thinkingal

I have to agree with teri that the Catholic church could be considered a cult. What concerns me so much is the stranglehold this church has on people from birth to death. "He who has the Son is free indeed" When you invite a Catholic out to a Christian meeting, they say, well I'm catholic. This supposedly explains everything. In other words - they don't want Christian evangelical or pentecostal fellowship. What is even more disconcerting, is that some news reports say "christians and so and so are fighting" "have been fighting for generations", etc., etc. What would be truly an eye opener is if the news would report as follows: Catholics and so and so have been fighting again or Born again Spirit filled BELIEVERS praying for their communities or Orthodox Jews in altercation with Catholic priests etc. When we read the word "Christian" what does it mean? I have come to the conclusion that the word is used in a meaningless way in this day and age. Similar I suppose to Protestant (public school) versus Catholic (separate school) supporters, Christians are being lumped together, regardless of what they actually believe and live out personally. If the Bible says - by their fruit you shall know them, and as the popular song - They will know we are Christians by our LOVE, By our LOVE.... Clashes between people groups need to be reported accurately as humanly possible. It is not enough to say: Christians and Hindus and Islamics clash over this or that. There is a lot of inflammatory "reporting" going on, our own Canadian and American journalists are not exempt. The power of the printed word is immense, as seen by these forums in the shaping of our attitudes and resulting actions. There are many here in these forums who are obviously well read and enjoy these discussions. I have come to appreciate the various forumers and their take on world events. It is a tremendous opportunity to speak out and forumulate what we believe in. Sorry I'm rambling. My parents gave me a poster when I was young girl about 14 years old that said: Everyone has a right to my opinion. I have been careful since then, but maybe not careful enough to not try to impose my "opinion" on someone, but as seen by Teri's comments - I am truly encouraged by her ability to bring forth truth in this forum. It is truly a gift from God to be able to dialogue in this manner. Nuf for now.

I have read with interest Let Us Reason's documentary production.

Revelation is becoming more interesting to me. REvelation 7 talks about those who came out of the great tribulation (verse 14). Rev 12:17 - the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with those who kept the commandment of God, and have the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 13 talks about a war with the saints (verse 7)and the beast was given power over all kindreds, and tongues and nations and all that dwelt on the earth worshipped the beast/dragon. I'm not convinced that a "rapture" will occur that will lift us out of this war. What we do know and have been warned about is in Rev 13:18 - and that is that the number of the beast is the number of man which is Six hundred threescore and six (666). Also in Rev 2);4 - there is a profile of those who will live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. If we want to survive the judgement in verse 14, we need to fit this profile. Vs 9 - says that Satan compassed the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but a fire consumed the devil. After this is a great white throne where all stood before God. All the dead were delivered up to stand before this throne. They were all judged. Then after this, death and #### were cast into the lake and fire. WOWWWWWWWWW. This must therefore ALL BE PROPHETIC, because we still have death and the fear of ####. OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD, HE REIGNS FROM HEAVEN ABOVE, WITH WISDOM, POWER AND LOVE OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD. Sing it...

I was shocked to read the items in this thread. Not being an avid TBN/Miracle/Vision watcher in the past, I tend to watch those programs that "feed my spirit".

Depression has interesting connections with "Confession". God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

Let me throw in another thing to this discussion....Are we not descendants of.....Noah? On the topic of the Bible's inerrency, I personally believe we must read the Bible IN CONTEXT.

A beautiful picture in Revelations 7 - The multitude before the throne. How can we prepare for this great event?