ravindran

I have not seen the full video. From what I remember, it was not a straight forward question with a straight forward answer. If my memory serves right, it was about people of other religion who have never heard the name of Jesus and have already died. Today we have the privilege of internet and such a massive reach. But so many people have died without hearing the name of Jesus even once. And that is still happening in some remote tribes. What about them? yes, the Bible clearly declares Jesus is THE way. There is no other way to heaven. What if a person never heard the name of Jesus? It is not up to us to judge on that.

Jesus is God. I assume you meant God the Father? Jesus, Father and Holy Spirit constitute the Holy Trinity. Jesus is God. They all are equal. I see nothing wrong to praying to either of them. Praying to Jesus or Holy Spirit is also praying to God. Because Jesus and Holy Spirit are God.

Never knew someone can talk about pretrib from this parable!

This is what Bible says about salvation. It is a gift of God and it is from God alone. That person did not become atheist because of your attack. That person became atheist because of lack of faith. No one can stop a person from being saved. You also say that you have lived a very wicked life and this is the penalty you must face. Jesus took that penalty. On the Cross. He did for all our wickedness. Where sin abounds, His grace abounds even more (not to say we get a free ticket to sin!). To think we would still be penalized for our past sins is to diminish the power of Cross. The Cross and Blood of Jesus is far more powerful that you can imagine. You need to trust on Jesus. Look up to Him. Not to your abilities. You will find peace. And only Jesus can give you peace. Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

I would think so. Because if we cannot get rid of our old memories of sin, we would either feel guilty or get distracted from worshiping God. These are things which will not happen in heaven. So I believe we would never even think of the past.

God's Grace and Mercy.

Repentance is needed for any style of sin. Homosexuality is no exception. Do you think a heterosexual person living in affair without repentance would go to heaven? I think you would not know if the person repents, falls, repents, falls and keeps repeating the cycle and it is a struggle. And slowly coming out of it. Or the person is living in flat rejection to Lord's command and living in sin. There is a big difference between the two. A person does not go to heaven based on self righteousness. And Lord's grace is sufficient to cover any and all sin. The only thing needed is repentance. While we just see the person sinning, we do not know if they are repentant. It probably takes a close relationship with the person to understand where they are with Lord.

I completely agree with what you posted! Drinking is very addictive. Why even give it a chance. We cannot take a legalistic view on this matter. We have to go by principles defined in Bible. We have freedom in Christ. But not everything is beneficial as Paul says. I am not sure how God can be glorified through drinking. Some argue it does no harm. May be slowly it leads to addiction. Or leads the person next to us into addition. Only harm can come through drinking. It is better to avoid it completely.

My humble responses Question 1: Is "Name It and Claim It" a cult hidden in plain sight amongst born-again believers? I would not call it a cult. Definition of cult is as below. These people are not directing their devotion to some one other than Jesus. It's just that they got their doctrine all mixed up. a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object. Question 2: Is the "Prosperity Message" biblical? Depends on what we define as Prosperity Message. Prosperity is definitely a blessing promised by Lord to so many people. However, it does not mean it is a guarantee for everyone. Question 3: How many Christians here on this forum became Christians after hearing someone speaking in tongues? No, it was not because I heard someone speaking in tongues. Question 4: How do you know the language you're speaking is not gibberish? Actually I don't speak in tongues. All my prayers are in my native langauge or English. I would not call them gibberish. Question 5: How did you first start to speak in "tongues"? Refer above. I don't speak in tongues Question 6: What benefit does speaking-in-tongues serve today's church? As long as there is someone to interpret, it will edify the Church. Helps personally as well.

Praying.. Praise God that you are safe out of this accident. That's why our prayers always need to be filled with thanksgiving. We may see only the bad things from an event. We never know what God rescued us from and how He was gracious.

I found this very helpful a while back https://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-it-mean-fear-god/

No, there should be no age restriction. We just have to ensure the person taking baptism understands what it means. That understanding can come at any age. I would rather encourage teenagers to make such decisions. May be they would realize after growing up that they need to rededicate and take baptism with full understanding in their heart. I don't see any problems with that. It would take immense courage and faith for young people to commit to baptism. They should never be forced into though. Most of the youngsters take baptism due to pressure from family. I think that is totally wrong. If someone is genuinely asking for it, then it means something!

I have heard so many such stories. Of how people just realize their time is up and set things right with God. Everyone is saved only through faith. And nothing else. It simply amazes me of our Lord's grace and mercy. That He would reach out to a person until the last minute. I don't think the bath really mattered. What would have mattered is what was going through in his heart. I hope and pray that he had asked for forgiveness of all his sins and asked Jesus to wash him clean with His blood.

This is a good read on OCD, if you think this is really your problem. I am not sure of your situation though since I do not know much details. https://www.gotquestions.org/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-OCD.html I would suggest to stud Word of God more. You would realize that legalism has no place in a believer's life. We have complete and tool liberty in Christ. At the same time we are His slaves.

Why would it even be considered a gift? What is the rationale behind asking if it could be a gift? I know lot of people question whether if it is physical ailment or demonic. This is the first time I am seeing someone ask whether it is a gift!!

The answer is Yes for some people and No for some people. Technology is inherently not evil. But it would be used by devil as a tool to tempt many. And many would fall for that. It is up to an individual to whether fall for those temptations or not. It is the same thing with everything! Money itself is not evil. But many fall for greed over money. Do insane things to get money!

Welcome and will be praying for you! The greatest encouragement is the promise from Lord Himself. He never leaves us or forsakes us. Wanted to post these verses as an encouragement. Romans 8:31-39New Living Translation (NLT) Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[a]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What exactly is the question?

Praying for you

The vastness of the universe only exemplifies majesty of its Creator! Praise the Lord!

It is true persecution is increasing in the west. More than what people probably realize. However, it is true speculation to say it would so worse that it is better off not to have children. Bible does not even give a clue of not having kids when going gets difficult. When Hebrews were slaves in Egypt, they were having kids and growing like anything. Their population was going out of control! It was a blessing from Lord Himself. Psalm 127:3 - Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. If children are heritage from Lord, why people should refrain from having them?

I think we should now stop giving advice to OP that numbers do not make sense or it is not possible to get the numbers. From all the replies, I guess OP does understand what is being conveyed. But seems like still wants to see some trends and so on. Which has been provided as well. Interestingly, this would come up only with Christianity! Because Christianity is the only way of life in which Salvation is not one's own doing. No one question a Hindu whether he is a true Hindu. Same goes with other religions. Because people simple ascribe to a particular religion. Only Christianity shows that it is Lord who saves people and not it is some membership kind of deal!

As many stated, this is one side of the story. Not trying to put down the post by any means. Probably talk with your pastor. Hope you both attend the same Church and have a pastor who can deal with this situation. It is better to talk with someone who knows both of you personally.

I guess only Lord would know a truly reliable count! No one else can. If you mean actual as in born-again, then it is probably not possible to even get such a count!!

This is the third thread I am seeing on the same topic! Seems to have generated quite a lot of interest May be efficient to combine all discussions into a single thread