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Yesterday I titled my message, “Faith not Fact.” Today I say, “Just because faith is not fact, it does not make it fiction.
Some may ask, “How in the world does this make any sense logically.”
It’s easy you see.
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines faith a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty
(1) : fidelity to one's promises
(2) : sincerity of intentions
•\tacted in good faith
(1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God
(2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion
(1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof
•\tclinging to the faith that her missing son would one day return
(2) : complete trust
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs
How can you make something a fact when it’s not direct evidence? How can you make something fictional, when situations occur daily that are not easily understood or explained by science and/or the medical field? How can you explain that of physicians polled believed religion and spirituality (including prayer) have a positive influence on health and recovery . Aren’t doctors some of the supposed “most intelligent” people on the planet? How then, do they overwhelming admit that prayer and other spiritual factors may have an influence on healing?
Yet the author of the video, “10 Questions Every Intelligent Christian Must Answer” seeks to poke fun at the intelligence of a Christian. He basically states that a Christian believes in an imaginary friend. I don’t know about you, but the last time I checked anyone who believes in an imaginary friend past the age of six is considered a little slow.
How can we be intelligent if we have an imaginary friend?
One way a person with low self-esteem attempts to hide his or her insecurities is by bashing others for what they stand for or what they enjoy doing. Rather than spending time enjoying your own hobbies and chasing after your own passions, these people waste precious time and energy trying to scrutinize the passions of others.
They tend to mask behind their own insecurity with statements about how intelligent they are and how much more they know. Yet, a wise person is never boastful because it contradicts everything about wisdom. Sometimes it’s wise to walk away but other times you have to stand up for what’s right.
The author of “10 Questions Every Intelligent Christian Must Answer” is not right, and despite some interesting points he brings up, he just does not get it. I’ll now try to make up a “lousy excuse for God’s behalf.”
Prayer and Healing
Prayer is considered one of the most powerful tools (and even weapons) in Christianity. One very popular example is about a young girl who was traveling alone through an alley where a victim was subject to rape just the day before. The rapist was waiting in the same alley again that day for his next victim. When the girl noticed the suspicious looking man, she instantly felt something was not right. She said a quick prayer, asking God to protect her. She continued walking and passed by the suspicious individual without harm. Weeks later the suspect was arrested and confessed to everything. The girl who walked by that day became a vital witness in the case. When asked why he didn’t attack this particular girl, the man responded, “Are you crazy? She had two men walking on each side of her.”
The guardian angel story is one of many miracles that cannot really be explained. It just happens and the parties involved are never the same again.
In the video, the author poses two questions about prayer and healing. Why does God not heal amputee legs and why does God not provide food for the millions that are hungry in Asia, Africa, etc?
Two great questions with no easy answer. In the Gospels, it does say that God will answer any prayer. Unfortunately, we do not know when the answer will come. It’s important to remember that God works on his time and not ours. If it was our time, everything would happen right away. We need to pray but we also must do our part to help. Are you donating money and other goods to those who need it over in Third World countries? Is the author of this video?
While God will answer prayers, we cannot just ask anything and assume it will magically appear. If that was the case, we would know God did exist and everyone would be a Christian. God is not a genie who grants you three wishes. He answers prayers in a very mysterious way. In today’s world we all want the quick fix, but God’s timetable is just not so. We have to look in the mirror before we point the finger at God. We also must trust completely in God and surrender everything to him before we can believe that anything will really happen.
I do not turn to another individual and demand that he instantly solves this issue for me. God is different yet if he solved everything instantly, the room for doubt would no longer exist.
God works in mysterious ways and you just have to accept it as truth if you really want to believe that he will eventually make a difference. Even non-believers in America without prayer must admit that they are not doing their part financially to support world poverty and hunger despite being in a privileged circumstance to actually have the ability to help.
God’s Demand on Death
The author cites Exodus 35:2, Deuteronomy 21:18-21, Leviticus 20:13, Deuteronomy 22:13-21, and other verses in the Old Testament as examples of an unloving God who was quick to put people to death based on the old law. It’s important to remember that the Old Testament and New Testament are highly different and each represent a different covenant.
As I stated last week, it’s important that we retain some of the old law such as the Ten Commandments. However, it’s obviously that not everything in the Old Testament is correct and or relevant to today’s society. The old law, which the four examples cited above fall under, was broken when Jesus Christ arrived on earth and died for our sins. His death on the cross represents the new covenant between God and man, one that broke the old covenant in the Old Testament.
Remember, back in the Old Testament only certain priests and certain prophets were filled with the Holy Spirit and only those individuals had direct communication with God. The law was established under Moses to keep “God’s people” under check as they left Egypt during Exodus.
The people in Exodus constantly complained and gripped in the desert despite just months earlier being freed from bondage in Egypt. They wanted instant answers much like the author of the video. God continued to show up and make known his presence. The people would flea in fear and then return to bitching as soon as God left.
If you have studied Exodus like I have, I think it’s quite clear that God is actually very loving and forgiving. God had plenty of opportunities to ditch this earth, starting with the original sin, yet he never left.
Yes, the four scriptures cited in the video talk about putting individuals to death, but they were all very serious offenses at the time. What’s to say it’s any different from a death penalty (which is even no longer considered politically correct) that punishes murderers?
Some may argue that killing someone for not honoring the Sabbath is very extreme yet they do not understand the importance of the Sabbath on Jewish culture. Others may say that killing disobedient teenagers is rash, yet couldn’t we afford to punish our rebellious teenagers just a little more in today’s culture. I’m not saying we kill them, but we’re way too soft on the young generation.
Homosexuality and fornication are two issues that each individual must decide whether or not is just. At the time these laws were written, they were nearly as serious as murder. You have to understand the time period and that they no longer apply today because of the new covenant.
In fact, when Jesus appeared, he said “the greatest commandment was to love God and the second was to love your neighbor.”
He preached love, mercy, and passive aggressive behavior rather than the person the author of the video makes him out to be.
The ultimate battle in today’s society is the warfare between science and the warfare of religion. Many religious individuals instantly neglect anything that is scientific and write it off without checking the facts. Individuals in science on the other hand are too focused on just the facts and often judge anyone who actually believes in a higher power.
An individual with a world that revolves around science is afraid to take risks. For them, everything is centered on what they know and what they can prove. If faith is the belief in something you cannot prove, how can you acknowledge God and religion?
One of the biggest bashes against the Bible include references to passages that go against scientific theory. Obviously God creating the world in six days completely goes against “The Big Bang Theory” and what science understands about earth’s creation. The great flood that also wiped out the entire earth is heavily discouraged in science. The video also cites Jonah living inside a whale for three days and Adam being created from a handful of dust.
Sure, Elijah was carried up into heaven in a “fiery chariot” into heaven too. How can you possibly prove that someone can enter heaven before dying? How can you prove that Jesus walked on water?
You cannot. Some of these circumstances in the Bible completely go against physics and basic scientific reasoning but does that make them fairy tales? Of course not. If you really believe in God and Jesus Christ as supernatural being, than you agree that they can make the impossible possible. I know I cannot walk on water, but I do not know the same about Jesus.
Could I alone live in a whale’s stomach for three days? No way. But what about under the supervision and power of God? You bet.
How does someone just one day decide to wake up after being induced for years in a coma? Is it mere chance or a divine power? Science cannot prove everything either.
A good friend of mine constantly states that one of his beefs with the Bible is the fact that it says “slaves, obey your masters.”
Like the author of this video, for my friend, this just does not make any sense.
What kind of rational person would warrant slavery?
This question that haunts every believer, but once again you have to consider the time period. At the time these passages were written, slavery was very common and accepted as “status quo.” Obviously a time arrived in society when the majority of the world tossed out slavery as taboo.
The video says that any intelligent person cannot support slavery, yet many of the forefathers of this great nation owned slaves. Abraham Lincoln, great of a man as he was, made slavery illegal in part because of peer pressure as much as doing what he knew was right. Are we saying all of our forefathers were dumb? If so, this nation was built on a lie.
Don’t get me wrong. I completely oppose slavery, but you have to consider the times. Abortion for example, is becoming more and more accepted in society. Yet a “radical” could argue that abortion is genocide in disguise. If we fast forward six hundred years and abortion is no longer legal, would people in that generation automatically write off our generation as dumb and ignorant? Despite all our technological advances, would we be haunted by one major misconception?
I was told this was a Christian site so here goes.
If you don’t understand spiritual warfare and their is a variety of Christians who get attacked by the enemy because of either being in Ministry doing the Will of God or have a calling and took the call, you won’t understand what I’m about to write down, you probably even got lost in the first sentence. This is a warning to people if you don’t like the message you don’t have to bother reading it.
For those who are ready for this story I’m about to write please stay tuned.
The Shark that wanted a human snack.
I was on my boogie board late in the summer back in close to the late 1980s where school was out and it was beach time. I was not too far out in the ocean I had my older brother with me as I also had my snorkelling gear with me, not the profession kind for gear. As I went over a wave I put my head under looking at the beautiful ocean floor. To my surprise when I went to lift my head up their were swarms of fish about three feet from me. Out of no where the swarm looked to be fading out as a big huge fish came out of the swarm of fish looking directly towards me. I could not believe what I was seeing then it opened its huge mouth and I lifted up my head and said shark out loud to my brother. My brother said be quiet , don’t make a scene just calmly swim back to the shore. Not listening to my brother I panicked and heard him say, stop Scott, don’t splash so much. If the shark wanted to get me it could of right their at that moment, but to my surprise it did not nor did I want it too. After reaching the shore I told a lifeguard what had happen and he rang the bell to get people out of the water. The Shark was no where to be found. My testimony I believe God was with me that kept tha shark from getting to me. Not to go too religious on you but I did start praying while I was swimming to shore with my boogie board.
If you liked that story feel free to sub to me , I have lots more to tell where that came from.
And I say this with all love hope and cheer those who want to be blessed be blessed have great day .
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<p>"29. And now, you blind scribe of this My new and living Word within you, as also within all of you, look at Adam what he was like in Paradise. He was a perfect man, with one exception, endowed with many abilities, a perfect lord of the earth. All his perfections were but a gift from Me and he kept them until the time when he just once forgot Me, after the angel had become invisible to his eyes.</p>
<p>30. And behold, all that which Adam possessed as a gift will I give all of you as a permanent gift and countless more and endlessly greater treasures, that is, Myself. And all that is Mine shall be yours too if you love Me, and nothing but love Me!</p>
<p>31. But where is your love for which I paid such a high price and which I would like to call Mine forever? Oh, there is not much of it left on earth! It is so easy and so gentle, but you do not want it and do not seek it where it is waiting for you and reject the high prize it holds." (The Householf of God, chp. 11)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chapter 12 THE PROMISE OF THE LORD</p>
<p>"1. Oh, you children of Adam, why would you not rather become My children? How much effort and hard work it costs you to obtain the bread of Adam which drips from the sweat of your hands and is soiled by the drivel of serpents and soaked by the poison of adders and through which you in your immoderation eat yourselves into temporal and then also eternal death!</p>
<p>2. And My bread is spread with the honey of My love and soaked in the milk of the forever tree life out of Me. You could eat it with the greatest enjoyment and it would never harm you, but instead strengthen you and endow you with all the might and power out of Me for all eternity and already temporally, if you would only accept it. Behold, soon after My greatest act, which is the great work of salvation for you, the price for this My bread was still very high and people could buy it only in small quantities and that only through the sacrifice of their blood and physical life for Me. At that time this My bread tasted bitter in the mouths of the buyers and was not yet spread with the honey of love and soaked in the milk of free life already temporally, but both, the honey and the milk were given the grieving buyers in the right measure only in the realm of spirits. Nevertheless there were buyers in great numbers.</p>
<p>3. But now when I give it freely with honey and milk to everyone who wants it for the only very small reward of your love, now it is bitterly scorned and the great and kind Giver, who is surely and truly full of the greatest love for you, is rejected.</p>
<p>4. Know this: Now I have the gates of My heavens wide open. Whoever wishes to enter, let him do so, but let him come soon, let him come at once, for the Great Time of Grace has come and the New Jerusalem is descending to all of you upon the earth in order that all who love Me may take up residence where they will become satisfied with the honey and milk- soaked bread and shall drink their fill of the pure water of life which they shall draw in abundance from the eternal Jacob's well.</p>
<p>5. However, while the descent of My great city will be a boundless grace for all My children, it will on the oilier hand crush the blind and squash the deaf with its strong walls. For it will be large enough to cover the entire face of the earth. And whoever will not see it descending and will not perceive its rushing through the clear atmosphere of the earth, will no longer find a place on earth where to hide from it and escape being crushed.</p>
<p>6. For behold, the weight of its palaces will crush the mountains leveling them with the valleys, and I will place its houses over sloughs and bogs and all the scum existing therein shall be crushed completely by the foundations of the houses of the great city of God, your holy Father in heaven and on earth.</p>
<p>7. And the true Shepherd will call His sheep and they shall hear and recognize His voice to the ends of the earth. Then they will come and happily graze in the vast pastures of the Father, which are the great gardens of the new holy city of the Great King of all nations that were, are and will forever be.</p>
<p>8. These gardens will be the Paradise lost through Adam, which I, as the First, have found again and faithfully kept for them as an eternal mansion.</p>
<p>9. This is the reason why I have shown you in all detail My great household from eternity, have shown you My creation and how the first man came into existence. I will further show him to you to the end of his days and will show you the great whore and the destroyed Babylon, and then I will lead you into My great holy city and there give you a permanent home for all eternity, if you love Me above all, as I love you.</p>
<p>10. Behold the heavens and the earth! One day they will pass away physically and will exist only spiritually. But every one of My words, which are spoken to, you will remain as it has come from My mouth, both physically and spiritually, in all the might and power of holiness forever and ever. Amen."</p>
<p><a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/psimonel/go/gallery/item/142800439"><img width="180" src="http://fast1.onesite.com/community.beliefnet.com/user/psimonel/5dcf7a0b2bbc1c5731b6af067df9f60e.jpg?v=24300" alt="" /></a></p>
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<p><em>In the following prophecies we are able to observe what carefully from both natural and spiritual perspective what will happen immediately before and at the Lord Second Coming and the relation of these events with the New Revelation.</em></p>
<p>“[5] <strong>The day of My 2nd coming will be as a lightning that goes from the east to the west, high in the clouded sky, and will illuminate everything that is under the sky</strong>. <strong>Before that will happen - as I have told you already several times - the Son of Man must still suffer many things</strong> and be rejected entirely by this generation, namely by the Jews and the Pharisees, <strong><span>and in later times by those who will be called the new Jews and Pharisees</span></strong>.</p>
<p>[6] As it happened during the time of Noah so it will happen in the time of the 2nd coming of the Son of Man. They ate and drank very cheerfully, they married and let themselves be given to marriage until the day that Noah climbed into the ark and the flood came and they all drowned. And it will happen in the same manner as during the time of Lot: they ate and drank, they bought and sold, and they planted and constructed. But on the day - as I have explained to you more in detail on the Mount of Olives - that Lot went out of Sodom it was already raining fire and sulfur from the sky, and they all perished by it.</p>
<p>[7] Now look, this is how it also will be and happen during the time when the Son of Man will be revealed again. Whoever will be on that day on the roof and knows that his household goods are in the house, let him not come down from the roof to get his household goods - which has to be understood as follows: he who really understands those things should stay with that understanding and not leave that level out of fear that by that he might lose worldly advantages, because those things will be destroyed.</p>
<p>[8] So also still another image: whoever is in the field (the freedom of understanding) should not turn around to what is behind him (old deceiving teachings and their rules), but should remember the wife of Lot, and should continue to strive forwards in the truth.</p>
<p>[9] I will still tell you more: during that same time there will be 2 in a mill and do the same work. The one will be accepted and the other left behind, which means: the honest worker will be accepted and the dishonest and selfish one will be left behind, because he who will try to keep his soul[5] because of the world, will lose it, but he who will lose it for the sake of the world will keep his life and will help him towards true eternal life.</p>
<p>[10] And still further, I say to you: in one and the same night of the soul, 2 people will lie in one and the same bed. Also then, the one will be accepted and the other left behind, which means: 2 people will outwardly be in the sphere of one and the same confession of faith, but the one will be in the active living faith and will therefore be accepted in the living and lightful Kingdom of God, but the other will only adhere to the outer cult, which has no inner value for the life of the soul and the spirit, and will not be accepted in the living and lightful Kingdom of God, because his faith without the works of neighborly love is as it were dead.</p>
<p>[11] And further: there will be 2 people in the field of work. The one who will work without self-interest in the living faith out of love for God and out of love for his fellowman, will also be accepted in the true Kingdom of God. But the one who will work in the same field as the Pharisees without inner living faith out of pure self-interest, will obviously be left behind and will not be accepted in the living and lightful Kingdom of God.</p>
<p>[12] See, that is how it will be and happen during the 2nd coming the Son of Man, and this is how it will manifest itself. When in the future you will be permeated deeper with My Spirit, you will also clearly understand all that I have said now. At this moment however, I cannot explain it to you more clearly and more understandably."</p>
<p>[13] The disciples said: "Lord and Master, that is all right and we believe Your words, but where and when will it happen, counted according to earthly time? Surely, this You also can tell us."</p>
<p>(38.  The 2nd coming of the Lord - GGJ  Book 21)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>---------------------------------</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"[2] At My second coming I will not be born somewhere as a child from a woman because this body will remain glorified in eternity - just as I in Spirit - and thus I do not ever need a 2nd body as you had in mind.</p>
<p>[3] First I will come invisibly in the clouds of the Heavens, which means: first I will come close to men by truthful seers, wise men and newly awakened prophets, and in that time also woman will prophecy and young men will have clear dreams by which they will announce My coming to the people, and many will listen to it and improve their life, but the world will call them daydreamers and will not believe them, as this was also the case with the prophets.</p>
<p>[4] <strong>So I also will awaken men from time to time to whom I will say by means of their heart to the pen, everything that now during My presence, is, happens and is being discussed. What will then be written once will in a short time of a few weeks and days be multiplied in many thousands of copies in a very artful manner which will be very well known by the people of that time, and so they can be conveyed to the people</strong>. And since the people of that time will almost generally know how to read and write, they also will be able to read and understand those new books themselves.</p>
<p>[5] <strong>In this way, the spreading of My teaching will then again <span>be given anew and pure from the Heavens to all men on the whole Earth</span>, much faster and effective than now by messengers in My name from mouth to mouth.</strong></p>
<p><strong>[6] Once My teaching will be brought in this manner among the people who are of good will and have a living faith, and when <span>at least </span></strong><strong><span>⅓</span></strong><strong><span> of the people will know about it</span></strong>, I will also personally, visibly and bodily, come to different places, to those who love Me most and have the greatest desire for My return, and who for that reason will also have full and living faith.</p>
<p>[7] <strong>And I Myself will form congregations out of them, against which no worldly power will be able to oppose or resist</strong>, <strong>for I will be their Commander-in-Chief and their eternal invincible Hero, and will administer justice to all dead and blind worldly people</strong>. And in this way I will cleanse the Earth of its old filth.</p>
<p>[8] However, during the time of those new seers and prophets <strong><span>there will be great misery and need among the people, as has never been before on this Earth</span></strong>, but for the sake of My chosen ones of that time it will only last for a short time, so that their development towards bliss will not be hindered.</p>
<p>[9] But in this land where I am now persecuted by the Jews of the temple as a criminal from one village to the other, and which is trampled down by dark heathens, I will personally not first act, teach and comfort the weak again. <strong>But in the lands of another continent that is now inhabited by heathens I will establish a new Kingdom, a Kingdom of peace, of unity, of love and of continuous living faith</strong>. Fear for the death of the body will no more exist among the people who walk in My light and who will always be in contact with the angels of Heaven and associate with them. Here you have now a real answer to your question."</p>
<p>[10] The scribe said: "Thus, Asia, the old cradle of mankind and of many blessings from God, will not be fortunate anymore to see and hear You when You will return to this Earth? This is truly not a happy news for this continent."</p>
<p>[11] I said: "The Earth belongs to Me everywhere, and I know in which place My return will be most beneficial for the whole Earth. <strong>At that time however, men will be able to contact each other from one end of the Earth to the other, and this as fast as the lightning that strikes from a cloud.</strong> And through the use of the spirits that are bound in the fire and the water they will, riding on iron roads, cover the greatest distances on Earth, faster than the heaviest storms that drive from one end of the Earth to the other. And the ships will, by means of these same powers, cross the big ocean in a much shorter time than now the Romans from Rome to Egypt. <strong><span>So then it will be possible to spread the message of My personal return in a very short time over the whole Earth, and thus also to Asia.</span></strong></p>
<p>[12] But then there is again the question: will the blind and deaf heathens of this continent also believe it?</p>
<p>[13] I think and say: this will hardly be possible before it will be purified by a great worldly judgment.</p>
<p>[14] There is a big country, far in the west that is surrounded on all sides by the great world oceans and which is, across the sea, nowhere in connection with the old world. <strong>From that country, first the people will come to know great things, and they will also come up in the west of Europe, and from that, there will be a bright shining and a shining in return. The lights of the Heavens will meat each other, recognize and support each other.</strong></p>
<p>[15] <strong><span>Out of these lights, the sun of life will develop - thus the new, perfect Jerusalem - and in that sun I will come back to this Earth.</span></strong> And now we have talked enough about what will happen in the future."  (62.  The return of the Lord - GGJ  Book 21)</p>
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<p> </p>
<p><em>One possible simple understanding of the following revelations concerning the Second Coming is that once the earth will be purified by the fire of the poor that will change the social order worldwide, the spiritual enlighten of humanity will continue in preparation for Lord’s Second Coming. However, as we can read in the following excerpts this will involve the spreading of His new, pure teaching (NR) across the world, then the opposition and rejection of the new Jews (Christians) and Pharisees (Christian priests), the spiritual division caused by it between people inside of nations, groups and families and finally, when at least 1/3 of humanity will know about it the personal coming of the Lord to His people gathered in communities, who will become able to perceive Him spiritually and follow Him as their sole leader. </em></p>
<p><em>However we must not forget that we can never approach the true complexity of Lord’s teaching, which has infinite meanings and which is accessible to us only from a natural-spiritual perspective.</em></p>
<p><em>Still, it is obvious from these texts that the Second Coming is closely related to the destiny of the NR in these end times, fact which cannot surprise us, for the Lord says about it…</em></p>
<p><strong>"For the pure  word is a light and in itself the greatest sign of signs and the greatest miracle of all miracles.”  (Great Gospel of John VIII 154:4)</strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><em>Let’s now remember why the Lord gave us the New Revelation…</em></p>
<p><strong>"The reason why I am now giving out so much of the bread of heaven, as has never happened since the day I walked on earth, is that now indeed the time is approaching when the world reaches the culmination of its aberrations and deviation from My plan of creation."</strong> (Lord’ Sermons, 16)</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Then, what it means not being able to recognize God’s direct word… </em></p>
<p><strong>“Everyone should strive above all to gain the highest possible knowledge of God. Whoever does not recognize God properly can never fully believe in Him, let alone love Him above all and, consequently, can never fully receive God’s spirit.” (The Great Gospel of John VI 227;18-19)</strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><em>Finally, when speaking of the New Revelation, any true believer can observe that there is much work to be done in this field, so… what are the seeders doing?</em></p>
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<p>To you…  the blindest</p>
<p>Powerful of the world,</p>
<p>Trading the destinies of God’s sons and daughters</p>
<p>For your own self destructive pleasures and interests,</p>
<p>Cherishing the things of the world that soon die</p>
<p>Thus loving the death that force its way in your eternal soul…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To you… the blindest</p>
<p>Players in the game of power and fortune,</p>
<p>Incessantly burying the voice of your godly conscience</p>
<p>While spreading the shadows of your suffocating dark will…</p>
<p>Enjoying your superficial humanity in close circles of friends and family</p>
<p>While contributing to the suffering and misery of countless true brothers …</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To you… the blindest</p>
<p>Fragile believers in your own deity</p>
<p>Running from the awareness that your superficial game is one of utmost despair</p>
<p>That you’re not masters, but puppets that need to make less than puppets from others</p>
<p>In order to confirm you’re much worthy of breathing</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To you… lost children of the same Father</p>
<p>A call to wake up and make peace with your conscience</p>
<p>To make peace with your unavoidable dependence</p>
<p>To understand that all that truly belongs to you was not obtained, but given</p>
<p>For you couldn’t make nor stop your body from appearing in the world</p>
<p>Nor build other path for it than the one ending in death…</p>
<p>A call to search in your heart if each of these brothers of yours lying in dust</p>
<p>Is or is not equal to you in the eyes of the creator</p>
<p>And if your heart doesn’t answer, to just force your clever mind to admit infinity</p>
<p>And see He can easily create and manage and love billions of creations</p>
<p>Which look like atoms before His infinity in all possible dimensions</p>
<p>While you cannot even conceive the numbers…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A call to search in your heart if infinite love can have limits in power and wisdom</p>
<p>Or limits in Its compassion for every created being</p>
<p>Or limits in Its capacity to sacrifice</p>
<p>For each one of these, including you</p>
<p>Poor sick soul, more dead than alive,</p>
<p>having no eyes and years and heart for It</p>
<p>because of the cold world of self-centered lies you indulge in…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A call to you, powerful of the world</p>
<p>Who by your own free choice</p>
<p>Made yourselves the poorest ones in His holy sight</p>
<p>But who still</p>
<p>By your own free choice</p>
<p>Can make yourselves good, so you can observe His goodness</p>
<p>Can make yourselves patient, so you can understand His patience</p>
<p>Can make yourselves free of the miserable self-love, so your heart can be embrace by His divine one</p>
<p>And give-up hell, to taste and enjoy His true life - the only eternal …</p>
<p><a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/psimonel/go/gallery/item/142800471"><img width="194" height="145" src="http://fast1.onesite.com/community.beliefnet.com/user/psimonel/cdd3371346dcb952f4b8a3ef05709560.jpg?v=24300" alt="" /></a></p>
</div>
<p> </p>
<p align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Unity In Truth</font></font></font></p>
<p align="CENTER" style="margin-left: 0.64cm; text-indent: -0.64cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt"><i>"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."</i></font></font></font></p>
<p align="CENTER" style="margin-left: 0.64cm; text-indent: -0.64cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">(John 17:17)</font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-weight: normal">Within Christianity there is a lot of pressure to ignore doctrine and to unite with churches which clearly have false teachings. Some people say that we all love the same Jesus so we should put aside our differences and simply look at what we have in common; basically they are saying that believing in Jesus is all that matters. At first, this would seem to be a good thing because Jesus prayed for all believers asking, </span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">"that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you"</span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-weight: normal"> (John 17:21). However, when we take a closer look at what Jesus was saying, we see that a few verses earlier He said, </span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth"</span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal"> (John 17:17). In these verses, Jesus is asking God to sanctify (make holy and separate) all believers in the truth of His Word. So, when Jesus was asking God to make us all one, He was asking that we be united in the truth of the Bible. God does not want us to unite with those who hold false teaching and this fact is made very plain in </span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-weight: normal">Rom. 16:17: </span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">"I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. </span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><u><span style="font-weight: normal">Keep away from them</span></u></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">."</span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal"> Rather than unite with those who have false teaching, this verse urges us to keep away from them. God does not want unity at the expense of truth.</span></span></font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt"><b>Love one another</b></font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-weight: normal">As already noted, if we believe that a church has false teaching then we should not unite with them. However, when we refuse to unite we are often told that we are unloving. After all, we are told, Jesus said to love even our enemies. If we don't think this through then we may come to feel that we are unloving and have a guilt trip which could lead us to being persuaded to unite, against our better judgment. The fact of the matter is, eternal hell waits for those who follow false religions so we should not unite with them. Real love is keeping separate and showing them their error in the hope that they too will repent and be saved. </span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal">Eph. 4:12, 15 tell us that God wants us to </span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">"be built up until we all reach </span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><u><span style="font-weight: normal">unity in the faith</span></u></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-weight: normal">"</span></span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal"> </span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal">and that we should be</span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal"> "</span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><u><span style="font-weight: normal">speaking the truth in love.</span></u></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-weight: normal">" </span></span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-weight: normal">Real love and unity can only come through a common bond of truth, not a mixture of truth and error. In Phil. 1:9-10, Paul wrote: </span></span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-weight: normal">"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ."</span></span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-weight: normal"> Paul is telling us that our love, purity and discernment grow with our knowledge and insight into God's word. Uniting with error is not loving, pure or discerning.</span></span></span></font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt"><b>The Ecumenical Movement</b></font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">The Ecumenical Movement is a Roman Catholic plan to unite all Christian denominations (as well as all the world's cults and religions) into a one world religion, headed by the Pope. Many people are being drawn into this, but born again believers should not be part of it as Roman Catholicism is a false gospel. Catholicism teaches that the forgiveness of sins and salvation can only be obtained in their church, through the Eucharist sacrifice in the Mass. They curse anyone who says otherwise. As a matter of fact, they have placed over one hundred curses on Protestants and anyone else who disagrees with their doctrines. Rather than love those who oppose them, they curse. </font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt"><b>The woman of Revelation 17</b></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Rev. 17 tells us about a woman riding a Beast during the end times. She is called Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Prostitutes. The following points from Rev. 17 are given to help us identify this woman. </font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">The woman:</font></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Commits adultery with the kings of the earth (v.2) – She has unholy relationships with world leaders.</font></p>
</li>
<li>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Dresses in purple and scarlet (v.4) – Like Rome's bishops and cardinals.</font></p>
</li>
<li>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Adorns herself with gold, precious stones and pearls (v.4) - She is extremely rich.</font></p>
</li>
<li>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Has a golden cup in her hand (v.4) – Like the golden cup of the Mass.</font></p>
</li>
<li>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Is drunk with the blood of the saints (v.6) – Like during the inquisitions etc.</font></p>
</li>
<li>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Sits on seven hills (v.9) – Like the city of Rome.</font></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">If this is not enough evidence to identify the woman as being the Roman Catholic Church then God leaves us with no doubt when, in <font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-weight: normal">Rev. 17:18, He told John that </span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">"The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."</span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal"> When John wrote Revelation, Rome was the city that ruled over the kings of the earth so it is very plain that the Roman Catholic Church is the woman called Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Prostitutes. </span></span></font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal">It may be argued that Rev. 17 is history but this argument is false as Rev. 17:12, 16 tell us that ten kings help the Beast destroy the prostitute and this event is not found in any history book. It is yet to come and Rev. 18 continues on to prophesy that it will happen. </span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal">Rev 18:2: </span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">"With a mighty voice he shouted: '</span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil</span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal"> spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.'" </span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal">Rome is clearly identified as a demonic institution which will be destroyed and for this reason God commands His people to come out of her. Rev 18:4: </span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">"Then I heard another voice from heaven say: </span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-weight: normal">'Come out of her, </span></span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><u><span style="font-weight: normal">my people</span></u></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.'" </span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal">This is a very strong warning to separate or suffer the consequences. </span></span></font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt"><b>Finally</b></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal">How can born again believers unite with a church that God says is demonic and will be destroyed? 2 Cor. 6:14 asks believers, </span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-weight: normal">"</span></span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">what fellowship can light have with darkness?</span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-weight: normal">"</span></span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="text-decoration: none"><span style="font-weight: normal"> The obvious answer is, "None!" </span></span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal">Rather than join the Ecumenical Movement, believers need to separate otherwise they will share in her sins and receive her plagues. 1 Cor. 10:21 tells believers, </span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">"You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons." </span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal">In the same way that a Muslim convert must separate from Islam, born again believers must separate from Roman Catholicism and the Ecumenical Movement as God says, </span></span></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">"come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. </span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><u><span style="font-weight: normal">Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you</span></u></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><i><span style="font-weight: normal">" </span></i></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: normal">(2 Cor. 6:17).</span></span></font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">There are two excellent videos on YouTube which expose Catholicism in more depth: They are called A Woman Rides The Beast and A Lamp In The Dark.</font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times-Roman, Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">This article can be downloaded under the heading Blog Articles at</font></font></font></p>
<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><a href="http://www.christianissues.biz/downloads.html" target="_blank"><font face="Times-Roman, Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">http://www.christianissues.biz/downloads.html</font></font></a></p>
<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p>
<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font face="Times-Roman, Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">It can be read online at</font></font></p>
<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><a href="http://www.christianissues.biz/blog/wordpress/?p=895" target="_blank"><font face="Times-Roman, Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">http://www.christianissues.biz/blog/wordpress/?p=895</font></font></a></p>
<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p>
<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font face="Times-Roman, Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Mick Alexander</font></font></p>
<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"><font face="Times-Roman, Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Email: leeandmick@gmail.com</font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="4" style="font-size: 16pt">Website: <a href="http://www.ChristianIssues.biz" target="_blank">www.ChristianIssues.biz</a></font></font></font></p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal"> </p>
<p align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p>
The Christian teen fantasy entitled Hafren: A Fantasy for the Young at Heart was just released. I think you'll enjoy the fast-pace plot and occasional humor. Hafren: A Fantasy for the Young at Heart is available from amazon.com and from the Lighthouse Christian Publishing website. If you would like to read an excerpt from the novel, go to the following link: http://christianteenfantasy.webs.com/
Romans 8:28 .... all things work together for good to them that love God ......
To tell someone God fixes broken lives is all Well and good , but what if it's your life that's broken ? It's a very serious issue that needs not only answer's , but practical answers you can sink your teeth into.
If you are a believer in Christianity , it can make it easier , but not necessarily better. First and foremost , you must , I repeat "must" believe that God is in total control of all happening's on this planet , and that he has a plan for your life. If one cannot get beyond that , all the rest of their life will be lived out in hit and miss , resulting in confusion , no matter how much teaching or counseling they receive.
Realistically speaking , the catalyst of life , revolves around breaking and mending. No difference how low one has sunk in this life , God has a way of incorporating the broken pieces of a life
into his wonderful plan . The negative part of brokenness is that it blinds you for a season. Any answer given during that season cannot be utilized until the grieving is over. As one develops their trust in the fact , that God truly is in control and does have a plan for their life , they will start seeing him at work.
See God in everything and you can make it through anything !
http://purebobby.wordpress.com
God bless you on your journey !
Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
One of most mysterious questions in all of Christianity yet often misunderstood. Surprisingly, the author of the video “10 Things All Intelligent Christians Must Answer” skips over this question very quickly. Instead of backing it up with misguided information, the author merely poses the question, says “it makes no sense,” and then skips over to the next question
I’m going to take longer to answer this question because you deserve better
It’s a very fair and worthy question right? You may either be suffering now or have suffered dearly in the past. Now you want to get even with God and ask, “Why have I suffered so much?”
To get a better feel of this question, I encourage everyone to turn to their bible. I challenge you to look past Job, the king of suffering. Nearly every individual whose story is in the bible endured a long period of suffering. From Moses’ forty years in the desert, to David’s flee from King Saul, to Paul’s prison term in Rome - all great individuals in the bible often spent years in the lowest of lows.
Yet out of these great trials all of these men and women rose up to become stronger and better than ever.
While it seems unfair, there is a reason we suffer. Pain changes us like nothing else. If we are to be “the light and salt of this world,” we also must understand what’s it like in the darkness. Who goes and preaches to a group of people whom he or she knows nothing about?
People in this world hate nothing more than a fake or poser. Yet when you attempt to reach someone who is suffering, and you have not suffered, that person will automatically recognize you as someone who simply does not understand and shut down.
Jesus himself endured one of the greatest periods of suffering in the history of mankind. He was sentenced to death for no legitimate reason. He was tested through a long period of brutal punishment, however he did not waver in the garden of Gethsemane and took up his cross for the good of mankind.
At the heart of Christianity is Mark 8:34
Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. The verse is no hidden secret brothers and sisters. At the heart of the gospels Jesus tells his followers to “take up their cross” long before he was executed by the very same means. It appears Jesus already knew how he would die that way long before it happened and this statement was a foreshadow into the future of what every Christian must endure.
It’s a myth that once you become a Christian everything is fine and you have no worries or problems. A lot of things are fixed in your soul, but you must prepare for suffering and brace for pain. It’s just part of the walk.
Christianity is a sacrifice, and no sacrifice comes without pain.
Good people must suffer. No one wants the pain, but after every dark night we rise up to a warm, sunny day. After every long trek up a mountain, we reach the summit and a view like nothing we have ever seen before.
I encourage you all to read the 365-day devotional, “Streams in the Desert” by L.B. Cowman. It deals a lot with suffering and why we must suffer.
Lack of Evidence to Support Jesus’ Miracles
The video takes a bizarre turn with question eight. According to the author of the question, he wonders “Why didn’t Jesus leave behind any evidence of his miracles?”
Once again he quickly skips the question to the next.
I’m confused by what exact evidence the author is seeking. Perhaps he wanted Jesus to leave behind a note on a gigantic rock that reads, “Hello, this is Jesus, I took off but I’ll be back soon”? What about a photo of Jesus’ arm wrapped around the back of Peter while they stand on the water smiling? Perhaps he wanted to find a tomb with a body still in it?
Miracles, both past and present, rarely leave behind evidence for the long-term. For example, the recent emergency landing on the Hudson River. Some may say the pilot was very lucky while others may say the angels were there that day and it was actually a miraculous event. Sure lucky odds can describe anything, but when do they become so great that it’s hard to ignore a higher power?
Jesus, according to the bible, raised people from the dead, healed leprosy, removed demons, and cured other disorders to name a few of his many miracles. Unfortunately Lazarus is no longer around to tell us if the story is true or not.
The bread that fed thousands was ate centuries ago.
f you’re searching some hidden or lost clue that may prove or disprove Christianity, you’re a helpless idiot like Tom Hanks in ”The da Vinci Code.”
Has Jesus Appeared to You?
The author of the video claims that you should be able to pray to Jesus and he will magically appear to prove that he exists.
While this concept is once again very ideal, it really does not make any sense. Just like I stated yesterday with Jesus instantly answering prayers like a genie, anyone who expects instant answers - especially from God is really misguided on the whole idea.
If Jesus would appear to anyone who asked through prayer, than once again the doubt would no longer exist. Everyone would be a Christian and the whole challenge of it all (your faith), would no longer exist. I mean after all, if God appeared to me, I would have to be the stupidest person on earth not to follow his word.
Even the great men and the bible had rare encounters with God and Jesus was even more obsolete. The bible does say that Jesus obviously meant a lot of people while on earth and twelve men in particular followed him religiously. John also notes that Jesus appeared to many crucial members in the Gospels days and weeks after he was resurrected. Acts 9 says Paul (then Saul) had a direct encounter with “God” (King James), but it fails to mention whether or not it was Jesus or just God’s voice from heaven as described as “a light from heaven.”
Interesting enough, Acts makes known that anyone who chooses to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior is immediately filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost (as commonly referred in the bible) is the east understood of the trinity. While I could spend an entire day explaining The Holy Spirit and what it means - I’ll break it down in a nutshell.
The Holy Spirit is not an inanimate power or force, but rather a person
The Holy Spirit is one with God
The Holy Spirit has many responsibilities (to instruct, to counsel, to intercede, to comfort, and to convict to name a few)
(if anyone would like direct scriptural references, please email me info@five9productions.com)
The most direct verse relating to The Holy Spirit and how Jesus is always within you is John 14:16
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. If you understand anything about Christianity you will understand that Jesus by spirit is always in you. You do not need him to come to you.
Communion
The author continues to show his misunderstanding of Christianity and the bible when he ignorantly asks, “Why would Jesus want you to eat his body and drink his blood?”
According to the author, eating one’s body and drinking one’s blood is from another pagan tradition but apparently he missed that in all of the Gospels, the books describe Jesus’ spending the Passover feast to honor the Jewish tradition and symbolize his sacrifice for mankind. Even when the declaration is made, the disciples do not immediately begin chewing on his body and drinking his actual blood.
Jesus symbolized his blood through wine and his body through bread. How can you possibly misunderstand that?
Anyone who takes that verse literal is an idiot.
Both the blood and the body have deep symbolic meanings. The blood represents the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. At the time, the disciples were completely unaware of what Jesus meant by this but in due time they would understand. If you have a deep background in the Old Testament you will surely know that the original Passover involved Moses slaying a lamb and letting the blood drip on the altar to seal the covenant with the Lord. Some may find this act very unusual and even cruel, but the lamb’s slaying actually represented God’s pact with his people to free them from Egypt and to keep them safe.
When Jesus made this claim in the Gospels, he was directly stating the new covenant was between his blood and our sins. At the time the disciples were unaware of the impact this gesture meant and apparently some people are still unaware of it today.
Secondly, the body represented both Jesus as a human and his sacrifice. When the bread was broken, Jesus said, “This is my body which is given to you. This do in remembrance of me.”
Divorce in Christianity
The last question on the video is “Why do Christians get divorced at the same rate as Non-Believers?”
Apparently the author believes that once you become a Christian you are not allowed to make a mistake. Once again this is a really naive question and falls in succession with the past four or five questions.
Yes, a Christian marriage is a sacred celebration where family, friends, co-workers, etc join in union to witness the declaration and eternal commitment of two people. Unfortunately it does not always work out that way.
Does a man or woman become a Christian and never sin again? Of course not, so why would you expect all Christian marriages to last?
What is the downfall or cause of a divorce? Some may say two people no longer love each other anymore. Okay, that’s a fair assessment, but what makes them not love each other anymore? Is it lust, greed, or pride?
All three are valid explanations and all three are part of the seven deadly sins.
If you really expect all Christian marriages to succeed, you must say that a Christian will never sin again. We’re all human, so how can you expect that? I’m not defending Christian divorces but rather offering an explanation for why it happens.
Look at all the famous individuals of the bible once again. Show me an individual besides Jesus who did not sin and I’ll make you a rich man.
Hint - For those of you who do not get it, the answer is “You can’t.”
Everybody sins, everyone makes mistakes, and marriage is something that does not always work out for the parties involved.
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