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John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This is one of my favourite scriptures, but I also believe it's one of the most misinterpreted. I've heard various accounts of how broad "love one another" actually is. I've seen it used in any number of arguments to suggest homosexual relationships are ok, sex outside of marriage is ok and that we should be tolerant and accepting of other religions because of this verse. After his initial statement, Jesus expands on this, most importantly by saying to not only love one another, but to love one another as I have loved you. To me that suggests that all love should be Christ centered. In other words, the way in which we love and respond to people must be a replication of how Christ did the same. Unfortunately "love one another" is a rather vague and unspecific term. Even though you can get an idea of it based on Christ lived and Paul taught in the scriptures, there's still many situations that seem to ask the question: How does this scripture apply here? The Bible does not ever endorse or approve of sin so it's obvious there were meant to be limitations on Christ's command, but then when you bring the concept of "unconditional love" into the mix it seems to muddy the waters a little bit. I know you can both love someone AND disapprove of their lifestyle, which seems to be inline with both Christ's words here and the idea of unconditional love, but that still doesn't offer a complete explanation on how far "love one another" really goes.

The United Nations is calling for more surveillance of Internet users, saying it would help to investigate and prosecute terrorists. http://www.worthynews.com/top/news-cnet-com-8301-13578_3-57537559-38-u-n-calls-for-anti-terror-internet-surveillance-/

what makes you think that Romney isn't a real part of those powers that be?

Match Trump's offer, I guess, but this time put the onus on Romney. The whole thing is really pretty silly; Trump, for all his business acumen, should keep his yapper zipped.

Okay. I'll admit that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But . . . how does that work? Blessings! -Ed http://en.wikipedia....Mexico_whiptail Ciao - viole i didn't read in the article where it stated that the species had members of the same sex try to mate whith each other. It's toward the end. Ciao - viole So what you're referring to are the New Mexico whiptails which are a cross bread (or hybrid) between western whiptail which lives in the desert and the little striped whiptail that favours grasslands. They reproduce asexually yet engage in mating behavior. I think further research would be needed as there are no sources provided. I mean after all, it is wikipedia. I guess through this one example we're trying to prove that it is a natural occurance in nature? Lol.

Praying~! LORD Save Japan In Jesus' Holy Name Amen

God is the potter and we the clay. A pastor onced said... we are a clay pot ...and God puts us into the oven to bake...for a time then takes us out of the oven to sit on a shelf for a while. Then back in the oven again. (quote) eagle 2. God always puts more on us than we can handle. Sometimes the Lord, in his sovereign purpose, crushes us (Hebrews 12:4-12). He breaks us so that he can remake us. Well these heavy burdens on me all the time... yes I said all the time... I told God ...." to please stop it or I will crack ". This clay pot will crack... I cannot take and handle all of these burdens alone ...plus I being a heart and brain stroke patient. Then , I have to care for my 37 year old son ...who is disabled...mentally from birth. He is co-dependent on me. Where is His promises of prosperity as promised in scripture ?... the pastors say... speak Gods word into your life. I did it for years. I surely am very disappointed .

God sent His Son so we (humans) may find salvation through Him. This is the love we need to have toward each other. To care for the lost as Jesus cared for them, to tell then the truth despite of their beliefs, in His love, not our flesh. The problem, as I see it, is the world has twisted His love to mean acceptance and tolerance. This is no the real truth, but a partial truth. We need to accept people for who they are, tolerate them enough to talk with them, but tell them the truth of their sin with the sins result, while doing so in the same love Jesus did, not bashing them ,creating a wall.

yes ..you are right ...LadyC... When I first got saved years ago..all I heard was ...from the word of faith pastors , evangelist, that pump us up with faith . That we will have a better life , with financial prosperity and bring up scripture with it. And give money and God promises you this , in scripture. I was a giver in money to them ... and I am not getting the benifits of living a better financial life , as to what Gods promises are. It sure didn't happen for me... and I do walk the chalk line before God, daily. Trying to be obedient . Its like from ...faith to discouragement . This is a good article ...Eagle

Started a thread on this subject:

i think you're an amazing writer, and you pegged this one perfectly. so many people have this notion that when they become christians, their life is supposed to get easy. then when it doesn't, they turn away from God. if they'd only had the truth explained to them in the first place, they'd have known what to expect and maybe they would remain in Christ. awesome study, Jon!

Very well put. I believe that the northern kingdom understood this when the Assyrian armies came in and swept them away into other nations and replaced them with a people who knew not God. Idolatry is strictly forbidden and John warned us to flee from it as well. We simply need to understand that God is God, and is exactly as he has presented himself unto us in the Holy Scriptures. We are being brought through the refiners fire to the end that we might be vessels of honor fitted for the masters use. Sometimes it hurts. Gary

First of all I want to say I really enjoy this song. I like the following of their songs as well… “Please Dont Let Me Go”, “Forgive me”, And “Love is a Beautiful Thing” Re: “He Said…” Chorus Lyrics “Don’t forget what He said; He said I won’t give you more, more then you can take and I might let you bend, but I won’t let you break.” Did God really say that? This all sounds noble and heroic, but it is not necessarily true. Let’s look at why. 1. The Bible simply doesn’t say that God will never put more on you than you can handle. This is a misreading of 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” This verse is couched in the middle of Paul’s discussion of Israel’s problem with idolatry. Therefore, this verse has to deal with idolatry. The temptation spoken of was the temptation to abandon God for other things, in the case of the wilderness-wandering Israelites: sex, fun, false gods, and grumbling (1 Corinthians 10:6-11). 2. God always puts more on us than we can handle. Sometimes the Lord, in his sovereign purpose, crushes us (Hebrews 12:4-12). He breaks us so that he can remake us. Think of how Jeremiah cried out in Lamentations because God has left his nation, city, and people utterly desolate and decimated. Think of all the psalms in which the psalmists cry out to God for bruising them. Think of our Lord Jesus in whom “it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer” (Isaiah 53:10). Therefore, it would be untrue to state that God won’t place more on us than we can bear. He has, he does, and he will. But, he has provided One to bear wrath for us: Jesus. If it were not for Jesus bearing our innumerable iniquity in himself, we too, would be utterly destroyed under sin’s unbearable weight. That’s where grace comes in. If it weren’t for the grace in which we stand (Romans 5:2), we would surely fall. This life, and our sin is more than anyone of us can handle. However, God chose to lay our burdens on the back of his Son so that we do not have to bear them (Isaiah 53:6). It would be more accurate to say that God will never place more on us than Jesus can handle. 3. Christians today are unhealthily obsessed with escapism. No one likes pain. No one likes suffering. No one likes to be uncomfortable in any way. But, all these things are part and parcel of the Christian life. The Scriptures say “Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory (Romans 8:17), and “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). The call to follow Christ is a call to suffer. It is a call to bear certain yoke (Matthew 11:29), and carry a certain cross (Matthew 16:24). But, the majority of Christendom is obsessed with escaping Christ’s yoke and his cross. We are more concerned with being safe and comfortable. Therefore, it it easy and almost natural for us to expect God to deliver us from our burdens and thorns in the flesh. But, deliverance may not be God’s plan for us, and we must be, like Paul, prepared to accept it. 4. God gives us one another to bear burdens. One of the sweetest things in the Bible is how God’s people are there to bear one another’s burdens. Far from providing an Easy Street escape, God often provides others to help us shoulder the load. Indeed, Galatians 6:2 encourages believers to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Kind of like that good old song “Lean on me” by DCTalk or Kirk Franklin. I believe Group 1 Crew also has one. In conclusion, it is popular to believe that God will not place more on us than we can handle. However, there is ample scriptural evidence to suggest otherwise. An unbiblical escapist mentality is often the culprit. Harboring novel interpretations of Scripture does not produce hope, rather it produces hopelessness when our false expectations are not realized.

It depends on the sacrifice. Some offerings were completely consumed by fire, while others were allowed to be eaten.

Jesus IS LORD Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. 1 Peter 4:12-19 ~ Amen~! ~ Jesus IS LORD And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: Genesis 3:14

I am a computer scientist now studying battery technology and bio-fuels. I changed my world-view in 2010 when I expected Jesus as my lord and savior. I always knew there was a God. I like to say: God is science. He gave us a super computer our brain.

Trump gets more and more like a carnival barker every day. The man is a joke.

Welcome~!

I think you all need to look up the words in Greek and Hebrew that are translated God/god and decide what that word really means.

Okay. I'll admit that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But . . . how does that work? Blessings! -Ed http://en.wikipedia....Mexico_whiptail Ciao - viole Technically speaking isn’t parthenogenic reproduction asexual reproduction? Not sure if asexual reproduction counts. Lol.

So why are people (especially Christians) so surprised that fornication, adultery, and homosexuality are prevalent in today's culture? I'm not excusing it. I am curious though. I would surmise that people have turned away from the truth and toward a means of trying to all live together in peace (Emergent Church), or they embrace the Post-Modern train of thought, or they have embraced leftism. Some have even turned a deaf ear to the Holy Spirit, maybe without even realizing it. Many today, who call themselves Christians, do believe in Christ, but asking them a question about scripture brings forth all but scripture. Not all, but a majority of Christians have begone reading all the "other" books that pertain to scripture without really studying scripture, so they walk away with the understanding of the person who wrote the book they just read and not the bible itself.

I think I would have to disagree that he is speaking of the Kingdom of God in this particular scripture. Do you believe that once we leave this life, we are no longer in Christ? I would argue that we are fully in Christ at that time. Does it not say that we are all one in Christ? Does that ever strop? If not, than the explanation is correct. He's speaking to people in the time frame of the present..... not after the resurrection. I have no idea what our resurrected bodies will be like, I'm only commenting on this not pertaining to post resurrection. Then we will have to agree to disagree. He may be speaking to those who were alive them, but His words stretch into eternity when He said "in Christ". Like I said, when we leave this life, we will be fully in Christ. You don't think we're not in Christ right now...... he is speaking of what we are spiritually and in standing amongst each other. Spiritually were not Jew or Gentile, male or female, free or slave. We're to treat each other as equals because we are in Christ if we are saved. I believe this will continue in the next life, and even more so. I have never read, nor seen the slightest indication or suggestion, that we there will be women giving birth in heaven. It is sometimes hard to separate this life from the life to come. Gender, nationality and status has a purpose here. What purpose will it have in heaven? LoL, no one said anything about giving birth in heaven...... where in the world do you get some of your ideas....

Well, you can't really get the context of this without also keeping how husbands are to treat wives....... We are to love our wives as Jesus loves the church...... and he sufferec beatings and gave his very life for us.... he gave up his position of being in the form of God to help us through things we could not do for ourselves Now this part of that section of scripture that you are referring to doesn't make as much sense without the context of the husband. If a husband is doing his part, the wife should have no problem with doing her part. When a husband is not loving his wife, then problems arise and it can get to the point that she might need to take her problem to the church for help. but she should do her part. And husbands should do their part even if the wives are not doing theirs....... and take it to the church if she isn't and let the elder ladies of the church help. Just my two cents. Edited to add a personal observation..... in the 42 years of our marriage, i've done my part 90% of the time..... and during those times I do believe my wife would have followed me to the ends of the world. The other ten percent of the time....... well I didn't get what I deserved and I thank God for that LoL