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yes, and then, I see my lovely wife and understand I have responsibilities to her and that makes my life needed...... then we go visit the grandkids and I can see that as they grow up there are going to be needs from them and it's my responsibility to be here. Then we retired and started traveling and the whole world opened up to doing things and gave us the opportunity to go places and meet new people and spread the word and a bit of happiness wherever we go. Long story short I had a problem with being bored with life, and that's not a good thing. Try something tomorrow morning. Get up and get dressed and go to McDonald's for breakfast..... wait till there is someone at the register next to you to order and after they turn in their order just reach over and swipe your credit card and pay for their order all the time talking to the person that is helping you..... When/if the person you are buying for says anything just hold your finger up to your lips and say ssshhhhhhhhh. lightly and smile. It'll make your day go better. I did that at a Cracker Barrel one day for a policeman who must have been having one of those days for a really big tear rolled down his cheek as he smiled and said, "I really needed that." Costs a bit more than McDonald's but it will grow on you. There must be a million ways to help people besides giving them things... Anyway it's helped me to enjoy life by looking for ways to help other people..... I guess you could say that in some ways I'm really doing it for myself for I like the way it makes me feel..... but I do think that good feeling is from the Lord saying "Good Job."

You seem to side for the athiest quite often.Why is that?Are you a Christian?? I side with the atheists quite often because I come from a secular family and up until 1 yr and a few months ago I was an atheist myself. I am friends with atheist/agnostic types, my parents are atheist/agnostic types and so on. Defending them, to a certain extent, comes pretty naturally to me hopefully for obvious reasons. The fact is that I know the people I am talking about when I type this stuff out. Asking if I am a Christian at this point is kind of insulting bopeep.

I'm wrong. I'm sorry. Anybody else want to have a go?

I agree; what the Pope is saying is heresy and I fear too for the souls that will be lost because of his false teaching. How on earth did this man become Pope anyway??? yes ,this is my question ,too,how can he be the Pope?

What can you expect from a false religion. Christ Himself said. No one comes to the Father except through Him. He said, He was the door and the only way. He did not say, there was a back door or windows, you could come through, besides His door.

Please. Don't try to derail this thread by trying to insert the KJV Bible (and your apparently narrow views about it) into the picture.

Blessings Willow, Anyone can have any opinion they wish to have but there is a time when the brethren will point out that it is not a time or a place for an opinion,the Word of God is the Word of God ,it is unchanging and it is final and true.....think what you will of that tree but GOD SAYS it is good and there is no way it can be anything else but good.....a diabetic should stay clear of candy bars and sugar,does that make the candy bar or sugar evil?The devil will surely tempt that person saying"Oh one little bite of that candy bar surely won't kill you"......even to be tempted is not sin,the act of following the temptation is. With love,in Christ-Kwik Also,I have thought about this many times....Adam & Eve surely messed up what God had planned for them....how can we know that after a time in the garden God would not have eventually said,"Okay,the time has come-now you both can eat of every tree".......

Go ahead and read the full article. But stay away from the comments section. There is some strong hatred there. Even the people supposedly on the good side have their fingers on the launch buttons. And not just aimed at Iran. I believe that we should back Israel if they decide to make a preemptive strike on the nuclear weapons division in Iran. I am surprised that this has not taken place already, like maybe a year ago. But I also believe that the helping hand that we will provide will only be verbal, not physical. Remember the Syria lethal gas episode just earlier this year and how we handled it?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/22/living/matrimony-atheist-wedding/index.html?hpt=hp_c3 All the traditional elements were in place for Joseph and Fiona Long's 2009 New Year's Eve wedding. She wore a white dress; he wore a tuxedo and her family wore kilts in honor of her Scottish heritage. After they exchanged vows and rings and sealed the deal with a kiss, an officiant in a black robe pronounced them husband and wife. Then, they dined and danced the night away at an Atlanta country club with their closest friends and loved ones, culminating in a midnight confetti drop. Missing from the guest list: God. The Longs are atheists who did not want gods or religious texts involved in their marriage celebration. But apart from the non-church setting, the only hint at an deliberately non-religious wedding was contained within their vows and readings. These included selections from Shakespeare, Robert Burns and the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, which they felt "beautifully expressed the social and secular significance of marriage without any appeal to religion," said Joseph Long, a lawyer in Tampa, Florida. A bride's bittersweet reunion"We felt it made the point well that you can have the sanctity of marriage without having to fit into a particular group," he said. "It basically states that marriage is extremely important in society for a variety of reasons, regardless of what someone's god thinks about it." As secularism continues to rise in the United States, more couples like the Longs are deviating from a traditional wedding blueprint that includes prayers, blessings and biblical passages. "A secular wedding can be exactly like a religious wedding with two key differences: no mention of any deities and no recitation of supposedly sacred texts," said David G. McAfee, author of "Mom, Dad, I'm an Atheist: The Guide to Coming Out as a Non-Believer and Disproving Christianity and other Secular Writings."

It was more like the tree of knowledge to "distinguish" good from evil. Although nothing was evil in the garden except for the snake, which tempted Eve to eat from that tree, and so sin was born within the mind and spirit. If God wanted to create a perfect race without knowledge of evil doing only good, I don't think He would've allowed evil to dwell in the garden in the first place, probably would've kept it outside of it if anything. So yes like Otherone mentioned, the whole plan probably has to do with us judging angels in the end, the fallen ones. The human race will judge the fallen somehow to end the celestial war. (IMO)

The pope doesn't get any special privileges. In the end he will be held accountable just like the rest of us. His message to the world that they don't need Jesus is blasphemy. He is nothing more than Satan's mouthpiece. You are so right. It says that people like him, and pastors who do not preach the truth it is better that a stone be tied around their necks and be dropped into the ocean. He will be held 10 times more accountable because he is a spiritual leader. I fear so many souls will be lost because of this man.

I watch what they say and what they do.Their actions.How they treat people.

This sounds like the beginning of a controversial thread.... But let's qualify first your question, because there are so many people who call themselves "Christians" today.... Assuming that you mean how to identify a true follower of Jesus, I can give you a few answers. First, he or she believes in the Bible as the Word of God. This is perhaps the most common answer that you will receive. However, there are problems with this, because the Bible has also been abused so much, and is being used by many cults besides... so that you simply cannot trust someone who is claiming to be a Christian just because he or she claims to believe the Bible. And so I think the best way to identify true Christians is to observe their lives, and judge them by their works. Jesus said: I myself had bad experiences with these so-called Christians, and so I've learned how to be discerning and even skeptical when I encounter people claiming to be my brothers and sisters in the Lord.

My opinion, dear Sister, is that you haven't yet established a strong foundation for your faith... that you are still vulnerable to lies like this. y do not understand me,i was raised in the society told me to believe and obey and worship the big man unconditionally，and this is one of the virtues in china,if you do not thinking and acting in this way,y will be consider a bad guy i was living in this way from my childhood so a big man like Pope is frighten me i hope GOD can give me the clear sign where this Pope will live in the eternal life,heaven or hell I understand your situation, and I'm sorry that you also have cultural issues besides your faith issues. I'm an Asian myself, though I'm from the Philippines, and I watch Chinese movies, so I understand how our cultures can have a strong influence on people like us. But my answers remain the same: know God more, know Jesus more, and stop looking at the pope as if he is a god himself. He is only a man, sinful, and apparently has already become a spokeperson of the devil. And he certainly does not deserve worship, no matter what you have been taught. Yes, to go against your upbringing is hard, but it's the only way to go through this. And if you are afraid of being labelled a "bad guy" if you do these things, well Sister, don't you know that that is just the simple reality of being a true follower of Jesus Christ? The world hates Jesus, and we, as his followers, the world hates too. That is, if we do try to proclaim our allegiance to him... and not hide. I have a thread (though nobody has made any reply yet) titled This is what you can look forward to -- freedom in Jesus, and freedom from the traps of Life -- if you do as I say, and know more of God.... Unfortunately, Sister, there is no easy way out for your problems. Your faith has been shaken and is falling apart, and it will take years to rebuild them (and on the right and solid foundations this time, I hope!). And so be patient, and keep on fighting. I'll be praying for you....

You need to take your eyes off the pope and put your focus on Christ. The pope is nothing but an ordinary man.

I think it is about as likely that children that are told Santa Claus is real will turn out to be patholigical liars as it is that children that are not taught Santa Claus is real will turn out to be analytical, logical and boring. I don't think there is any connection. It comes across like you are thinking your children would have turned out better had you done things different. Are you saying they are logical, analytical and boring, and you think that is because you didn't let them use their imagination enough? The only reason I am asking is because you said you have changed your opinion in retrospect concerning how you did things. No my brother, I am not disappointed in what my children have become or the fruits of my parenting (and I thought I said as much in an earlier post). I simply view the whole issue differently from what I used to. and I was simply trying to provide other information to give people food for thought. I have no problems with people choosing not to tell their children about Santa Claus. I take no offense and don't wish to cause any.

I apologize if my choice in icons offended anyone. But after all it was only an icon. As for throwing myself into a message board topic.Okay I'm done. When someone gets upset over an icon, I know it is time to get out while I still have some of my sanity intact. Oh and by the way, I pick that icon because I thought it was funny. What am I saying now? LOL Lighten up people it's Christmas !

Good news until it gets into garbage trucks which then spread it through neighborhoods and it starts eating away at things in your car, your house etc. Do you have any idea how many items in your home have plastic parts? Nothing will work any more.

The pope doesn't get any special privileges. In the end he will be held accountable just like the rest of us. His message to the world that they don't need Jesus is blasphemy. He is nothing more than Satan's mouthpiece.

It just goes to show that even in the darkest depths of hell-holes like Pakistan, the Lord can reveal his power and set people free.

What Does it Mean to Believe in Jesus? By Larry Johnson/John14:6 Recently I was reading a post on a Christian forum where someone was attempting to argue that God is not a merciful and loving God. After several replies from other forum members this person apparently realized that he was getting nowhere with his argument and he signed off saying “you guys enjoy your delusion.” My reply to that post was “the delusion is yours, not ours.” That started me to thinking that there might be “Christians” who really are living a delusion. I think “deception” would be a better word to use here for I’m thinking of those who believe they are “Christians” because someone told them that they would be “saved” if they would say a prayer, or confess sin, or promise to follow Jesus, or accept Jesus as their Lord, etc. but they were not presented a full explanation of the Gospel message. Or maybe they were presented the Gospel but failed to completely understand the way of salvation. In other words they are really trusting in what they did instead of trusting in the Gospel. These “Christians” are content to believe that all is well in their relationship with God, when, actually they have been deceived and their faith is misplaced meaning they are not genuine Christians. Another group that I am thinking of are those who, like myself, had a salvation experience but for some reason are doubting their salvation and cannot find a lasting comforting assurance of being saved. For many years I struggled with a lack of understanding of “what believing in Jesus means” therefore I lived in a miserable state of uncertainty about ever being saved. I was “saved” in church at age 13 & baptized. Several years later I started to question whether or not I really was saved. After about 7-8 years of living without any assurance of salvation I found myself in a state of fear and misery. I had no peace. I went to the alter at church several times to make sure that I was saved. I repented of my sins, I confessed my sins, I accepted Jesus as my Savior & Lord, I committed my life to Christ, I confessed Jesus publicly, I said the sinners’ prayer, I believed in Jesus, I believed He was God’s only Son who was virgin born, I believed He died for my sins, I believed He was raised from the dead, I believed He went to heaven, I believed He is coming back someday, I promised to serve Him the rest of my life, and I believed all the things that I was told that I needed to believe. Each time I went to the alter I was looking for some kind of “sense” of assurance of being saved; I would feel saved for awhile but soon the doubts & fears returned and the misery started all over. I still had no peace. I began to question myself about whether or not I really repented, or if I really commit my life to Christ, or if I really accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, or did I really commit to serve Him, or did I really believe in Jesus. I questioned all of the things that I had done to get saved. One of the bible verse that I was trusting in was Romans 10:13 “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I had heard that preached as part of a salvation message many times. I would reason with myself that since the bible says it then if I called on Jesus name that I would be saved. Then God showed me that Romans 10:14 explains verse 13 as it says “how then shall they call on Him whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Therefore, meaning that I have to “believe” before I call on His name. The real question, then, became “what is the meaning of “believing?” I was confused that Acts 16:31 says “ believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” but then James 2:19 says “You believe that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” So, my understanding of “believe” was at the center of my confusion. During the time that I was seeking the truth about being saved I talked to my Sunday School teacher and to our pastor about believing in Jesus. Through them I found some good books to read about how to have assurance of salvation. The books were written by well known Christian authors like Dr. Harry Ironsides, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, and Dr. John R. Rice. I read those books over and over and over. Each book referred to scriptures about salvation; some I had already heard and some were new to me. I found myself saying a sinners prayer many times, each time finding relief from the fear & misery for awhile. But the relief would last for only a brief period of time and the misery would return only now it was becoming more of a fearful dread or a sense of doom. I thought that I would never know if I was saved. To make a long story a short one I’ll get right to the point. After several years of living in this miserable condition I finally just gave up on everything I was trying to do and, out of desperation, I turned to God for help. One night as I lay down in bed to try and get some sleep I looked up at the ceiling and said a simple prayer “God, will you show me what I need to know about believing in Jesus?” The next night I got the big family bible and opened it to the Gospel of John. That was the first time I had ever read in the bible except at church. As I started to read John 1:1 immediately I recognized that God was showing me the truth about His word and about Jesus that I had not seen before. This time was different because I was seeking answers from God Himself and I turned to Him with the attitude that He was my only hope and that I desperately wanted whatever He had for me. God did not disappoint me. As I read through the Gospel of John God showed me the true grounds for having a settled peace with Him. He showed me that all of my efforts of repeating the prayers, confessing sin, making promises to Him, etc. were not faith in Him but faith in myself. God showed me that I must cease from all of my efforts to find the assurance I was so desperately seeking and to just trust in what Jesus had already done. When God’s Spirit opened my spiritual eyes to the truth of the Gospel and I saw that my salvation rested only in the finished work of Jesus at the cross, that my sins were nailed to the cross with Him, and that when He said “it is finished” that He meant that my sin debt to God was “paid in full” with His Blood that He shed there, then an enormous sense of relief immediately filled my troubled soul. Basically, God showed me that He wanted me to turn from myself to Him. That I must simply give up on self and transfer my trust to the finished work of Jesus at the cross; that to “believe in Jesus” means to believe that He will do what He says He will do when we place our trust in Him. Believing means that we rely on Jesus, that we leave it up to Him, that put our eternity in His hands, that we just believe Him without questioning Him. You see, my problem was that I thought that I had to do something like say a prayer in order to get God to save me; I was trusting my actions, my efforts, and my understanding based on what I had heard from man, therefore I was very much confused and my faith was misplaced. But, when I turned to God, by reading His word, God’s Spirit showed me the truth of His way of salvation and He immediately cleared up all of my confusion. So, for me, the lesson I learned applies to any and all acts of “self” to get saved which fail every time. I like to say it this way: “if your faith is in your faith then your faith is not in Jesus.” So, if anyone reading this should make the all important decision to come to Jesus to receive His gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life, please remember to be careful about your faith; be sure your faith is in Jesus and not in anything you do. He doesn‘t need you to help Him; He wants you to trust in Him as the one who paid your sin debt “in full” at the cross. If you say a prayer for salvation, be sure you are trusting in Jesus and not in the prayer you just said; your prayer doesn‘t save you; Only Jesus saves. If you go to the alter to accept Jesus as your Lord & Savior, be sure you are trusting in Jesus death at the cross & not in your trip to the alter. If you promise to follow Jesus; remember you have to receive His free gift of salvation before you can follow Him; He paid for it with His blood. If you turn from your sin, remember to turn from yourself to Jesus first, then He will give you power to turn from your sin through the Holy Spirit. If you accept Jesus as your savior, remember that before you could do so that God accepted Jesus’ death, as “payment in full” for your sin. Again, be sure your faith is in Jesus and not in your prayer. We are saved by God’s grace through faith and God even gives us the faith we need as a gift. The faith God gives you will be focused on the Gospel message of Jesus and will not be focused on anything you can do or have done. Ephesians 2:8,9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” 　 Following are some of the scriptures that God’s Spirit used to show me the truth of His Word that I needed so that I could understand the true grounds for having a settled peace with Him. John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to him, “this is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 5:39 Jesus said to them, “search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:40 “And you will not come to me that you might have life.” John 6:37 “Jesus said “all the Father gives me will come to me and anyone who comes to me I will not turn away.” John 19:30 “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “it is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” And my favorite Bible verse, John14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one can come to the Father except by me.” 　 ljohnson3954@att.net

Prodigal I'm sorry that your sister has chosen to go down the wide road..you say she is saved yet she continues in sexual immorality. If she is saved ..what has her church done about this? If she does not repent the church should put her out because that is what scripture tells us to do. As a believer you ought not to be associating with her..you say you have spoken to her about her taking the wrong road... then you have done what The Lord requires of you. Continue to pray for her and her husband. If you agree to meet her boyfriend you will most certainly be condoning this partnership. This sounds a difficult thing to do and it is but this is the way that The Lord instructs us to follow, I know personally just how hard it is as presently I find myself in the same situation with a family member. I have prayed and fasted and cried for this person whom I love dearly and now I must have faith that The Lord will do a work in her life through the Holy Spirit and see her repent and return to her first love..The Lord Jesus...and make Him the priority in her life. 1 Cor 5:11 "I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked man from among you.'" Therefore don't associate with sexual deviants who call themselves "Christian". They need to either change their behavior or stop calling themselves "Christians", else the Biblical mandate compels the rest of us to disassociate with them. The way to show her love is for you to obey and do things The Lord's way.....because that's the best way for all concerned. I will hold you and your family in prayer my sis

Here’s one thing I’ve thought about and been learning about lately: I’m only responsible for my thoughts, actions, and sin. I cannot be responsible for other people’s thoughts, actions, and sin. 2 Cor. 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. What are you supposed to do? How do you love her? One day at a time. Love her where she’s at right now not where she will be in the future or where she was at in your childhood. Those moments have either not happened yet or are in the past. Neither of which you have control over. All you can control is your attitude. My father always said that 90% of what happens to us has to do with our attitude. The other 10% is the even or situation itself. Love God and love people. Even and in particular when they don’t deserve it show them mercy and grace. Pray for all involved and ask God’s Holy Spirit to work in their lives. Leave the results up to God. I don’t think you have to feel happy that your sister or brother-in-law is living in sin. Are your parents Christians as well? Praying for you and your family during this hard time. Remember, God is still in control. God will not love you, your sister, your brother-in-law, or the rest of your family less because of these choices. Check out 1 Cor. 13. God bless, GE

Your sister may well have reasons for not discussing the situation. in reality it's between her and her husband and God. love doesn't happen in a vacuum.... you either love your sister or you don't.... frankly within my groups if there are conditions attached there really is no love.... thank the Lord He didn't treat you that way. as for your sister you surely don't have to ok what she's doing and probobly should tell her so in a loving way........ but if you can't love her anyway, then you really never loved her at all. I'll be praying for God to work it all out. btw i like your avatar. looks like my favorite cat who died and broke my heart three years ago.