Lek

"6 It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring." (NIV) We are Abraham's offspring, the "children of the promise."

I am one who believes that the church is the new Israel spoken of in scripture. The promises to the nation of Israel have been fulfilled in Jesus and salvation is through Jesus Christ for all. Why would he re-establish the the old testament sacrificial system when he has already paid the price for the sins of all men? The nation of Israel was destroyed in 70 AD along with Jewish sacrificial system. The nation of Israel today is very secular and anti-christian and isn't even made up of a majority of practicing Jews. As far as supporting Israel, I feel we should use the same criteria as for any nation--if they are in the right we should support them; if they are in the wrong then we should not.

I don't have any idea how the name really came about, but it's a fitting name as it was truly a good day. The word "good" doesn't always include "happy". Jesus said "it is finished" and the atonement was completed. Even though it was solemn and sad on the surface, it was also a joyful event - the culmination of what people had anticipated for 1,500 years and what all the old testament scriptures pointed to.

I read this to mean that before the creation of the world God chose Christ to be the savior of the world and we are saved by being "in him". In otherwards, he determined that all who were "in Christ" would be saved. Paul's emphasis is not on God choosing us per se, but the fact that he predestinated that all who were saved would be saved through Jesus Christ. In this one paragraph he emphasized that our salvation is "in Christ" four times: 1 - "in the heavenly places 'in Christ' " 2 - "chose us 'in him' before the foundation of the world" 3 - "predestined us to adoption as sons 'by Jesus Christ' " 4 - "made us 'accepted in the Beloved' " We are free to make the choice to believe in him or not.

Of course God causes all things to exist or "live". All humans on the earth have life in that respect, but only those who are in Christ have true life that is eternal. There is a different definition for the life that is in the non-believer and the life that is in the believer.

You could be right, but I'm prone to take this story more literally. Matthew seems to portray Jesus as having a verbal conversation with Satan rather than just pondering certain actions. Also Satan is taking him to different locations and making suggestions and promises to him. I think that Satan, knowing who Jesus was, would have wanted to show up in person to be as convincing as possible.

I'm in and out of these "dry spells" quite often. I want to "feel" close to God, but never seem to have that joyful experience that some others seem to have. I think we all experience our faith in different ways. To some it's a very emotional experience and to others like myself it's just knowing daily that he's with me. When I go through those times of feeling distant and doubtful, I just keep walking according to what I know. I've always gotten through it with my faith intact because my faith is real. I promised myself to God and he promised himself to me, so he doesn't go away even though it may feel that way at times.

As long as we're truly trying to follow his will and are truly sorry, he will forgive your sins. It often takes a long time to overcome certain behaviors that we are prone to, but over time God will give you mastery over them. I'm saying this out of experience and I'm still working on my own weaknesses. With God's help, you pick yourself up and try again.

I and my family have been 'christened' we have accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour but have not been 'baptized' in water. I find it judgemental for anyone but Jesus to say that neither of us are born again christians just because we have not been baptized in the water. Jesus on the cross, with the thief showed that water immersion was not necessary for one to be a follower of His and to enter heaven. When we accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour the Holy Spirit indwells us and no man can say we are not born again simply by not following a rite. I have never ever felt the need to show my faith in that manner but choose to live it. Water baptism was done under the old covenant by John that is why he said that One is coming who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and not by water, Sorry if I appeared to judge whether you were saved or not as I never judge individuals. That's up to God. I was just expressing my feelings in general about the subject. Here's what I'm saying. We're followers of Christ. His will should be our will. If Jesus wants us to be baptized shouldn't we want to be baptized? Would you say "no" to Jesus? A previos poster brought up the "great comission" to go out into the world and baptize and as I referred to my previous post, Peter specifically told the crowd to "believe and be baptized". So why would I not want to be baptized?

Why is that? This boy/girl is going to have sex one day (if he/she hasn't already). That poses a problem, spiritually. To be honest I'm really not equipped to argue this with you biblically. If this kid is truly still male, then it would be sinful to have sexual relations with a man, even in marriage. There was a TV special a few years ago that highlighted the agony that these people go through, who are truly convinced that they're trapped in the wrong body. I think we need to have compassion.

God doesn't make mistakes, but since Adam sinned all humans are born imperfect as a result. People are born with many defects which are corrected by medical procedures. Should a person born with both physical characteristics keep them both because God doesn't make mistakes? We don't know how his brain is wired. I think we'd have to walk in this kid's shoes to make a judgement on him. This doesn't seem to be the same as a homosexual who disobeys the clear comandment of God concerning homosexual sexual behavior.

I don't know if I believe that being a transgender is sinful in all cases. I've read that some people are born with both physical characteristics. I not making a judgment on this one.

These people don't normally care about finding the truth, but just want to impress other people with their "vast" knowledge. When commenting and sharing in these forums and in all situations we should always strive to be humble. I've changed my mind numerous times on issues that I was already "certain" about.

Depression and anxiety related conditions can be spiritual, mental or physical problems or a combination of all. When treating them a spiritual approach is always warranted as with anything in our lives, but medications and therapy are also often required. My anxiety and OCD are caused by chemical imbalances in my brain and mediation works very well. I'm attacked by exreme anxiety no matter how my spiritual life is going. Thankfully God has allowed us to develop medications to treat these conditions just as we use medicine to treat countless other condiitons and diseases. Of course, all types of medications can be abused and we must be careful not to do this. Another thing I found out with therapy is that it can be very helpful, but since therapists can be very influential, I would always find a Christian therapist with good credentials in the field. One last thing I've discovered is that regardless of type of treatment, always go to God. There's been those hopeless times I thought I was "going over the cliff" and it was only God's hand that pulled me back. Despite everything else, we're ultimately reliant on God.

The fall of American society hasn't just begun; it's been going on for a long time. It's no suprise if you know your history. Nations begin with good principles, rise to great wealth and power, become lazy, immoral, corrupt and are conquered or crash under their own weight. Israel would be blessed by God and things would go well until they became proud and drew away from Him. Then they would be conqued and enslaved. There also have been revivals and reformations that have reversed the course of nations. God can do anything He wants. There are still many Christians in this nation and God hears our prayers. We need to continue with our Christian witness and keep praying for the country because it is possible to turn it around, but remember that whatever happens to America, we're residents of the Kingdom of God. Keep on doing God's work and you'll have peace and security no matter how badly things are falling apart around you. Keep your eyes on God!