lance.dunlop

That He did. In fact, concerning the Law, He gave it so that sin may increase.

I'm not speaking in every regard, but in regard to how people try to bring a refutation to what is considered to be "Calvinism". They say "God is not the author of evil" in that God does not cause a person to sin. I was just reviewing my statement and realized that I used evil rather than sin. That is my bad. I knew what I meant, but it isn't what I said.

Predestination/Election is greatly misunderstood. But there are some very clear passages concerning them. Concerning election, Romans 8:28-30 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." But concerning what God predetermines, in regard to our actions, we must understand that our God knows the end from the beginning. And if we truly believe that He is a God who knows all things, and there are books written with our works before the foundations of the world, that this same God has allowed all things to pass as they will be at judgment day. This means that He allows all the evil to happen, but is not Himself the author of the evil. He chooses to sovereignly intervene, according to His perfect purposes, as is pleasing to His will. Is a person not saved, or a hurricane destroys a city? He could have changed the outcome, but He did not. It is not for us to know the beginning from the end, but to glorify Him in our election. For who are we to talk back to God? Who are we to say to the Potter that He has no right over the clay, and no right over the earth?

Luke 12:28-33 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his[e]kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Hebrews 10:14 " For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified."

I've heard from an Ex-Muslim who says that Islam is in place of what most people hold to be Rome in eschatology. It holds some interesting points. Either way, I'm not sold on anything yet. Still studying.

I don't think the ordinance can be self-distributed, confessionally, Biblically, or historically. But I'm one who doesn't hold that a person must be a Church member to be baptized, or even to be "clergy" to perform the act of baptism. I'm 28, never been ordained, and I've baptized 4 people in my Church, and I've baptized 7 people in Uganda. If you don't actually have a good Church in the town where you live, where you can at least talk to a Pastor about this, I'm one who believes you could just have an Ethiopian Eunuch baptism. The real issue is being obedient to the command to be baptized.

Sounds great! Find that place, and talk with the Pastor about your situation and go for it. You can be baptized anywhere you want...just look at the Ethiopian Eunuch. But there's something special about having it done with your church family.

I hadn't even noticed that part when I originally read it. JW is a cult. I know it's hard to call them that because of personal reasons. I grew up in that culture, and some of my family is/was stuck in it. It can be hard...but going to God's Word, you see that they have been led astray by wolves. JW doesn't recognize Jesus as God, nor do they recognize the Holy Spirit as God. Their religion has constantly been filled with false prophecies. Most of their main doctrines are false. Aside from Jesus and the Spirit not being God, they believe... Jesus is Michael 144,000 will go to heaven You are saved by the continuation of works They have a head organization "The Watchtower" which believes that new revelation supersedes old revelation They don't believe in the atonement The NWT is purposefully crafted to deceive people from the deity of Jesus The list can go on from here, but these are the big ones. The fact is we should pray for them to come out of the movement. They are being deceived like we once were, and God is good and can save them to the uttermost.

This sounds a lot like me actually. I was also raised a JW, but I was being raised by the other part of my family into the Lutheran church, and I was baptized into a random Methodist congregation when I was young. I personally accept "credo-baptism" as my stance, but I gave it's counterpart a fair shake. I decided to get baptized again when I was 23.

I legitimately am not sure of what's being said here. I'm not sure if you're expanding on something, or if you're contending against something half the time.

You have to be very careful when choosing a Christian Seminary. Many are fallen heads teaching other fallen heads. But given the right one, they are springs of life. Most people should learn on their knees, with consistent study of Scripture.

Praise God that we serve a patient God

Romans 12:1-2 ESV "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Not quite sure what was being said, but Willa was correct. We were saved, once and for all, and are being sanctified as he has made us perfect. Our sins may not be able to separate us from the righteousness of Christ, but they can hinder our sanctification, as well as offend the Spirit of Grace within us. We repent, not for salvation, but for reconciling our friendship, so to speak. Not in a salvific manner, but to repair the damaged relationship with God, so we may continue in His Spirit towards glory. But at no time does His Spirit depart us.

Romans 11:7 "What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the reset were hardened..."

There's not much to the claims of playing stuff backwards. For the most part this stuff is all scare tactics, and actually distracts from the real reason you shouldn't listen to the music...that it doesn't glorify God.

I think that much is evident. Honestly, if it isn't being used to glorify God, that can be said. But there are those forms of entertainment which it is very obvious, and the shows you know are deceptions with the purpose of normalizing sins.

These are always my favorite kinds of testimonies, the ones that reflect the kind of forgiveness He has given us.

I don't think it's quite how many of the overly spiritual think it to be. You don't get a surprise in every box like you're opening Cracker Jacks and getting a prize. But to some rock music there is an antichrist spirit behind it. You can usually tell just by the band names. There's quite a few classic rock bands that were open about their Satanism, but at times it's just people being paranoid. The big thing is that if we have the Spirit of God in us, then we do not have to worry. I do believe that most, if not all, of that music will be removed from our life. But, if someone is truly worried about it, I would just advise that they stay away from it so it doesn't influence them. It's better to be overlycautious for some. Myself, I don't have an issue with it, it's just music. But either way, we should strive to listen to that which honors God.

What are some ways that you can think of to go above and beyond the "normal" call (so to speak) of showing honor? This has really been on my mind, and I think I need to do more. I've considered writing to my Pastor consistently, probably anonymous, to encourage him. Also perhaps finding something to do for my mother, especially with her going through chemo treatments right now. Not to belittle the obvious things of speaking highly, listening, obeying (Biblical) requests, etc, I feel there's something God wants me to do that is deeper.

My Bible Study was going through Romans 12 this week, and something came up that I've been seriously meditating on. As I was teaching through verses 9-21, verse 10 really stood out to me. In the ESV it says "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." Now since then I've been thinking about honoring others and what that looks like. I understand honoring God, the 5th Commandment says to honor our parents, or 1 Timothy when it tells us to honor elders; but I find myself thinking "how am I showing honor"? Am I honoring others with the same ferver that I seek to honor God or my parents? What about the way I am honoring civilian authorities? Does the way I show honor to others give glory to God? Does the way I show honor reap an eternal reward? What kind of ways do you show honor to others?

I've dug into this a lot in the past too, and I've struggled greatly over it. I truly wanted to know, especially having been saved in an Assemblies of God church, and being an active member of the church. Since I settled the issue on my behalf, I've found myself disagreeing with almost every denomination on the issue. I consider myself to Reformed, but I am not a cessationist because I still hold to the gifts continuing. However, I don't believe in the AG doctrines concerning tongues. I still struggle on some issues myself, such as the concept of the prayer language that is often emphasized. The biggest reason is that oftentimes when I am in our sanctuary praying with those people, I hear gibberish, and nothing concerning what I would attribute to tongues, which is a dialect. I do hear occasionally prophecy in tongues in our church, and it's always interpreted to mean something to do with repentance. However, I know many people who believe this would be wrong. They hold that prophecy to necessitate praise to God (in context of the original outpouring at Pentecost). But I've heard an example of someone prophecying in perfect Chinese to a person who only spoke Chinese, which lead them to Christ. I cannot though, believe they have ceased. I have studied this for years, and I truly believe cessationism is an argument from silence. But knowing some of the churches and their abuse of their "gifts", whether they are truly a gift though is the question, it is understandable why some people are thinking they are discontinued. In the end, I just test the spirits as commanded.

I'm in the same boat and I've been exposed to her in a few ocassions. However, her love and zeal for the lost and her servants heart challenges me so much.

http://youtu.be/Hx0W4x42EJM