Enoc

Similar experience I grew up in church so I knew of the Lord all my life..... but I didn't make any real commitments till much later. I don't consider myself born again until those commitments are made..... My actual first encounter with the Holy Spirit speaking was not to my heart, it was to my ears...... and he said very very loudly "NO, YOU CAN NOT DO THAT" I don't think I really want to explain what "that" is. I was lamenting for a period of time and cried out Why! And the holy spirit responded : To FREE YOU

Try sowing seeds of friendship, and just like all thinks that grow it will take time to produce fruit. 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.

If you post before you think then most likely you speak before you think as well.

Hurt how?

I drive for about 20-30 minutes on the highway. The pastor is a pretty good preacher/teacher/leader and has grown the congregation.

Here you go. Proverbs 9:10 New King James Version (NKJV) 10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. When I first started walking with the the lord I became fearful. As he revealed more and more of himself beyond what I thought I knew it was overwhelming, hence fear popped up. However, over time the fear turned into reverence.

IMO there are a lot of folks that consider themselves Christian, and only God knows for sure, but to your question it takes maturity to love as God commands us to love. Spiritual maturity yields the fruit of the spirit which affords the Christian the grace/capacity to love as God commands. In short, most Christians are content with mingling in the outer court, not maturing/yielding to the holy spirit enough to move on into the inner court.

anything we do that is destructive to our bodies like eating junk food, getting obese, smoking, etc. is sinful even if it is not a "habit" per se. It doesn't have to be a habit to be destructive. Is it correct then that eating one twinkly, smoking one cigar at a wedding, or sipping one glass of champagne at new years, is a sin from your point of view?

Heath and the body as a temple is one thing, but being a slave to anything goes beyond heath. So with that said, smoking can be a sin if its a habit, but if its not a habit then its not. It's an individual by individual assessment. Any habit which is out of ones control is a sin.

Asking God for a sign may represent a lack of spiritual maturity or an instance of doubt under extreme pressure. PERSPECTIVE Do you get upset with a child that does not believe you when you say you are going to do something for them? Most often, the child asks numerous questions about the details on how and when. I don’t think you get upset, since you know it’s a child. However, with an adult you can only assume that the person doesn't know you that well or know you at all.

It’s a process. God knows exactly where you are at concerning him. He knows your strengths and weaknesses. As you progress in your walk, the Holy Spirit will guide you along the way to bring you into the spiritual place where the father deems you to be, given you yield to the Holy Spirit.

The sin would be that Jesus did not believe what his father said about him. Matthew 17:5 New King James Version (NKJV) 5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” It's inherently wrong to know and disobey the word of God. Satan's motivation for testing Jesus was to find out which man was in control, the inner or outer man. The first test, testing of the flesh.

The Lion is the national symbol for the UK. The Lion is also the national symbol for other countries, but when you evaluate their position on the world stage of influence they'er non existence. The leopard is identified with Germany. The eagle as well. Rome is identified with the eagle as well. I quick web search can provide some examples.

I understood it as symbolic, Bear,Lion, Leopard. Do you view the entire bible literally? The scripture is prophetic? The scripture is not revealing something for the present but for some other time. That's my current understanding of the scripture.

Daniel 7/Rev 13:2 Beast Middle East View/European View Lion:Babylonian Empire/Great Britain Leopard:Grecian Empire/Germany Bear:Persia Empire/Russia If the scriptures are deemed prophetic and taking into account the time when the scriptures were written, I'm not sure how you can conclude that the scriptures are referring to the middle east. The empires noted above for the middle east were gone once Rome came into the picture. And as of today, Middle east and Empire are not mentioned in the same sentence. As far as rebuilding empires, that's a far stretch since they seem to be going in reverse, with all the fighting and civil wars. The likelihood of a world leader emerging (accepted by non middle eastern countries) from the middle east is a bit remote (Key for the Anti Christ to ascend into a global leadership position). However when considering Europe, the three countries that are also identified with the beast noted in scripture are definitely in rebuilding their respective empires. Germany,Great Britain, and Russia are all rebuilding from prior wars. The Church is also on the decline in Europe and has been for many years, hence a Pope from South America. The whole Islam hysteria is just something to replace Communism. Just thinking out loud here

Exactly Enoc. In some local churches there is the idea that people want to make sure those in leadership are Believers (wouldn't want non-Beleivers leading a ministry in the church IMO) and in agreement with some basic doctrines... All minstry leaders attended a three year decispleship program, and later attended a leadership program. Upon completion of the decispleship program, you are asked if you would like to join a ministry or contiune on the path to become an ordain minister. In decipleship you lean not to throw anyone into mistry without first evaluating and equipming them.

Yes, this scripture does support that prayer can change GOD,s mind if we conclude that prayer means conversation, and GOD changed his mind based on Moses interceding on his behalf, for his own name sake and not for the people's sake. That's what Moses prayed for. Did he not kill all those who stood against Moses? Did he not wait until all those except a few die in the wilderness, before moving them into the promise land? In summary, he did what he said he would do, but only over a longer time frame to give Moses time to understand his wisdom.

I was a member of a large church for 7 years Memberships was required to join any ministry. As a member you were requested to attend a new members class. The classes provided some foundation christian teaching, and church history. The church was 104 years old, and it was on its 4th Pastor. Membership provided a greater level of communication with what the church was doing in the community, and around the world along with providing an avenue for getting connected and involved.

The scripture does not state that GOD decided to kill Hezekiah, and later changed his mind based on Hezekiah's prayer, but instead provided Hezekiah with a forewarning that he should get his house in order since he was not going to recover from his sickness and die. Hezekiah prayed and asked for GOD's help and GOD stepped in an helped him. I'm don't see this scripture supporting prayer changes GOD's mind since he did not intend to Kill Hezekiah from the start.

Interesting point....Can prayer change GODs decision? I don't think so, but I'm open to some scriptual support to the contrary. Based on the verse above, it dosen;t seem like he changed his mind, he just pushed the end date out. Again from GODs perspective 15 yrs is not much, if GOD says a day is like a thousand years for him.

GOD does not exsist in time he is eternal. As far as your birth and death dates being written in stone, I tend not to agree. IMO if GOD does not exsist in time Kronos, but in eternity Kiros, then your birth and death is more event driven as opose to time driven. Scripture states that one day is like a thousand years to GOD. So he knows when you are going to enter and leave the world, but an actual date maybe important to us but to him its a done deal regardless.

Psalm 23:5 New King James Version (NKJV) 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Part of being a Christian is serving, but then there are times you will be served. IMO the verse highlights a time when David acknowledges the lord stepped in to serve him. And it occurs at a time when he was about to be overtaken by his enemies. Note when you are being served you are not required to do anything but sit and wait for the meal to be presented.

In some instances, it takes time to prepare the vessel to receive new wine (Truth/Revelation). Matthew 9:17 New King James Version (NKJV) 17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Interesting, I don't believe the Bible contradicts itself, in most instances its caused by a limited revelation of scriptures. By taking the scripture literally, which by the way does not change Christ position, only reveals to me that his return is closer than most think. In this day and time everyone knows what's a tattoo. By the way is there a difference between the Levitical and Melchizedek priesthood?

IMO most Christians lack spiritual maturity to step beyond the human condition. They are bound by culture, tradition, and plain old fear. None of these things should hinder someone walking with GOD. Matthew 12:29 New King James Version (NKJV) 29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.