OakWood

Actually there's enough food produced in the World to feed the entire population twice over. We don't need more food. The reason people are starving is because of war, politics, distribution etc.

This is common everywhere and has been happening for years. Israel is the only nation in the World that is not allowed to have its own capital named and placed where it should be. Political Correctness dictates that we now call many country capitals by the original name of the native tongue (Peking is now Beijing, for example), or we recognise the capital cities of rogue states, but Israel has no such privilege. This shows that there is tremendous bias against Israel, and only Israel. In fact, a few years ago the BBC in Britain broadcast a list of nations (I forget what the program was, but it was a live one) and Israel was the only nation that had no capital city. It appeared that the BBC were trying to play safe and gave no name at all. It wasn't until viewers phoned in and complained that Israel was given a capital. I forget now what city was given - it might have been Tel-Aviv or it might have been Jerusalem. In many Arab textbooks, they don't even recognise Israel, never mind Jerusalem as being the capital city. Some textbooks denote the entire area as being called Palestine! It's proof of God's existence and proof of the influence of Satan on this World, because a tiny nation such as Israel should have no special significance in a World that is always complaining about human rights and persecution, a World in which there are countries such as China (which occupies Tibet). China never has the same problems being recognised.

I think the problem here is not the message but the interpretation of it. The video wasn't clear (in my opinion). It really did appear to me to have a somewhat different message to the one that I saw.

Now I can agree with you there.

No. You gave the impression that it wasn't about God punishing people for the sins of the World such as homosexuality, Atheism etc. but because they hadn't got time for God. Here's some info for you - Christians do have time for God, Atheists and homosexuals don't. Why are people unaware? Because they don't believe in God and they don't believe in scripture. Atheists would definitely fit in this category don't you think?

Just google "is it possible to have a bad trip on marijuana" and read the links especially the witness accounts and the medical research. I won't post any of the links here, but just investigate it. Because marijuana slows down ones' perception of time, a bad experience can seem to last a longer than it actually does.

It's all a matter of definition, but some drugs alter your perception of reality and some don't.

Brain-altering is not the same as mind-altering. Caffeine does not affect your perceptions of reality or alter your state of consciousness. It does not affect your take on reality. Millions of coffee-drinkers around the World do not need a scientific article to verify whether coffee makes them 'trip' or not. Besides they don't sink coffee after coffee after coffee to get high. They don't shout from the rooftops the medical benefits of coffee and declare that there's nothing wrong with it. Of course coffee has side effects if used in excess, but so has dope and the ones from dope are far worse. You also talk about stereotypes as if I don't know what I am talking about. I talk from personal experience. I tripped on marijuana, I know others that have. I know dope-smokers and what they are like. I was around the stuff for years. I know the junk that dope-smokers talk about, the false wisdom that they have, the self-deceptions they have, the giggling, the occasional paranoia. As for the pot-smokers in your place of work - were they stoned at the time they processed the forms? Were they off their heads? Dope may not slow down anyone's speed in one-off tests but it does lead to general lethargy in the long run. You sound as if you are claiming that marijuana actually improved their performances, that is definitely what you are implying? You sound like the drunk-driver who claims that he drives better when he's had a few. Just excuses to justify a terrible, dangerous habit. I've heard it all before, constant excuses to justify a bad habit. This is no different to homosexuals who justify their perversion by claiming that 'Jesus loves everybody' or adulterers who justify their sins by claiming that 'well, I'm not hurting anybody'. You're justifying marijuana-smoking by claiming that people who you worked with could all do their jobs properly and still smoke dope. Oh well that's great - let's all go out and pollute our bodies shall we? - It might cause long-term health problems or long-term psychoses but at least we'll be able to process our tax returns quickly! Guess what? Cocaine improves one's speed and reflex actions, it also increases wakefulness and alertness. That's great. Maybe I should try some. Maybe I should ignore the addiction, the cardiac problems associated with it and try snorting a line or two. What about heroin? I'm sure that must have some benefits too. At least I might get a good night's sleep if I took some. I've heard all this before. Justification of a bad habit by pointing out some of its benefits. The list goes on and on. I've heard this 'legalise cannabis' debate going on for decades. The dope-smokers always come out with this nonsense while sitting in a dark room passing a joint between each other and pontificating on such wisdom. Mutually patting each other on the back while agreeing with each other that the World doesn't understand them. Claiming that their drug of choice is not addictive but nevertheless having the urge to risk their jobs and livelihoods to slip off to the toilets and have a crafy 'puff' in private. "It's not addictive at all" they claim but they can't stop taking the stuff or talking about it all the time. They even have little tobacco tins with marijuana leaves painted on them to symbolise their love for the weed. They'll even grow their own in little plant-pots and water their cannabis plants daily with loving care while preaching how alcohol is a far worse drug. As if something far worse can ever justify the use of something that's not as bad. That's like saying "I cheat on my wife, but I'm not really an adulterer because some men cheat on their wives far more often that I do and they have more than one mistress." In truth the only justification that marijuana users have for legalising their drug is that some people may have medical uses for it and that other drugs are far worse. That's absolutely no excuse for using marijuana for recreational use. I'm aware that opiates can be very effective pain-killers for those who are in severe pain but it doesn't give me any excuse to sit around smoking opium or injecting myself with heroin does it?

Coffee is NOT a mind-altering drug. It is a stimulant but that's not the same thing. You can drive a car on coffee without any effect on your perception, your reflexes or reaction speed, or your hand-to-eye coordination. You can't safely drive a car when stoned. Marijuana changes thought patterns, slows down perception of time and can induce paranoia. In large doses it can lead to minor hallucinations and distortions of reality. People have strange thoughts when under the influence of marijuana. They believe in certain things that they would not believe in when not under the influence. Dope-smokers refer to this as deep-thinking and believe it gives them profound wisdom when in reality it just makes them think nonsense. It also reduces testosterone levels and can lead to gynaecomastia (breast growth) in men. I personally know of one person who suffered from this caused by years of marijuana consumption. I will admit though that this condition is rare. I know from personal experience that marijuana does such things. I know (or did know) many marijuana smokers and what rubbish they talk when they are stoned. They are also prone to periods of sluggish behaviour. Unlike stimulants, marijuana is not really compatible with productivity and hard work. I know of three people (including myself) who have experienced terrible distortions of reality when heavily stoned, things which some people may refer to as a 'bad trip'. However, I have to admit that such incidences are rare and most smokers are unaffected by it. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as 'dope psychosis'. Marijuana does not normally cause hallucinations but it can do, and when it does the effects can be profound and very frightening. Coffee and marijuana are apples and oranges. There is no valid comparison between the two. Most people drink coffee in moderation as a useful stimulant to induce wakefulness, but most marijuana users smoke to get 'high'. They derive no other benefit from it. I'm not saying it has no benefits, it can ease the symptoms of Parkinson's disease for example, but most marijuana users use this as an excuse to try and get the drug legalised - yet they are not suffering from Parkinson's themselves. I've never heard of a marijuana user claim that marijuana should be legalised but 'only on prescription for a valid medical reason and with prosecution and severe penalties for those who use it without medical permission'. The day that they do that is the day that I will believe that their motives are not suspicious. Instead they always seem to waffle on about the medical benefits of it then use that as an excuse to light up another joint! I don't believe that any Christian can justify recreational marijuana use. The only ones that I know of are Rastafarians, and they are crazy enough to believe that an Ethiopian emperor is the Messiah, so they're not really Christians. I do believe however that Christians can struggle with addiction like anybody else and some Christians probably do smoke dope as a hangover from their pre-Christian life. But no Christian can endorse it. I personally am a cigarette smoker. I wish to stop but I am struggling. It's possible to be a Christian and smoke cigarettes but I would never claim that God approves of it. Likewise, it's possible to be a Christian and occasionally smoke marijuana if its something that you personally find difficult to give up, but you can never claim that God endorses it, and a Christian should never take up marijuana smoking. There is no reason to endorse the consumption of cannabis. If you do so then it's possible that you are trying to use to scripture to justify your own weakness and give authenticity to it.

Kim Jong-un has executed a senior North Korean official by firing squad because he did not sit properly during a meeting. Education minister Kim Yong-Jin, 63, was shot dead after his 'bad sitting posture' in parliament incurred the wrath of the North Korean dictator. The slouching vice premier was interrogated and found to be an 'anti-revolutionary agitator' before his execution in July, a South Korean official said. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3768569/Kim-Jong-executes-education-minister-firing-squad-not-sitting-properly-meeting.html

I does, you're right and I'm not denying it, but this video is suggesting that people are to be punished for such things. Note how it rules out Atheism, homosexuality and so on.... as a cause of God's wrath and makes out that God is punishing people for getting married and so on....

If Christians were to mysteriously vanish, how would the World explain it? How would you feel if you were working in a field and the man next to you suddenly levitated, rose into the air and flew up into heaven? It would be as if you had just seen a ghost. The rest of the World would be so scared at seeing it, they would no longer have any excuse not to believe in the supernatural. They would know that Christians were right all along and practically nobody would fall for the lies of the AntiChrist. I personally know an Atheist who laughed at the fact that Christians believed in a rapture. He said that if he ever saw it happen, he would believe in God's existence immediately but because he was sure it never would happen, he would never have any proof of the existence of God. That's one reason why a pre-Trib rapture is ridiculous. It would immediately send a signal out to the wicked and they would be forced to believe in God out of fear not choice. A miracle such as the rapture would be one of the biggest news events in history. How would you explain where all these missing people had gone to? Everybody would either personally know somebody who had disappeared, or would know of somebody who has. Scientists would be discussing it for months,scratching their heads as to what caused it. It would be the biggest event in history and would change the World forever. It would be a miracle witnessed by millions, the biggest miracle of all time. The fact that people in the book of Revelation never mention a rapture but go about their everyday lives as if nothing special had happened suggests that no great miracle will happen before the Tribulation.

So what this video is saying, unless I am mistaken, is that Jesus was criticising people for planting seeds, getting married, eating and drinking etc. and has cleverly ruled out homosexuality, genetic manipulation, Atheism etc. When Jesus said it would be like in the days of Noah, he means that people would be going about their every day lives unsuspectingly. He wasn't criticising them for doing that, as this video suggests. He was merely pointing out that they would be unaware of what was about to happen to them. This video has a whiff of Political Correctness and socialist propaganda about it.

You are correct, it is happening in the Muslim World too. Proof that Jesus is the truth and Mohammed was a false prophet. You are confused about what the term 'chosen people' means. You seem to think that we are declaring that God loves the Jews more than anybody else. The Jews are no better, no worse than anybody else. God has simply chosen them for a specific purpose. His promise to the World is carried out THROUGH them.

That's pretty odd, but probably means nothing.

My advice is stay away from HuffPo. This is the same entity that published an article claiming that Jesus was the first transgender man. Absolute trash. If this guy journalist has been excluded from HuffPo then he should be saying good bye to bad rubbish.

It's very difficult to know where to draw the line here. Are we meant to criticise individuals even if they are public figures? To say that Hillary is demon-possessed is probably crossing the line (but if I'm honest with myself it wouldn't surprise me if she was). It could be that she is just ill - Parkinson's being one option. I am biased towards her because I don't like her. I don't hate her, and I want her to be saved, but I really don't like her, but trying my very hardest not to be biased and be completely fair - I have to say that there is certainly something strange happening with her.

It's not the final parting.... it's a temporary one. Prophecy explains all this. You are really acting like a 'replacement theologist'. God has made it clear that he still has a role for the Jews. They are still the chosen people whether you like it or not. The Jews may have transgressed but so would you have if you and your kind had been elected to be the chosen people. Nobody is perfect and the Jews have had a tremendous responsibility thrown upon them. They failed to uphold that responsibility - they are only human. Humans fail because we are all in a fallen state. You don't understand scripture... you've made that clear. You are falling for anti-Semitic lies. The Jews are the canaries in the coalmine. He who hates the Jews hates God.

I don't think it was meant to be a blanket statement, but perhaps it's a naive one. There are Messianic Jews who integrate and there are Messianic Jews who separate themselves.... Messianic Jews come in different shapes and colours.

I'm not trying to put something into the video that isn't there. It's a good video and I enjoyed it. I'm expanding on the subject.

Technically you are correct, but then again I'm wondering if such people were ever really saved in the first place. It sounds to me that they knew the truth, tasted God's goodness but then rejected it. If you taste something so good but still reject it then I guess that deep down you never wanted it in the first place. It reminds me of a story that I heard where a Christian street preacher approaches a self-confessed Satanist and tries to witness to him. The Satanist is a tattooed thug who surprisingly is willing to listen. The preacher slowly and patiently explains to the Satanist how Jesus died for him and the Satanist politely listens without interruption. After a lengthy lecture on scripture and a gentle but marvelously non-judgemental appeal to the Satanist, the preacher concludes his sermon with a message of love. The Satanist then politely replies (without malice), and he tells the preacher that he knew this already and he knows the Bible as well as anybody and he believes every word of it, but he doesn't care because he's chosen Satan anyway. He then bids the preacher farewell and continues on his way. Some people know the truth but don't care. They are aware of the consequences of their actions but still choose to follow their own path.

Is salvation conditional? Yes and no. As Willa claims in her post..... if you don't get saved you probably never belonged to God in the first place. So is salvation conditional? Yes and no. I'm sorry for giving a cryptic answer.... but I'm sure that others will explain better than I can right now. Let's put it this way - technically it's unconditional but your own actions may determine whether it really is or not. Only God knows what's in your heart.

I agree with a lot of this, but I'll have to read it again. The antiChrist is known as 'the Assyrian' so that definitely links him with Syria or somewhere thereabouts.

The two problems that I have with gamatria is that it can be rigged to fit just about any name you wish, and secondly salvation is not meant to be based on an IQ contest. Let's use Vladimir Putin for example (some have claimed that he is the antiChrist). Do we use his full name, Vladimir Vladimirivitch Putin? Do we use his name using the Hebrew alphabet? Or do we use his name using the Russian Cyrilic alphabet (he is Russian after all) and his name in the Russian alphabet is Владимир Путин. Perhaps we should use the Greek alphabet because the New Testament was originally written in Greek! So many candidates have been suggested for the role of the antiChrist by using the letters of their name to add up to 666 that it's getting ridiculous now. Also, if we have to solve a word puzzle to identify somebody then that doesn't say a lot for God's choices. Imagine lots of loyal (but not very clever) Christians being fooled into taking the mark just because they weren't very good at word games, while on the other hand a number of devious but smart people solve the riddle and avoid taking it. It's not fair and it doesn't make sense. I think we'll solve the riddle of 666 when it happens. It will all make sense to the wise when it occurs, but fools will ignore it. It doesn't have to be that cryptic to go unspotted. To those who are saved it will stand out like a sore thumb, to those who aren't it either won't stand out at all or they'll ignore it as being stupid Christian superstition. It could be based on a name, it might be a different kind of thing - it might be a logo, it might be a symbol. Who knows? We have a better chance of working out the identity of the antiChrist by watching the World that we live in and the actions of various people rather than trying to decipher the riddle of 666. The Bible gives us other clues to the identity of this man and we should focus on those. If as a result of this the answer to 666 pops up as well, then that will be extra confirmation.

This is the lawyer that I mentioned in my previous post. Anyway I'd better shut up now in case Hillary goes after me.