Leaderboard

I'm just an earthen vessel But I carry a great treasure God's Spirit dwells within me And my purpose is His pleasure Although I often fail Him When I call upon His Name His Blood is greater than my sin And takes away my shame One day I'll live in Heaven Where He'll dry my every tear But till I reach the other side I'll love and serve Him here "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" 2 Corinthians 4:7 "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16 “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:7,9 "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Revelation 21:4 "We love him, because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19 "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." John 14:23 "Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." Colossians 3:24

Although we'll miss you here, we're still living on the same planet and will ultimately meet in heaven. Who knows if we ever meet each other in person? May the Lord bless you abundantly and faith on! We'll all know who's right or wrong when we see His face--who is always right.

I have heard this before. It's an insult, I think. I'm not sure that a personal belief will change a person's status in this case. It's my hope that anyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord, and believes that God raised Jesus from the dead, is saved, and will be gathered by the angels when the time comes for our redemption and gathering and meeting Jesus in the clouds of the air, regardless of any personal belief, and no matter when that gathering occurs. "By grace through faith are ye saved, and that not of yourself, lest any should boast." Our salvation, redemption and gathering at the proper time is solely based on the love of God for us and His grace, if we have faith in these great promises of resurrection and eternal life. One should never think salvation, therefore redemption, is based on any set of personal beliefs as long as we have a true confession and righteous testimony of God and our Lord Jesus. Four related concepts assure the Spirit is working in us, love for God, love for your neighbor, confession of Jesus as Lord, belief God raised Jesus from the dead; none of us will be 'left behind'.

Hi KaterinaChk, Pleased to meet you and share together. Now you do have a lovely name - Katerina. Sounds very mystic. Now you have been very straight forward with your present situation. This is a process of coming out of `darkness` into the light, of truth. Everybody, if honest is searching for what is true, what can I rely on, what or who is trustworthy, who actually cares for me, etc. It seems like a fog and all these thoughts swirl around your head. So take heart there is a path through the fog and maze, one step at a time. The first step is knowing that you need and want help. You have taken that step. The next step is to realise that all your own efforts just seem to make it worse. So...your next step is to just reach out with your heart and trust that the Lord will reveal Himself to you. Only God knows your heart, only God knows how you think, so go about your day and life and the Lord will highlight something to you that is personal. Then there is another step and another in this journey of getting to trust the Lord. If you have been involved in man`s religious organisations, then you would carry a lot of wrong guilt for their many rules. Jesus did not build an organisation, but desires to help us get to know Him in our everyday life. Man always wants to control us. See the difference? hope that is of some help, Marilyn.

This thread's aim is towards this kind of Ecumenism: "Ecumenism refers to efforts by Christians of different church traditions to develop closer relationships and better understandings." The Ecumenism I envision is what I have seen in Jerusalem. Pilgrims of all denominations come together to pray, worship, and read Scripture together. They do not cease being Evangelical, Baptist, Charismatic, and etc, but rather become One Body despite this. I’ve seen it in the flesh. The Head is Jesus Christ, and everyone comes together from different church backgrounds. It is how it is in Jerusalem. At hotels, in the streets and more. You meet brothers and sisters in Christ & no one cares about their denominational differences. It is amazing vision of the future Kingdom of Christ (Revelation 20:1-8). ▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️ The debates are fierce between denominatuons. We each have our unique views, but Jesus wanted us to be One, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved themeven as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23). Christ's prayer was not for Apostles alone, but all who believe in their message (John 17:19-21). I have started this thread for commonality, unity, and to delight in our differences, to share them without fear of malice, judgement, and severity. This is a safe space for all Trinitarian denominations. If you are non-Trinitarian you may share, but please lets not turn this thread into a debate center, instead here we practice civility, examples of eticate "Interesting perpective, I respectfully hold to a different view," or "Since you have shared that view, I have this question about that doctrine," instead of "your wrong! See the light." Here the goal is to be loving and share views without the heated rhetoric of debate threads (if you want robust and loud debate go elsewhere please). Here we celebrate our simarities and show respect for differences (liturgy or no liturgy, hymns vs worship songs, communion differences) and even desire to inderstand them and celebrate them, rather than fight over Eucharist views, we share them without judgement and enjoy the conversation over the different views. Addendum: To clarify the goal of this thread I want to share the many types of Ecumenism and which specific version is what this thread is about: "Ecumenism refers to efforts by Christians of different church traditions to develop closer relationships and better understandings. The term is also often used to refer to efforts towards the visible and organic unity of different Christian churches in some form. The terms ecumenism and ecumenical come from the Greek οἰκουμένη (oikoumene), which means "the whole inhabited world", and was historically used with specific reference to the Roman Empire.[2] The ecumenical vision comprises both the search for the visible unity of the Church (Ephesians 4:3) and the "whole inhabited earth" (Matthew 24:14) as the concern of all Christians. In Christianity the qualification ecumenical is originally (and still) used in terms such as "ecumenical council" and "Ecumenical Patriarch" in the meaning of pertaining to the totality of the larger Church (such as the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church) rather than being restricted to one of its constituent local churches or dioceses. Used in this original sense, the term carries no connotation of re-uniting the historically separated Christian denominations, but presumes a unity of local congregations in a worldwide communion. Historically, the word was originally used in the context of large ecumenical councils that were organized under the auspices of Roman Emperors to clarify matters of Christian theology and doctrine. These "Ecumenical Councils" brought together bishops from around the inhabited world (such as, οἰκουμένη) as they knew it at the time. There were a total of seven ecumenical councils accepted by both Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism held before the Great Schism. Thus, the modern meaning of the world ecumenical and ecumenism derives from this pre-modern sense of Christian unity, and the impulse to recreate this unity again. There are a variety of different expectations of what that Christian unity looks like, how it is brought about, what ecumenical methods ought to be engaged, and what both short- and long-term objectives of the ecumenical movement should be. Ecumenism and nondenominational or postdenominational movements are not necessarily the same thing. While some of these can be ecumenical in intent, normally nondenominationalism seeks no common organizing principle nor works toward the unity of Christians." (Wikipedia) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ecumenism as definition varies dramatically. This thread's aim is towards this kind of Ecumenism: "refers to efforts by Christians of different church traditions to develop closer relationships and better understandings."

All I do is argue with you people on here. Even post that I make that are meant to be funny or lighthearted end in an argument from someone. I guess I come from a different world then you all do. From a galaxy far far away. Seems fitting that I put that down as my home. I love Jesus and feel this deep connection with God. I seek his will for my life and I start everyday in prayer with him. But I don't feel like this is the right fit for me right now. I say right now because I do not want to leave for good. My name will show up on the online list from time to time and anyone who wants too is welcome to PM me. But I am going to for at less for the time being not be posting threads or replying to them. So for now. I need to just step away from it all. Goodnight. And God Bless.

God the creator of all has made beautiful this ball Never let me listen to the lies Let me pray with inner eyes May I live your way in dealing with sin and strife Let me see even more of your stamp on this life What originates from you is always good So please burn away the dead wood Help me to always see you in my sight I want to glorify you with all my might For the remaining years that here I will trod Help me to please you and Glorify you oh God

This is a Scottish poem my mother taught me. `Not till the loom is silent, and the shuttle cease to fly, Will God unfold His wisdom, and explain the reason why, The dark threads are as needful, in the weaver`s skilful hands, As the threads of gold and silver, in the pattern He has planned.` Marilyn.

Hi LadyKay, I'm assuming you're still reading even though you're not posting. I also hate arguing and I've left several times myself. I personally never argued with you I like your posts. So I'm 1 of the people waiting for you to return. Enjoy your break.

I think it's because we're all not perfect, but we think we are sometimes.

I was testy in my reply earlier, and I apologize for it. Allow me to hit the refresh button, let me share my theology based on Genesis 1-3, and then you can judge whether my views are heretical. You have passed judgement on me without evening knowing what I believe and I think that is a mistake on your part. What do you say, can we admit to our own faults in this thread to this point and then you can read what I have to say?

I can totally relate, LK. Worthy is not the same place it used to be and I no longer post or read here very often. Wjen a forum no longer 'fits' then it's best to move on. I hope you work it out though.

Hi, Yep the world is full of injustice. The history of the industrial age at Europe and at The USA has the same stories to tell. It wasn't all that long ago that Tennessee Ernie Ford was singing "Sixteen Tons". Probably was even worse for the Jew under Rome, where one could be commanded/forced to carry a soldiers load for a distance. And where Jesus gave his sermon saying And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. This is a hard harsh place has been and likely will be for some time unless our Lord returns this eve which is possible.

In Greece there are Muslim refugees from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and elsewhere. There is a native ministry that the refugees see as family where they can find comfort and share their hearts. Many are coming to Christ and even serving in the ministry. Muslims coming to Christ can face physical violence and even death....often losing family, jobs and housing. A ministry in Syria has 70 to 80 former Muslims. Pray for their protection and growth in Christ. In Pakistan a ministry is providing education, food, Bible teaching and fun for needy children of brick kiln workers. Oftentimes even the children are forced into working ten hour days making the bricks. Info from indigenous missionaries.

Keep pressing into Christ and feeding your personal relationship with Him and that relationship will teach you all things. Knowing this; that when Christ died, you died, that you might be a new creation, created in righteousness, by righteousness, for righteousness. Prayers and a increase in Christ in your inmost being LadyKay Much love in Christ, Not me

Hi Frances, You also have this wonderful gift of putting thoughts into prose and poetry, to help uplift our thoughts to the Lord. Bless you sister, as God pours His anointing through you. Marilyn.

Hi turtletwo, What a great gift you have, and using it to praise our precious Saviour. May He continue to flow through you in streams and rivers of anointing. all the best, Marilyn.

Hey LadyKay, I respect your decision. My only advice as Jedi Master of olden days is don’t let the Dark Side (Bogan) drive you far away. Soon enough the Emperor (Antichrist) will excute Order 606 (666) and we Jedi (Je-sus Di-sciples) will be perecuted (Revelation 13:7, Revelation 14:12) and we all will be living like Obi-Wan on the outskirts of Tattooine. May the Lord be with you, always.

I learned through my grandmothers brain cancer death that how we handle that kind of sickness and the loss as a Christian can make a very big testimony to others, especially non believers.

remember that it was "experts" that designed, built and sank the Titanic killing over a thousand people.... Experts/professionals don't always have the answers.... but many of them have agenda's. and a professional with an agenda can be dangerous especially if they can't admit that they could be wrong.

Last I checked, accuser isnt the same as categorizer. But if you want to get into that, you have made false accusations here.

Since I never said we shouldnt feel emotions, I have nothing to prove. You made the claim that we must feel them or we get sick. That is what I am questioning. The scripture you posted does not prove that.

Sorry but that doesnt support your assertion.

SPOT ON SISTER . folks have done me cold wrong before , YET under the SPIRIT I had forgiveness for them and not bitternesss. AND IT DID NOT TURN INTO NO DISEASE for me . You spot on sis , you truly are . Ps, we are praying for you sister . we love you .

Scripture to support the notion that we must feel the pain sorrow anger etc or it manifests in disease?

I know, I’ve been to seminary and I had excellent classes. One was life changed my life. However, there were other classes I had to confront with Scripture and my self studies (Books, facts from experts) in history: example the teacher said Muslims invented everything including Algebra; actually it was a Persian Christian who invented Algebra and Nestorian Christians who invented other forms of Mathematics.

I dont think we should wait until we go through other emotions before we choose to forgive. Jesus said we have to forgive. Thats it. That is His command to us. No matter what it is, we are to forgive. It may be that we have to also ask the Lord to change our hard hearts so that we can forgive someone, but it is still commanded to us to forgive. A few years ago, my brother in law was murdered. That is unbelievably hard to forgive, and yet since He said to, I had to. I prayed for the murderer to get saved (still do when I remember) and I prayed that He soften my hard heart. I will never meet the murderer. I cant deal with crazy. But I have forgiven him and pray for him.

That is what a lot do not understand . those who live godly in Christ , will suffer , YET they GOT ALL HOPE , because they have the LORD . christains in this life , will suffer more than does this world . folks need to read them pslams and the bible . IF in THIS LIFE we have HOPE ONLY THEN WE WOULD BE OF ALL MEN MOST MISERABLE . Cause we going to suffer in this life . we going to also be persecuted and trials and so on . BUT WE the ones WHO HAVE HOPE , and as we suffer , HE CONSOLES US . WE the ones WHO GOT HOPE . WE DO . even the romans in the early days of the church , took note of chrsitans and said things about how we suffer , and so on . YET they noticed HOW MUCH HOPE these had too .

Matthew chapter 19 verse 8 Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I believe we shouldn't divorce, since as Christians we're not living for this life.

when people were healed in the Bible, was it done for the people or was it done to show the power of God..... When He wouldn't heal my wife and told me as much I got all mad and got right in his face demanding to at least know why..... looking for a lightening strike I was totally surprised when he told me in a quite voice that it wasn't any of my business, it was a matter between He and my wife..... I have to imagine that there is a lot going on between people and the Lord and He knows best how we should live this life to experience, learn and grow spiritually in this life.... So like I did when He dragged me out of the devil's grasp a few years earlier I apologized and left it in his hands and thanked him for all his help..... I guess he didn't strike me down for it was the woman he gave me that I was upset about.... who knows the mind of God. We just have to carry on and deal with the world as it comes..... and I have been reconciled to just enjoy what time we have and let the rest of it go.... Life is just too complex for us to know what's best for us in the long run... I don't know if my experience help in any way but I did feel compelled to write.

Hi all, my OP was born in response to other posts on other threads that seem to tout healing and if healing doesn't come then shame that something is wrong with the person suffering. I am trying to communicate that I do not find that to be true at all! I find faith is of Jesus by the Holy Spirit and has nothing to do with my gains of anything, except eternal life with God the Father God the Holy Spirit an God the Son Jesus. Having been trained very young in the funeral industry and having worked with twenty or more families in grief stages every week for years and years, I learned I cannot cry with them. I must help by being as efficient as I can in meeting their needs. Relationships go on for weeks and even years with each person. I having this background then had my life turn into one caregiver situation after another for decades as many of family became ill died and left family behind. It has been a great privilege, a very difficult task, but a real privilege too. What I am trying to say is that bad times has little to do with one's faith in Jesus. Suffering many kinds of ills and setbacks has nothing to do with it either. I suggest by experience that being an atheist is easier at a time of loss than is being a Christian. An atheist can say well that is that and move zzxon. A Christian, well not so much. A Christian can talk all happy talk, but there is knowledge of penalty of sin that hinders one from just concluding, well that is that like an atheist does. A Christian suffers the extra pain of seeing a nonbeliever die that a nonbeliever is totally unaware of in their life.

I remember when they first came out with those things 0oo-awful dry no flavor and a ribbon of sticky in the middle. Then the radio djs came out with an ad that said try them again, they are not so dry anymore. Yes, yuck they were still dry, awful! They just put more of that dreadful sticky in the middle stuff. I tried dunking one in my coffee flavored Carnation Instant Breakast and the Pop Tart absorbed all of it. Left me with a sludge in a glass. Hard life being a LA basin commuter facing the unknown freeway dance everyday, thinking will I make LA in an hour and a half or maybe two and a half to get to work? Up at five AM, rush to hit the road, get into a slot and see the same poor smucks doing the same thing in their same cars day after day, all living over the county line. All inching along playing with the sticky 8 track, or the newer cassette trying to get some music, being tired on the morning AM radio jocks, talking about mayor Sam. Oh Lord thank you for getting me past those many years! Actually it was a good time I suppose, a good time of home ownership in the well kinda suburbs. Those "Little Pink Houses" of Orange County CA. Back when the cows could still be smelled when a rare California rain had misted on the land, telling the home owners, ha your house lot used to be a cattle pen! Aren't you glad you didn't buy way out at Corina, you could smell like pig pen. It was what we thought was the American dream. Plus, families grew up least part way, there in those little houses on all those look alike streets. Soon gone were the orange groves and the cattle, next to go were all the strawberries. My house a little green one among the pink was the one closest to the then "closed" military airbase Los Alamitos. Yeah right. Closed till it became a military reservist heliocopter base featuring Huey's and then the war went very badly at Vietnam and the base opened up full bore, eventually with C-130's landing over my house bringing in refugees day and night too. I could wave at their approach and pilots would wave back! My house also backed up to the last of the great strawberry fields in the area, some 535 acres of crop land that would be threatened by freezes so helicopters would fly along trying to warm the crops and drop warming water sprays on them. It was a free extra added attraction all night beofore those 5 am two hour commutes into work. Ah the dream the California dream. Did I mention the train? My house also backed up to the train track to nowhere, just by the quarter house race track, and oh the sugar beet processor, maybe a train every other week or so. Yeah right, on that one too. It was really no more than four train runs a day, the train moving on very slowly. The friendly crew tooting their horn to kids in their back yards, giving an extra long toot at some of the moms sunning in their back yards. And then there was the rrrrr rrrr rrrr of dirt bikes running behind the houses along those tracks, and the police car chasing them away. a quiet little neighborhood of friendly people just over the line out of dreaded LA County. It was a grand time, really it was, raising kids, all the neighbors broke too raising theirs. Hard times of the good life growing strong if ya don't break. Getting ready for the real challenges that are to come. Good stuff of life daily life nose to the grindstone, thinking about the beach the mountains even the night lit pitch and putt golf course, but really just pounding away for a dollar to feed the needs. That's what I remember about the Pop Tart era

Nobody gets it all 100% correct.Saved Christians have much latitude in how they view the Tribulation, the Rapture, etc. I have no problem with any of that.However, when church members add a “but” to Jesus saves my antennae go up.” Jesus saves, BUT you will NOT be saved if you smoke cugarettes.This Doctrine at the least is the Doctrine of “ weak believers” to which Paul referred to in regard to those who thought you had to worship on special,days or refrain from eating certain foods.We are told to put up with them , but never are we told that such types are to rule the church.At the worst, these types could by modern- day Judaizers who are the “ accursed” to whom Paul was referring to those that added a doctrine of works to pervert his Gospel of Grace. I don’t know where the line is drawn, but why put ones self into a state of jeopardy ?Paul said if we simply believe his Gospel and nothing else we will be saved.That is what I do and that’s how I got saved and that is how I stay saved.Any other route is very risky .Faith plus nothing.

according to romans yes they will be saved. it is pretty plain to me..... This is the crux of salvation and I haven't seen any translations that differ though I may not have seen them all. If a person tries to be saved without doing this I would personally question their salvation...……. but if someone wants to add works to this I think they are covered, though if they say another person is not saved because they have no works, they would be simply wrong. Churches of Christ people for the most part are really paranoid of loosing their salvation so they do everything they can glean what Jesus did and teach we should do so also...…. and while I can't really disagree that we should do that, I disagree it is a condition for salvation... Does that make sense???

There is a simple key to the book of Revelation that makes the whole book simple to understand by all alike. This key is found in Revelation 1:19 and 4:1. The book is in three clearly defined divisions: First, "the things which thou hast seen," that is the visions of Christ, as in Rev. 1. Second, "the things which are," that is, the things concerning the churches, as in Rev. 2-3. Third. "the things which shall be hereafter," that is, after the churches, as in Rev. 4-22. To prove that everything of Revelation, from the fourth chapter on, must be after the churches, in Rev. 4:1 after he had written the vision of Christ in chapter one and the things concerning the churches in chapters two and three, John was caught up to Heaven and was told that he was to see the things which must be hereafter, that is, after the churches. If the things of Rev. 4:1 through the rest of the book must be after the churches, then they must be fulfilled after the churches and not during the time of the churches. This is proof that the rapture of the church must take place before the fulfillment of everything in Rev. 4-22. If we will take literally and consecutively the events of these chapters and believe that they will happen after the rapture of the church, nothing in the book will be hard to understand.

Low flow is the pox of all toilet pots. It must be destroyed! ??? lol ??

The irony behind the low flow is that it’s desiegned to conserve water and yet you have to flush more to make it work properly lol So much for conservation. ?

For Jesus Christ it counts many things, but at our last breath, at the sound of the last trumpet for each one of us, the most important thing will be, are we going to be found with faith in Jesus Christ.

Has it occurred to anyone else? This entire thread's base question is, what are the ways and reasons we can look down on others who call themselves Christian when we do not approve them that title? Anybody?

Shiloh, "But nowhere are we told to enumerate all of our sins to other believers. " i don't know about this brother. I confess my sins or wrongdoing often to people when the Spirit convicts me of wrong doing. Ask my wife! (I also confess it to God as well. ) I don't see anything wrong with people confessing sins to anyone.....it shows humility and we all know God hates a proud look. Getting back to unloading to a priest....it is probably not an easy thing to do....unload your wrongdoings to another person (look at him as a shrink if you will) knowing that it puts you in an unfavorable light. And when Judas' priest told him to make dinner or take his gf out for dinner as penance for his wrongdoing to her, I see good things that can result with that kind of guidance. Dont get me wrong....I'm not running out myself looking for a priest to mediate for me to God, but I don't think we should be judging this practice to harshly when there seem to be obvious benefits and there is a spirit of humility involved in the act. I know you and others may disagree, and that is fine too. But one motto I live by in my faith walk is this: MAJOR IN THE MAJORS AND MINOR IN THE MINORS! Spock