Riverwalker

The concept of iron sharpening iron is that a good healthy debate on scripture by a group of people who are familiar with scripture can "argue" their points and come to a c0ncensus through humbly listening to each one says. A lovely thing when it happens. but more often than not it becomes and ego driven chest bumping head thumping bonanza To keep such a debate in check we have to do several things Realize that we probably do not know it all Realize that someone else might be able to add to our understanding Set aside the need to defend theologies which we embrace but that are not completely defined in scripture (rapture and end times come to mind) Listen(read) then speak(type) Be humble.....allow yourself to learn what can be learned if it turns into a hamster wheel (lots of action going no where) of endless and fruitless argument walk away....there is no winning here, only loosing I keep going back to my mountain analogy. Christianity is like a mountain standing up in a valley We have one here in California called Mount Shasta. 4 different people can look at it from different angles, and see something that looks a little different, but if we all share our perspective and humbly listen to others our understanding can be greatly increased. Winning an argument is useless. Gaining understanding is the key

I find an interesting correlation between "and only a few find it." and "He who seeks, finds" Which is stated just 6 verses before verse 14 in Matthew 7 Available to all....who seek it...who WANT it As always thank you for posting

I do not believe require tithing is active in NT times, 2 Corinthians 9:. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of [f]necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. that being said. If you do, or you decide that tithing is what you want to do. then it is based on 10% of all your increase....which would mean gambling winnings

While eating healthy is admirable I find no biblical impetus to make this a spiritual imperative

I am reminded of the passage of the armor of God How we are to Gird our waist with truth Take on the breastplate of Righteousness Shod our Feet with the preparation of peace Don the helmet of salvation Take up the shield of faith and arm yourself with the sword of the Spirit. Ephesians 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. You are right we are not made to be invaders, or assaulters. Our battle that is not of flesh and blood is one of defense. Sometimes we are called to advance to place our ring of defense around something or someone. But in the end, we stand, and overcome through the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony

To my knowledge there is only one sin that is not forgivable. And except f0r that only one that is not forgiven. The unrepented sin. 1 Corinthians 6 lists many sins that can keep you from heaven, and then encourages to turn away from them 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. We were all sinners....we cannot ever claim any righteousness of our own Love the picture btw very cheery

I'll count on that, or jelly beans, or anything except the federal government run by liberals to have my best interest at heart

Unfortunately the virus keeps mutating as virus' do . So WHICH vaccine

I watch the highlights. I like them all, but I am super impressed with Women's gymnastics, those women fly

Many are called but few are chosen Probably for me one of the hardest sayings in the bible. But what does it really mean? It was a wedding day...the festivities were set...but there was a problem with the guests. ---------------------------------------- Matthew 22: 22 1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them [a]spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 10 So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.” ------------------------------------ verses 1-10 are obviously talking about the people of God, the Jews, and they rejection of Jesus and the Prophets by Jewish leaders But I believer verses 11"-14 is talking about us gentiles, who upon the grace of God were called and allowed to join the wedding celebration. What is it that delineates the called from the chosen? Are some more worthy than others? Does God capriciously choose who will enjoy eternal life and suffer eternal death? Or is it something else. Is it level of commitment that God is looking for If you were invited by a king to attend a royal wedding, would you wear the same clothes you slopped the pigs in? No of course not. You would clean yourself up, make a change in what you clothe yourself with, wear your finest. Be on your best behavior and come with an attitude of grace and honor. Not bust in the place, scratch yourself and say "where's the grub"? So to...is the kingdom of heaven. There is nothing we can do to earn the invite, but we can commit ourselves to the process. Clean our selves up, renew our mind, repent of sin, act in a manner appropriate to one who has been invited into the family of God. Not bust into the church and say "that's great God, I'll take you along where I Go....and do all I want to do" We cannot earn salvation, but we must OWN it. --------------------------- Matthew 25:31-46 New King James Version The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations 31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the [a]holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” --------------------------------------------- Everyone thought they were in the herd....until Jesus sorted them out by their attitude. Again I want to stress this is not about earning your salvation.....but rather about owning it. If you really believe you are saved by the grace of God, then you will live like it. ------------------ Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

So in other words you have no scripture to support your ideas

Gravity is a law one of Newton's observed and tested....it only becomes theoretical when your are light years into space and it cannot be observed And a round earth is fact....not theory. been observed and tested.

Science is not something you should have to believe in. If something is demonstrated as an empirical fact through observation, testing, retesting and verification then it is a fact. Nothing to believe. If something is not proven, cannot be tested, has not been observed and has not been verified (such as the various origin theories) it is not a fact....and should not be "believed" in Science is not about belief. It is not theology, it is not philosophy it is the study of what is... not what you want something to be. Science does begin with the conclusion then stravage around trying to prop of up that conclusion....it collects facts.

source?

Agreed, even if you take a hit. Matthew 16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Do not under estimate the power of the people. I actually have some hope. It seems the more they try to oppress us and get us to shut up, the more our message is being heard....and the shriller they sound The power to rule is granted by the majority of the uninformed. The informed right and the informed left know where they stand and will not likely change that stance, they are like two shores containing a vast sea of people who are not informed, frankly ignorant and easily swayed people who right now think they are doing the right thing by caring about peoples various desires. The left has become quite adept at manipulating these people with lies, but the only stronger power is the truth...and I have hope that as the lies begin to collapse, the truth will prevail.

Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their [c]proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

Whoa this guy was a train wreck of doctrine two statements hit me hardest 1. In 1963, Branham preached a sermon in which he indicated he was a prophet with the anointing of Elijah, who had come to herald Christ's second coming. 2. Branham predicted the rapture would happen by 1977 and would be preceded by various worldwide disasters, the unification of denominational Christianity, and the rise-to-power of the Roman Catholic Pope. There are many others that seem quite contradictory but those two define Self aggrandizement (1) and false Pr4ophecy(2) and everything falls apart after that Do I think he was a Charlatan? No....he never sought money, nor the fame that his sycophantic followers gave him. Do I think he was misguided.....yes. I mean even the Charismatics found his views "out there" Some of his stuff I agree with Annihilationism is one and others such as serpent seed? I think this guy was well meaning but definitely off the reservation.

Yes there is a huge responsibility, but in the end the success or failure of the believer is based on their own actions Some will give an ear to preachers who blow sunshine up your skirt, promise you everything, take you money and leave in the same shape as they found, but if such is a case, you have some ownership here And if you let it happened twice....well. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me We need to be like the people of Berea Acts 17:11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

Nice post. Yeah I tried for a time to reconcile man's theory with God's truth.....thinking about a gap theory and all until I read what Jesus said in Mark 10 Mark 10: 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, And I realized one of two things is the truth 1. God lied, in some grand conspiracy either because He is evil, or He thought we would never figure it out ( and that would mean his is not omniscient if we have figured out) 2. God told the truth and we are allowing ourselves to be swayed by our own pride into figuring out how it happened differently that the 6 days and speaking things into existence. Evolution is the emperor's new clothes....if you can't see them, its because you are not "cool" and yet with a child like faith we see the truth. Believe God, because He very clearly stated how and when he made it, with light existing before the sun moon and stars, birds and fish being created the same day, a day before land animals, and man being created from the dust of the earth and breathed life into him Or Believe God is a liar and take the word of men

Just word play

Then let us ensure that we are fully infect by the one strain

I have always held to the notion that you have to stand for something or you will fall for anything. And when you stand up in a seated crowd, you will garner attention, both good and bad. Many will come at you with the most hateful comments to get you to sit down and shut up But that is one thing we must not do, Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

And yet surprisingly enough I need neither your permission nor approval to state my opinion It was said again because 13 pages later the same heads are bashing into the same bricks walls with nothing accomplished...the definition of insanity

I have been reading much of this and it is twisting me sideways, I would only comment that this whole discussion must be taking out of the context of man's understanding and perception and placed into God's God is eternal...everywhen. He is omniscient because He is there 30 years ago, thirty years from now or 3000 years fore and aft. God knows every choice we will make, and this "foreknowledge" allows him to "predestine" our path to bring us to the point of that choice. But everything....falls on that choice Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, (Insert Choice to Answer the Call Here) these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.