appy

Faith spoken of in the book of Hebrews is the assurance and confidence of something that is certain to happen, that God has promised us. The obedience it is speaking of; is the FIRM belief in spite of life's circumstances that the future promise of eternal life will come true. It's what we hope for. Jesus' work on the cross has given us hope and assurance. We never have to wonder. It is FACT. It is by God's grace, that we have hope, and assurance of what is to come. When a person has a firm belief in Christ and the promise of salvation, these things soon follow and flow from the person. Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We can not earn salvation by trying to be good enough to merit God's favor. We don't need to try to earn it. For salvation is a free gift. If we had to earn it by being good enough, it would not be a free gift. So faith is indeed an intellectual decision to forego our lower nature and trust God. We stand firm in spite of all the sorrows and suffering in this life. The obedience God wants from us John 6:29 Jesus told them, “This is the will of God, that you believe in the one he has sent.”

I'm not upset at all. Just as you are making your point, so am I. With that said, you're not the first person to "explain" the sabbath to us or why you feel it is important to you. There is a plethora of threads on this, and neither side has ever gained ground.

I'll save that for later

I don't care how many churches observe the sabbath! Those who wish to observe the sabbath, will do so and those who do NOT, will NOT observe it, PERIOD. Just as you can't make a horse drink water, you can't force another to accept your views regarding this. We are not limited to meeting on just one day, since no day has been specifically set aside by God for “CHRISTIAN” fellowship and worship. We are always in the presence of God and worship him continually because He and Christ reside in us through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

There is the impression that some folks just know that others are sinners because those others do not do as they do or do not feel as they do. God see's our hearts and knows who is or who is not, his child. We humans on the other hand can not see into another person's heart and know that God is displeased with them or that they are not obeying God. We are NOT called to be morality cops, but to share the gospel message with the lost. Do as the Lord leads "YOU, YOURSELF",(collective you, no one here specifically) and let God do the leading of others. John 21:21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me Romans 14:3-4 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. Romans 14:22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.

Many of us can recall the Matthew 7:22-23 verse Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’… We should be very, very wary of people claiming to have prophetic or healing gifts. Being able to prophecy or perform miracles is not necessarily a sign that a person is called of God, or that they are even a Christian. We must take into account all other actions and teachings from such person's. The bible never describes anyone of the prophets of the Old Testament, or the Apostles of the New Testament as having a special appearance. Even the religious leaders when they saw and talked with Jesus, he was an ordinary man. The bible says he had no stately form that we should be drawn to him. Isaiah 53: 2-3 He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. According to this man; his parents said he was born with a halo above his head. Later in his life, there is the claim of a halo over his head signifying him as someone special. The bible NEVER describes anyone as having this. Does this not remind anyone of Edgar Cayce's claim of an aura over his head. A so-called halo or aura over or around someone's head, comes from the occult !!! William Branham like Edgar Cayce had many, many unscriptural teachings. Branham, was greatly influenced by Harry Edwards, an avowed spiritualist.

@clancy I don't think it is your device, as others are also having the same problem with posting.

Happy to hear and congratulations to you and your wife.

Please provide scripture which says we have to be reconciled with an aborted baby in order to get into heaven.

The Luke 17 passage is speaking of causing another to stumble; in other words, sin. How does a person cause an aborted baby to sin? How would an aborted baby stumble? Matthew 18:6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, Mark 9:42 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble,

To say that baptism is required to receive salvation makes it “saved by works” instead of the work of God's grace. It is an outward demonstration of the inward reality that God has already caused you to be born from above. It symbolizes and demonstrates that we are following Jesus in being baptized as He was baptized. Baptism is a symbol of being a follower of Jesus and is a public confession and testimony that a person is making a commitment to put to death the sinful nature that is within them and is committed to following Christ. That the person is indeed repenting of their sins, confessing faith in front of witnesses. Water baptism symbolizes the death and burial of the old carnal self and its sinful nature.

No one in this thread is against people being baptized with water or forbidding such. Not at all. There is the claim by the opster that a person isn't a believer at all until he or she is water baptized and receives the Holy Spirit. The part of my post you quoted wasn't about forbidding people from being water baptized, but about those listening to Peter received the Holy Spirit immediately. My position Hopefully is that people receive the Holy Spirit upon accepting Christ into their lives. Cornelius and those listening received the Holy Spirit right then and there. NOT days and weeks later.

This is like saying a woman is partly pregnant. There is no such thing as a woman being partly pregnant, she either is or she is not, there is no partly pregnant. And the same goes with being a believer. Either a person is a believer, or they are not. One or the other. A person becomes a Christian the moment he or she believes the gospel message and puts his or her faith and trust in Jesus to save them. In the story of Cornelius, while Peter was delivering the message Cornelius and all those with him needed to hear, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. The Holy Spirit was given to the new believers instantly. They did not need to wait to be water baptized first. No limbo occurred. In Acts 19 those whom Paul spoke with had only heard John the Baptist's repentance teaching but nothing more until Paul told them that John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” Belief in Christ and the baptism with the Spirit occur simultaneously. Ephesians 1:13 says very directly that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit upon belief. Ephesians 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

This comes across as saying people are not saved, and do not have the Holy Spirit unless they adhere to a specific set of behavior which also provides a way to create doubt in the minds of new believers and the young. "Your not saved unless you do x,y, and z". None of us can say such about others, for we can't see into another person's heart and know that God disapproves of them or that they are not saved. The definition of who Jesus is to an individual is very important, and certainly does mean whether they are saved or not. A different Jesus and gospel message than what is preached in the bible is definitely a bigger problem than if we believe different from you. The mormon belief is one example. They, too, teach people about baptism and being filled with the holy spirit marks one as a believer. One problem, their jesus is a little god from the planet kolob. By the very instruction to believe, water baptism and receiving the holy spirit, they can call themselves a christian.

I am NOT in favor of yoga, nor was I ever in favor of it. I do NOT agree with it. The bible teaches us that we draw closer to God through the reading of His Word and through prayer, not yoga poses or "meditating". I am NOT ignorant that demons are deceptive. I do read my bible. I am well aware of Paul telling us to put on the full armor of God, and why. But that is not the only time scripture speaks of the spiritual battleground.

@other oneWhat point were you wanting me to get? I pointed out in my post that the fact that yoga is more than merely stretching and exercising, as many people maintain.

This topic is brought up every now and then. And the answers are usually an equal mix of “its ok” or “it is NOT ok”. The way I see it is that in trying to call poses by a different name does not exactly change its purpose and character. More of an attempt to find a compromise because it is deeply connected with Eastern religions. And the reality of it is... is that it cannot be fully extricated from its spiritual roots, in the minds of unbeliever's and this thought has not changed since it was introduced in western societies. If an individual has to intensely meditate, in order to maintain a pose for an extended time, it is no longer a mere pose.

I think we all would like to think of ourselves as being bold, but we really don't know how we will respond or feel until we cross that bridge. Peter, who was so sure and spoke with great confidence that he would defend Jesus when confronted. At the time, he felt bold and brave before Jesus was arrested by the roman army. But that is not what happened after Jesus was arrested? Instead of standing up for what he knew was right and true, he ran in fear, and then denied even knowing Jesus. My point about mentioning Peter, is that he did just the opposite of what he was so sure he would not do. He couldn't even prevent it, even though Jesus told him long before he did it, that it was going to happen.

I agree with abc and tammy, in that it would be good for @JohnR7 to provide scripture that reflects and teaches that we have to be reconciled with an aborted child in order to get into heaven.

I don't remember what show I was watching, but it was something like 20/20. But anyway, one of the articles they had was about a family that had become homeless through the loss of an apartment they were living in. While they were out enjoying the summer day somewhere else, a fire broke out and burned down the whole apartment complex where they lived. They lost all of their belongings. The father of the family had a less than understanding boss, and instead of helping him work through the situation, the boss fired this man. It is not always easy or simple to obtain another job quickly. Specially when interviewers expect those hopefuls to be dressed to the nines and have a permanent address. This man's situation, left him with neither. And made it very difficult for him to obtain a job. And the family found themselves living in their vehicle and both parents trying to find income of some sort for a long time. After that show aired, someone stepped up and offered the man a job and helped the family find a place to live. No matter what country a person lives in, there are many, many individuals who find themselves homeless, through no fault of their own. You (as in general speaking, no one here specifically) do not have the full story on how or why another is poor or homeless. As Christians, it is NOT our job to speculate on how or why they are homeless... but on helping them in any way that we can, out of the hole they are in, specially when they are seeking for a way out.

According to what has been said in this thread, that sexual relations constitutes a marriage. We all know that making excuses for cohabiting before marriage is not going to wash very well. Jesus, speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well, made the distinction between the woman having been married and divorced multiple times, and was living with a man she wasn't married to. Even unbeliever's agree, that cohabiting before marriage is wrong. We know from OT passages, as well as the customs of the time, that a man could not just take a woman and declare her his wife and then attempt to prove it by having relations with her. For an unmarried woman was her father's property. And a man that wanted her, paid the “bride price” of whatever the woman's father valued her at before merely taking her. Someone attempted to use the Exodus 22:16 passage as proof that a man could just merely have relations, and it would automatically constitute marriage. Verse 17 says otherwise. The two passages together show that theft had occurred. The man having to pay the “bride price” was a penalty. Verse 17 shows us that just because a man had relations with the woman, it did not automatically make her his property. For the woman's father could legally deny her to the man. And the man was still required to pay for the damage done. And the woman remained in her father's care. Strange that there is much contempt and anger directed at divorcees, even if they were the innocent party in the divorce, and on the flip side approval for sexual relations before marriage. I have never attended a church that taught having relations before marriage was morally right. Teenagers and all who are unmarried, are always encouraged to abstain from sexual relations until AFTER legally getting married… NEVER before.

All video's in the video forums have to be reviewed and approved by a moderator, before they will become visible in the video section. All posts in any of the news forums must also be approved by a moderator. Please be patient, as moderators are volunteers and also have jobs and families to care for as well. All members must reach 100 posts before they will be able to post in the controversial forum.

God gave us different TYPES of love. Eros, Storge, Philia, and Agape. All of these are Greek words used to describe the different types of love; The one that is most often asked about is “Eros”. Eros is limited to romantic love. Which is characterized by physical attraction and sexual desire. This type of love is wholly right and good within the boundaries of marriage between a man and a woman. This kind of love outside of marriage is sin. God created this type of love to be shared between a husband and wife as part of a loving marriage relationship, NOT merely for the purpose of procreation. In the first part of 1 Corinthians 7, we read that a husband and a wife “belong” to each other and have rights to each other and to NOT deny each other the rights. So within the confines of marriage, Eros is to be celebrated and enjoyed. “storge” describes the love that occurs between family members. It is the affectionate bond between a parent and child, and between siblings, that occurs naturally within families. This is not the same as the love we would have for those outside of family members. “philia” is the most general type of human love which is the encompassing love for fellow humans, care, respect, and compassion for people in need. And is NOT to be confused with eros. "philostorgos" is unique to Christianity. And describes a brotherly love in which God calls his children to love each other with the deep affection of storge love. And finally we come to “agape” This Greek word describes God's immeasurable, incomparable love for humankind. It is the divine love that comes from God. Agape love is perfect, unconditional, sacrificial, and pure.

As to your question, no.... one does not have to focus on specific scriptures in order to fast or make one holier, so to speak. Fasting is not a requirement or expectation on anyone's part. Scripture does not demand it of us. Rather, it is a voluntary response of the heart and attitude towards God. If there is a serious need in our hearts or lives, a fast serves to show us the reality of our own insufficiency in ourselves and redirect the focus onto God and our reliance on him. Away from other things and the hubbub of our daily routines and activities in our lives.

First welcome to worthy Keep in mind that when you post, that this is a family friendly message board and we do have children also reading posts; this topic isn't exactly ok on the open forums of worthy. It is likely that this thread may be moved or hidden. We have an "adult" section in which to ask more personal questions, but because you're very new to worthy, you will not be able to access it until you have been posting for a while, so that we can get to know you better before giving you the password.