James 1:19-27. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your ownselves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth whatmanner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but decieveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. May the Lord Bless you in the Hearing and understanding of His Word Thank You and God Bless David jada@ihs2000.com q1: Physically if He really loves us! Read "The Spiritual Man" by Watchman Nee. The spiritual walk is about bringing the fleshly man under submission to the spiritual man." Successful" people are quite often self centered people. Not much witness. Look at the witness this week of Callie Bernall in Littleton, CO. Many of her classmates have turned to God because of her testimony of answering, "I'm a Christian" immediately before being shot dead. This is an affluent suburban neighbourhood, why wouldn't this turn them from God? Because their lives are empty; just like the boys in the Trenchcoat Mafia's lives. They saw in Callie something deeper something more important than themselves, yet able to fulfil their selves. Strength so great it a young girl she could face death with conviction and digity. In a girl until recently "messed up" The greatest period of church growth was in the 1st century where martyrdom was common. Christianity is not a lifestyle or a tradition. It is a person, Jesus Christ, whom you can know personally! Radical... you can know the creator of the universe!
warhoop q3: Why? Because most Christians are not taught to actually find the specific will of God. Therefore, in their ignorance, they pursue dreams and ventures are not truly in Gods will. They waste time and energy but do the right religious thing. Also Satan is real and he throws roadblocks in our way. Often times the roadblock seems so right and our religious leader gives us the go-ahead. What do you think? Is he going to encourage you to be a paedophile or kill your neighbour? You'll resist that for sure. But what if he encourages you to pursue a business outside of God's will? Or go into the "Ministry" outside God's will. Vanity vanity.... q6: God is not limited by time, He is outside time and He sees the big big picture. Who are we to say what is fair? Besides we deserve hell and He give us the opportunity to escape it. If you were hanging over a cliff and someone throws you a rope are you going to complain because there is not a sling, that you'll have to climb the rope? He even gives the strength to climb the rope! q7: The Bible says we will cast our crowns before Him. Only he deserves honour and praise. "Every knee shall bow" Church: Calvary Chapel List: yes
q1: God does give us the opportunity to succeed every day. I know that disappointment do come our way but the bible teaches that the trying of our faith is more precious than gold tried in the fire. Some times God uses frustration, sickness, and physical failure to show some one else your faith. I think we need to look at Job when things are not going to our liking. God be with his children. Remember the little widow woman who dropped in 2 mince into the treasury when all the rich gave because they had and she gave all she had to the Lord. We need not worry with what the other Christians around the world give both physical and spiritually and worry about self. Look how most of the time God used the week and poor to confound the might and strong. Seek ye first the kingdom of god and his rightness and ALL these other things will be added to you. IF IT IS GOD WILL. q4: I only read about 1/3 of your question but I know that God 's will is always something we can do. He will never ask something of us if we can not do it through him. He says his sheep know his voice and no other will they follow. q5: We are all given space to do Gods will. God allows everyone to have a choice and he wants to know who loves him and if he destroys the devil we would not have a choice to make. Where sin abound grace did much more abound. For God sent his only begotten son is he not greater than Satan. Pray because through pray we find strength. q7: You hear incorrect List: yes q9: The very nature of God and the definition of the word 'God' defies such a question. If God came into being at a particular time then he must have been caused by something. If he was caused by something, then he would not be God. The thing that caused him would be. God is necessarily the uncaused cause. Name and Email: Church: List: Yes. q1: We are purified like gold. We have to be melted down and all the impurities burned out so that we will be better people and better witnesses. Also in Romans 5:3 God's word states that "Not only so, but let us rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. q9: "I AM THAT I AM" q12: I believe that once you trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour that you are saved from that point on, straight through death. In the new testament when God's word say's that when you believe you will be saved, the Greek word for believe means to stake your whole eternity on Jesus with everything that you are. Once you have done that you are born into the family of God. How can you be unborn. God say's that and don't quote me on the exact wording of the verse but that he who is in my hand will not be taken out. Wouldn't you think that if God sent His only son to save you and you trust in him and are saved that He will uphold you? Name and Email: Name: Scott e-mail: jocoff@ne.infi.net Church: Christian List: Yes q3: Because we are in a material universe trap & we always need to weed out the important from the unimportant. I just got a bad mis-understanding from a schedular at my work so lost most my working hours, I fought for Truth by writing as I often do. q16: The spiritual challenge is to see the exact isnesses & as-isnesses of life without flinching, for then you can walk amongst the coals un-scathed. Name and Email: Jerry andalepues@bigfoot.com Church: rather not say, it is "an apllied religious philosophy", gnostic. List: yes I like your intent & purpose, wanna make into a WWW.WEB-CHURCH.COM with a link station that collects names which can e-blast out the message from it? (TriPolar pro link station in your vitriols pro webspace), then pop on by my friend: www.doodlesclub-funhomebiz.com q1: The Bride of Christ was, and still is, given a task on earth. Your success will not be judged of the flesh but rather of the spirit. To maintain your faith through tough times is indeed a blessing of GOD. His ways are not our ways. q2: GOD calls you by name long before your birth so everything you need to succeed was given to you long before your birth. q3: No man is denied the right to serve GOD. Serve GOD first. Your life second. q4: GOD desires you to lean on HIM. q5: Keep GOD in your heart, for where GOD is holy ground. The only one who prevents you from serving GOD is you. q6: Re-define the definition of success. Christians receive satisfaction from serving GOD not from big homes, fancy cars, or a "successful" business. Tithing is an act of obedience not a measure of success. q7: Do you really believe man can please GOD by writing Him a check? How much does a man have to earn to sing a song of praise to GOD? q8: You need to ask GOD that question through prayer. q9: You need to ask GOD that question through prayer. q10: We don't know that. Seek heaven not hell. q11: A man's belief, or lack of it, is his choice alone. It is not determined by circumstances of the flesh. q12: Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, repent of your sins, and serve GOD. That is the only path to your salvation. q13: Faith, Love, and Hope. And of these Love is the most important. q14: But the streets of heaven are paved with gold. Why? GOD has taken one of the most sought after possessions on earth and used it for cobble stone. q16: There is no puzzle here. Why do you have to seek GOD? He is always there. He left his word on earth. The gospel. If Christians spent less time seeking and more time praising perhaps we could hear Him better. Name and Email: Scott Sheen scott@interque.com A born again, torah studying, gentile Christian. A seed of Abraham. List: yes q8: It would be too easy. q9: He's always there. This answer is spoken in faith because actuality, I was never there in the beginning. I cannot prove this, I just believe. How we come to know God is through Faith, not with our own understanding, or wisdom or abilities. Faith is a gift from God. Even Atheist have faith. q10: yes. q11: God uses the weak and make them strong. Greater is He that is in you than he's that's in the world. Renew you mind. Are you borne again? After reading all of these queries, I sense a weakness in your Spirit. How? Where is the Word? Acting on the word increases your faith. How is your faith? You seemed to be dominated by your own soul than the spirit. q12: You must know that you are going to heaven. If you don't, you need to renew your mind. What does God say about you? The cut off point lies in your heart. Is Jesus there? You are either hot or cold for God. There is no grey area. In revelation, if you are lukewarm, He will vomit you out. q13: My sheep hear my voice, says Jesus. Is he lying? A requirement in walking in the spirit is to have a child like faith. Re-examine your faith. Where are You Spiritually? Are you growing spiritually? God means every word He says. Confusion is not of God. q14: Do you Know the Joseph principle? q15: We are called to be victorious, not losers. q16: MY people perish for the lack of knowledge, says the Lord. In circumstances such as these they need to use the Word of God. You said" it became psychologically difficult to press in and praise God." Don't press in psychologically, press in spiritually by using the Word. Nobody is at fault. List: yes q1: The question is why does not God lift His mighty finger and influence the activities of life and death here on the earth? This is the real question because there are always opportunities here on earth for us to glorify God. Are you looking for miracles? Raising people from the dead? Instant healing? Go to missions and you will find out. Those who are called sons and daughter of God must realise that they walk in the full authority that God in the beginning of creation has given to Adam. Jesus walks in that authority. When you are borne of Him, the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is also the same Spirit that is in you. The problem is we are not walking in the fullness of this power. Why? The first lesson Jesus taught us is to walk by faith, that faith in Him, not in our abilities or understanding. Are we walking conformed to every word from the Bible? Do you love your enemies? Do you forgive? Renew your mind. There is life in the Word, if you live it, you will know the power. Word without the power is like a gun without bullets. God created the world by speaking the Word. When God created the world, He gave Adam full authority over the earth. When he sinned, he lost this authority to the devil. This is why there is sickness and death, poverty and death, death... But his lease is due. Jesus came and died for us. In doing so, He overcame death and all the curses that came with it. When you confessed your sins and made Him your Lord and Saviour, you are born again. His blood cleansed us from sin. His word made us children, and Him our Father. When we are baptised in the Holy Spirit, His Spirit live inside of us. We have the power. We just need to live it out by renewing our minds, obeying Him and be faithful. Don't be distracted by the circumstances, Don't be move by it. Be moved by the Word. q2: Success is a relative question. Regardless of the circumstances, if we obeyed the word of God that is success. Sometimes we use our own expectations to define success. This road will lead us to disappointment and lost of faith in God. Expect God to succeed (this is what we Christian call Hope). How much money does not mean how successful you are, look at the Hollywood people or rock stars. We have a greater treasure, Jesus Himself. In Him we are fulfilled. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. q3: Sometimes we do things that we think is God's will wherein fact it is not. He may have other plans for us. We may even hinder his will. What we think need to conform to His plans even if it is good intentions. Be led by the Spirit not by your understand or knowledge. We don't even need to try hard. q5: See answer to question 1. When we are in line with God, the Devil has no control over us. We have control over him. q6: What Paul did in his life for God is what I call hard, but not once did I hear him complain. He just wanted to get close to God. Faith, love and Hope. He live and breath this. Name and Email: JOSEPH HUNG PHAM 59 APPLESTONE PARK S.E. CALGARY,ALBERTA T2A 7W1 CANADA Church: FORMER CATHOLIC List: YES. FORGIVE IF I DON'T HAVE THE REFERENCES TO MY STATEMENTS ABOVE, I FORGOT MY BIBLE VISITING MY PARENTS q1: That question is one of perspective.... It is not God that causes our problems for the devil is the author of sin sickness and death. It is God who gives us the ability to live and move and have our being. I am not speaking as one who hasn't had my share-grew up in a dysfunctional & broken home, the past yr. I have experienced grief-my Dad, my grandfather, my grandmother, 2 aunts, and 2 friends have all passed away in 6 Months. time. Even our dog passed away... But in that grief I cannot grieve as the world does as one who has no hope-grieve -yes-but comfort in the knowledge that this world is transitory and fleeting and I will see them again-in the Kingdom of God. q2: How many of those businesses were started within a season of prayer? Were they God's idea ? Was He even asked for His opinion? Yes God means to give us the desires of our hearts but also He may have greater plans than ours. If "Bill" the man who started AA had had his way-he would have treated alcoholics one at a time in his home-that was his plan. God had a larger one. He allowed God to change his plans and AA was founded. q3: see answer 2. And to be a business man & a Christian is hard indeed. No doubt about it- God may have a larger plan in mind. I was a student who had gone back to nursing school late in life. Getting 4.0 average, academic honour society- then found out my son was gravely ill. Of course there went my plans... I could be bitter\angry or choose to see that now 12 yrs later I am not a nurse but a mother, wife and research assistant and love it. q4: You sound like you are seeking a separate time for work, and a time to do God's will when they are in fact one in the same. Brother Lawrence was a Christian who spent 30 yrs. cobbling shoes and peeling potatoes. God means to work through us 24 hrs a day. Charity does begin at home for if I am not acting as a Christian to my family first- what good is it to do charitable acts in the street? And if I am not a Christian at my job-regardless of how world treats me-then what witness am I as FOR euthanasia-what right do you or anyone have to take life-you did not create it, but we have free will choice-as God said to Moses-choose- life or death. q5: The world has not ended because God wants all to come to a saving faith to have all lands and peoples hear of his word . He allowed those things to happen because of the Fall of Creation. You, knowing about the choices between good & evil and the consequences of it and if you still have sinned -you are worse than Adam & Eve were- they did not know the consequence of sin-if you do and still have sinned it places you in same place as they were -out of the Garden, out of Paradise. q6: It is not yours to know who will sit at His right hand or His left. We judge by appearances-God judges the attitude of the heart which is unseen. q7: Depends on how you measure success... St. Francis captivated around him some of the most audacious souls of the age-offered no more than to kiss the lepers sores and to be naked for Christ. q8: He did start again-after the Flood with mans result being the same. q9: He didn't He is uncreated-always was How is that possible? How did God -all divine get into the human person of Jesus Christ-to explain the incarnation is just as hard... q10: It was destroyed by everlasting fire-those cities no longer exist. Name and Email: mijesa will finish survey later List: yes q1: Perhaps the ones asking this question haven't realised that we who turn our lives to God have to let him decide what our life will be like. He has a good plan for everyone but our definition of good may not be the same as his. He sees an overall plan and sometimes if we just succeeded at everything we wouldn't realise that we are going in the wrong direction, down a destructive path that looks ok to us until later he tells us that if we had gone that way we would have fallen over a cliff and been destroyed. Sometimes He is gracious and allows us to hurt emotionally or physically but only to get us to listen to Him speak to us about our real deep deep deep need which is in our spirit. Our spirit may be wounded or bitter or stubborn or cynical and if it is we will not hear our Father saying he loves us and calling us to come his way. We will be too arrogant and keep on our own path to destruction. He wants us to take Jesus payment for our sins and receive healing and forgiveness which softens our spirit and makes us free. It is also our permission to go to heaven. A soft spirit makes us caring and compassionate and unselfish and joyful, peaceful, and teachable. When life happens to us we don't fight and get mad ,we just try to learn and ask what do we do now, Lord? I am not saying it is easy to be this pliable but after time we realise there is no use fighting. I have seen people lose a spouse to death which hurts and you feel helpless to fix it. I have come to my limits many times (nervous breakdown)and didn't want to accept that there was any way that I could be less than exceptional. I had to leave the teaching profession and felt like a failure for years but now I am learning that God had other plans for me and that I have been a good wife and mother and friend without a career. I think we define success in worldly terms of money when it is being safe in the arms of our Father that brings security. We will become who we were made to be if we receive God's love and be ourselves. List: Yes 1.
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Questions 13 to 16 are really already answered above. Jude 24 (second
last verse in the second last book in the New Testament) says Now unto
Him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before
His presence with exceeding joy. I believe God answers prayer and so claimed
this promise 30 yeaars ago. He has kept me.
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name email Steve Black steveb@theworks.com Religious background nondenominational. Do you want this listed on my site.
I may not have everything right but I believe in God and I accept his
free gift of salvation by accepting that god sent a part of himself to
live here on earth and died and took the place for my sins. I believe that
by accepting this I will not have to pay for my sins. Because I love God
for doing this for me, I want to try and do what he wants me to do, according
to the word he has left us. Because I am human and spirit with free
will many times I will fail but God does not give up on me. I have deliberately
sinned when I knew better and yet I still believe God forgives me and will
accept me based on faith.
q1: This is a test of faith. God has given us the opportunity to succeed, but First we must do his will and praise Him. Thank him for everything that he has given us i.e. life, daily bread, flowers, job etc. and for everything that He will do for us. When we do his will, praise him and give our tithes and offerings we are planting the seeds for our harvest. A farmer doesn't expect to bring in a harvest without first planting his seed. Employees usually don't get paid before actually doing work. The seed comes before the harvest. Sincerely do His will, praise him and offer Him Thanksgiving every waking hour and He will open up the gates to his blessings and pour them unto you in abundance. q2: If it is His will that you be successful in business, and you are doing His will, praising Him, tithing, giving offerings...you will be. God has a plan for all of us, and entrepreneur may not be your calling. He may call you to evangelize, to sing the Gospel, to heal, to write... Name and Email: Victor Cortez
q3: A lot of Christians do not seek God before they venture into a situation. They often fail because they want God to bless what they have created instead of allowing God to guide. God does not make mistakes or lead us into bad business ventures. Thankfully He will lead us out if we seek Him first! Church: Christian faith, Assembly of God Denomination
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Name and Email: Mildred Sincerely, MYL
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Name and Email: James H. Mosley
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