crochetlady

Our daughter and family live in the Denver, Colo area and went to the Walmart -- it was Packed. Didn't get anything much, though. Just went for the curiosity of it. :-)

Distributing a book by a Fire Chief -- considering the subject -- he probably should have made it available Outside of the work place. He should have known it would cause problems and maybe used other means of sharing his beliefs. And, yes, we Do need to be taking a positive stand for Biblical morality -- but we Also need to consider the various means available. Written words have to be Read -- verbal conversation might be more effective.

I like to listen to Dr. David Jeremiah -- James MacDonald -- Jack Graham -- Jonathan Falwell is also fairly good. And there are also those I Don't listen to. Actually I don't really Like DirectTV that much -- but it's better than the 'snow' we'd get other wise. For a long time we were able to get good reception on just TV -- then we had to research various companies available -- and Direct was the least expensive and we could have multiple TV's watching various channels. independently. And there are those who believed that the Authorized version of the KJV was 'authorized' by the Holy Spirit, when in fact it was authorized by King James.

This is the first time I've heard of God T.V. We've got Direct TV -- never heard of the man -- is that on Cable? or where? And, yes, it's Always sad when someone on TV or Any leader messes up like that.

And it Is a good idea to fellowship with other believers -- but there's no need to be struggling with maintaining any power of the Holy Spirit and being With other believers doesn't make any difference. In other wards being alone Or with other people -- has no effect on maintaining power of the Holy Spirit. Do you fellowship with a Pentecostal Group? Kind of sounds like it. It kind of sounds like seeking an "emotional high" -- that's Not what salvation is about. The Christian life will have it's ups and downs. But a continual emotional high is Not realistic.

There are a couple of posts I'd like to comment about -- GoldenEagle was talking about fasting / 40 days or so / with no food or water. For one thing it isn't healthy. The body Needs water on a regular basis. You'd commented that it was really the 'flesh' talking. That if God were to chose one of His elect to do so - they Could -- well -- yes, but Jesus Christ was the only one who sustained for 40 days in the wilderness and withstood satan's temptations -- and then you commented about the 3 1/2 years -- the Great Tribulation period. Born again believers won't be around for that time. They'll be with Christ. But are we really supposed to challenge God with our attempts to show super spirituality or whatever it is that you'd be trying to do? Fresno Joe The strength of the Holy Spirit? Being alone is putting yourself at high risk for spiritual Death? The Holy Spirit comes to indwell a person at the moment of salvation -- He never leaves us until we are with Christ. A person receives spiritual Life upon salvation / the indwelling of the Holy Spirit Gives us spiritual life.

First - you need to acknowledge How you got into the financial mess in the 1st place. Was it poor money management on your part? Was it part of a divorce? Sometimes 'life' happens and we get into financial messes. Then - think about your Wants Vs. your Needs. If you don't have the money for it Now -- don't get it. Biblically -- honor the Lord -- acknowledge that what you Do have comes from Him. Well -- except for your indebtedness -- That has been Your doing -- unless you've been divorced and have ended up with the indebtedness from your spouse. Our older daughter has gone through a nasty divorce -- she'll never be out of debt. A person Can have certain amount taken directly from the pay check. Consolidation of payments. Talking with the creditors. People Do declare bankrupsy -- ruins your credit rating -- some things aren't 'forgiven' that way. I'd try all other options 1st , though. Reconsider your life style / figure out your 'means' and stay within That.

1 Corinthians 15 -- Gospel in a nutshell. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins , according to Scripture -- that He rose again after 3 days -- thus proving that He was Indeed who He said He was God's Son. So -- there is the need to believe in God in the 1st place. That Jesus Christ was / is His only Begotten Son rather than simply a good religious teacher of that time in history. The need to believe in the virgin birth of Jesus -- because without the Virgin birth -- He'd be just like any other Jewish man. And if He were just another Jewish man -- He'd die just like every other person in his Own sin. But Being the son of God -- He was the Perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Our sins were put on Him -- He died with them -- went to hell IN OUR PLACE -- thus paying the 'wages' of our sins (death). He rose bodily from the dead -- and after 40 days or so , He ascended back to heaven to be at the right hand of God the Father. And He WILL come back again to receive us to Himself. And, there is Nothing we can do on our own to pay for our own sins. No good works on our part will ever be good enough to earn our way to heaven. So Those things you Do need to believe in your heart 1st and Then confess them with your mouth. You said you believe in a metaphoric way. Maybe you need to explain what you mean by That. Do you believe that God's Word is really True? Were Adam and Eve real people? For instance.

Yes, the book of Revelation Does talk about the sealing of the 144,000 of all the tribes of Israel -- chapter 7 -- they will be going out during the 7 year tribulation period to evangelize the Jewish population. vs 9 talks about the great multitudes from every nation , tribe , people and language who'd come out of the great tribulation. The tribes were scattered because of their disbelief. They absorbed into other nations.

Lots of times we Don't know a person's stand on Scripture / whether or not they Are believers until we've had a chance to get to know them. The 'friendship evangelizing' is a very good idea. Actually -- that's what we Should be doing. 'Living ' our Christianity. Actually, the only contact I've had with atheists is through another Forum that I'm on. Over time I've discussed evolution / 'gay' rights / young earth vs old earth. / Adam and Eve - Allegory or real history. Notice that several of those are on the same subject. When we Do take opportunities to share God's Word with others -- the Holy Spirit Does use it to get into their hearts. And I'll readily admit that I'm much more 'vocal' on a Forum than in person. When I am 'person to person' I don't have the advantage of stopping to think First and then responding -- I'm Not a fast thinker. I've been an at-home person when raising my kids. Am mostly with believers. So I can't relate to work- place conversations. And trying to prove that God exists won't get far, either. Mostly our life will tell others what we do and don't believe in. And, as I've mentioned -- Forums are anonymous. A person feels Much freer to share openly about Scripture or whatever.

God DID create Eve for Adam and told them to be fruitful and multiply. Our two sons are in their mid to late 30's and neither have married. Our two daughters have married. But the concept of Jesus / God being 'enough' -- well -- for Some singleness isn't a problem. For others it Is. God leads people together or Not. Our younger son felt led to be in 'ministry' -- however, he Also felt that since one of the qualifications For ministry is to be husband of a wife. Since he's been single -- he Hoped that during Bible college that God would lead him to a young lady. He was interested in one or two -- but nothing ever came of that. He also is trying to survive on a p/t job -- two jobs didn't pan out very well. For one reason or another employees don't like to be around guys with morals. But he also is legally blind in one eye which disqualifies him for certain kinds of jobs. Kinda like the people who tell the 'poor folk' that money isn't everything -- God will take care of them. Spoken by those who Have a good job and a nice house, etc. And, yes, it Is those who are in good marriages that Have their 'needs' being met. Good point. It's Possible that those from a RCC system of belief -- men who devote themselves to God / women who become nuns. They are 'married' to God ..... but....... Yes, our personal relationship to God through Jesus Christ Is the most important relationship -- eternal life is at stake. And each person Should be looking to what God would have us to do. We develop various levels of 'relationship' as we work with / socialize with others.

To GoldenEagle #27 What is the problem with driving 45 minutes to a church? Well -- cause in This area there's nothing Local about it -- our younger son had been home on vacation from college and was invited to visit the church. Well -- it's in another town -- so I assumed it would be a one-Sunday visit. To further answer your question -- the traveling is mostly out in the country -- no bathroom stops along the way and my 'system' is fairly unpredictable. My husband and son - the younger one who's not around here any more - are pro KJV. I grew up with KJV and have since gravitated to NKJV and NIV. We're in a liberal area. My husband's job transferred him / us to this area 25 yrs ago. Our small town is Check / Catholic and we're neither. Yes, all churches Do teach something. We went to a church for a while that / while the Pastor Did preach from KJ -- he managed to preach from passages with very little doctrine -- we realized after a while that he wasn't teaching doctrine. It was Strange. We left and kept on visiting churches trying to find one that taught Bible with authority and wasn't in process of loosing a pastor or looking for a new one. In this area -- church becomes more of a social center -- lots of activities -- but Where did Bible go? Maybe it's a sign of the times -- people don't Want to hear sound doctrine -- they Prefer to Not have their conscience pricked by Scripture -- and the congregation Does hire / pay the pastor. Last year or so -- our church's youth pastor was being ordained. Pastor asked all the former pastors in the congregation to come forward for the laying on of hands. Since pastor knew that 'we' were formerly pastor and wife many , many years ago -- he was one of 8 men who went up. That amazed me -- 8 former pastors. A possible 'sign' that churches don't want Bible taught with any authority. And I agree-- watching Dr. Jeremiah and Jack Graham on T. V. and 'It Is Written' -- are Not a substitute for church. But -- I guess that my being on several Forums is my 'outlet' for sharing with others on various topics. I've gotten into some interesting 'discussions' over the past months. Years.

My understanding of the 'gathering up of believers' / rapture / is that at Some time in the future -- Christ Will return in the air for born-again believers. And That will be the ending of the 'time of the Gentiles'. Then there will be a 7-yr period -- as talked about in Daniel -- the final 'one' of the 70 years. 69 have already passed. So the 70th week / 7 years / is yet to come. And half-way through That / 3 1/2 years/ will be the beginning of the Great Tribulation. The Antichrist will make himself known. And Then after the last 3 1/2 years -- Jesus Christ will return bodily to the Mt.of Olives. Armageddon will take place -- and Then the 1,000 year reign of Christ from Jerusalem will take place. Also from my understanding -- the last 7 years will be specially for the Jewish people who remain and will have their time to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. There will be 144,000 Jews who will be 'sealed' and go about witnessing to other Jews. So -- I'm a pre-tribulation rapture person. Most of this is based on 1 Thessalonians 4: 13 - 18 and the other part of from Daniel 9 : 24 -27.

Not being involved in a local church can result from a variety of circumstances. We'd moved to a small community a number of years ago intending to support the small local Baptist church because we are Baptist and at the time - there was a good Bible teaching pastor. What we hadn't known was that the community was Chek / Catholic -- all we knew was that it was a very small community with a lot for sale that we could afford. We'd lived out in the country and didn't really know anything about the town. We'd lived in other small communities and did just fine -- but Now the church has changed pastors several times and doesn't really teach anything. There Is a church 45 minutes from us, but that is Not local. So -- my husband can travel and it's no longer practical for Me to travel that distance. So -- I have 'church' via T.V. Dr. Jeremiah and other preachers on Sunday mornings. But I Do miss being part of a church service -- and now that it gets darker lots earlier -- my night driving doesn't allow for much driving, either. But I DO share on various Forums. And I enjoy Bible study / researching / sharing with others. So -- to simply choose to Not fellowship with other believers is Not to our well being / advantage.

Well -- is a person Large because they are big boned? Or are they obese and have Tried to loose weight for the sake of their health and can't seem to do so. And people Shouldn't make fun of an over-weight person. However -- people aren't born overweight. One of my nephews weighted almost 11 pounds at birth. But he's never been over weight. So -- my thought is that as long as the 'obese'/ large person Is eating nutriously and getting exercise / out walking a lot. A doctor knows their personal situation and they are doing the best they can given their situation in life -- well -- heart disease / diabetes are potential problems. A friend of mine had gastric by-pass surgery a few years ago -- she was doing great -- then something happened and depression crept up on her again. So - for her there are emotional aspects, also. So -- just be sure that you are being the healthiest person you Can be. And, No -- people Don't laugh or make course comments -- it doesn't help at all.