simplejeff

Potentially good point, for if the religious leaders in the 3rd and 4th and 5th centuries, et al, had left everything up to the Breath of YHWH (God's Holy Spirit), they never would have joined with Constantine to try to make a state ruled religion, and later would not ever have instituted all the pagan doctrines and practices (so-called 'traditions' today) from heathen outsiders to gain their membership and to have power over them (as if), towards a one world religion without YHWH in it at all.

What does YHWH say about so-called "true" heathen/ pagans/ the worldly / carnal apart from (outside of) Christ ?

Perhaps depending on your definition of "controls all", how many SCRIPTURES (verses, in context, validly) state clearly that YHWH does control all ? (especially in particular that everything is orchestrated by Him, He makes ALL THINGS(everything both good and bad) work together and clearly for the GOOD of those who Love God and who are called according to HIS PURPOSE)

Isaiah 1:17 NKJV - Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke - Bible ... https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+1%3A17... - Cached - Similar Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:17 NASB - Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove - Bible ... https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+1%3A17... - Cached - Similar Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:17 - Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend - Bible Gateway https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah 1:17 - Cached - Similar Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

Actually the power behind it, the origin, is much much worse. (and not for this thread / nor this site today) .... (i.e. have to look off-site/ internet search to see what started it.)

Perhaps so... but when people/ posters/ members/ union members/ military members/ civiliam members of any group (many groups represented here) support the group and the group by actions, idealology, practices, teachings, and results all lead to destructiveness, death, rejection of truth, rejection of the Creator Himself, how would you warn them, teach them, tell them, or inform them of what the truth is about their group ?

How did / does/ Jesus , the Apostles, and the disciples in the NEW TESTAMENT bring the GOOD NEWS of SALVATION to the pagan gentiles ? Did they separate all the separate false gods and idols into each their own category ?

Did you see, read, find, or did someone post from God's Word how many people in Scripture questioned God ? And from Scripture, from God's Word, where "We are told we should question the Spirits" ? How did the little children trying to sit on Jesus' Lap "get to really know Him?" .... (Did the disciples know Him as perfectly as the little children did in the Scripture account?)

Amein. I think joy also, peace and joy , peace that no one can shake, not like the world gives, and joy (not depression) unspeakable(deep wonderful joy in union with Y'SHUA, in spirit, in all circumstances) .... best example I can think of (probably a lot more) is Stephen while he is preaching the GOOD NEWS to the enemy, and then being stoned to death, his peace and joy unshaken, undiminished, praying same as Y'SHUA "Father, forgive them..." ....

"It's not a dislike or disregard. Just when I read scripture some of it don't add up. " This is true for everyone, even the disciples who were with JESUS, at first. Also later, IF they /anyone/ believes any of the stories men or demons came up with (false teachers/ false prophets/ false traditions/ false teachings)... i.e. if anyone trusts in the flesh concerning anything, in their own life experience, etc ================================================== "He is a perfect God and does no wrong and yet in the very scriptures themselves you can find where he perfectly is either not present or chooses not to be involved. " He is never 'not involved'(with His children). Likewise the Shepherd, JESUS, is Perfect, always constantly watching/ Shepherding. ================================================== "This is something many can relate to in their present lives too. Feeling of God's absence. Where they feel they are striving to live as best as they can to what would be Christ like and out of no where an affliction occurs. This affliction can cause someone who believes they have a relationship with God to feel they are tossed out of his grace or presence. " Yes, TRUTH. (WITH or without any "FEELINGS"..... //// ) This is by far the most well known, most common fact of people's existence on earth, in the world TODAY. For the majority of people on earth, they are on the wide road (popular, arm-in-arm and hand-in-hand OR even ALONE) to destruction, and never find the narrow road to LIFE. ==================================================== Yes, and more important maybe (since there are so many many times more), YHWH WILLING, of those who do not believe - who are not born again ('yet') ....

Remember the story/ parable/ truth of the rich man who built a new silo. and this: (even if the rapture theory turns out to be true for a few; who will ever know ?!) Average life expectancy at birth is approximately 67 years. Sources: Population Reference Bureau & The World Factbook (Central Intelligence Agency) http://www.ecology.com/birth-death-rates/ World Birth and Death Rates Estimated 2011 Birth Rate Death Rate • 19 births/1,000 population • 8 deaths/1,000 population • 131.4 million births per year • 55.3 million people die each year • 360,000 births per day • 151,600 people die each day • 15,000 births each hour • 6,316 people die each hour • 250 births each minute • 105 people die each minute • Four births each second of every day • Nearly two people die each second

This is part of the evil from the tree.... .not part of what is good nor faithful nor lifegiving. Like the most successful doctors may point out - if a patient does what they are told, they recover (or at least have a very good chance, God willing, and their chance of recovery DECREASES the more false information they have if they depend on it, rely on it, or "do" what is wrong.... Likewise the religious leaders who reject JESUS, many of them even believed HIM, but refused to follow HIM for fear of men or for love of men instead of loving God and instead of obeying God. Thus JESUS gave THANKS to the FATHER in heaven for hiding salvation from the educated ones, and for revealing salvation and everything concerning salvation to INFANTS (as HE called us) , BECAUSE this is the FATHER'S GOOD PLEASURE .....

They could have obeyed. They could have refused to disobey. Just like children who are raised in the way they should go today obey their parents, do not lie nor steal nor serve idols, and do not give in to drug dealers, sexual entreaties , etc etc.... What is ridiculous is thinking contrary to Scripture that it has to do with 'intelligence' , or that 'intelligence' would help someone.... especially in LIGHT of GOD'S WORD that man's 'intelligence'/ wisdom/ knowledge is foolishness because men in the 'intelligence' replace GOD with a creation, to serve a creation , and reject God....

Webster says, “That is pernicious which works mischief or destruction.” This present age therefore is not content to perish in its own corruption, but seeks to drag all men with it down to its own inevitable destruction. The outstanding philosophy of religion of this present pernicious age is, that acceptance with Deity is by means of the good works of the individual.

Even or especially by God's Word that makes him 'special' / rare/ unique/ few there are who follow Jesus...... who seek God's Heart .....

That'sounds ridiculous, and is still going on today - the enemy is so much 'smarter adversary' than so-called scholars and religious leaders JESUS talked to, and todyay, yet little children resist satan, and satan FLEeS, as JESUS SAYS. Little children do not have to be smarter than the 'adults' a lot smarter than them, to refuse to get in the car with one, or to refuse to take the drugged candy bar from them ..... Little children just have to obey their father

Amein, mankind is notoriously liars, "though all men are liars....".... Like the (in)famous radar speed guns - clocked trees planted in florida going 60mph ! hi-octane coconuts I guess......... Science is no more trustworthy than politicians today.....

I LOVE HEBREW SO MUCH ! "Let us ....." < SMILE > is quite frequent. (or not) My earthly father and mother 'created' me, YHWH BE PRAISED! , and I was made in the image of them ... (or not).... As GIFT FROM YHWH ~ GIVER OF ALL LIFE! We were all made in the SINFUL IMAGE of our parents....... "everyone born consigned under sin"..... Everyone who gets "born again" a new creation~ ! Walking in fellowship with YHWH in Y'SHUA...... so COOL ! .... and no "fast food" .... < SMILE > "Moses Wasn't Fat" (Delightful Book explained why Israelites weren't sick)

There are some tried , tested, proven lessons in the WORTHY LIBRARY: below are some excerpts from this page: http://www.worthychristianlibrary.com/apostolic-testimony-ab-simpson/ "Trial develops and brings to perfection the fruits of the Spirit, deepening the soil and cultivating the garden of the great Husbandman and bringing forth the sweetness and the strength of His grace. And trial brings to us the power of God and presents to the world the amazing spectacle of a soul elevated above all surrounding circumstances and conditions, in the hardest places, and yet able to say, “Sorrowful but always rejoicing, poor yet making many rich, having nothing and yet possessing all things.” " "III. Paul Gloried in a Life of Suffering, Toil and Danger in the Service of His Master The preaching of the Gospel brings him no reward, for this is simply his duty, but the preaching of the Gospel without charge and the encountering of the trials and sacrifices it brings is one of the ways in which he is winning his crown. This act on his part was entirely voluntary and God accepted it, and accepts it still from some of His servants, and makes up to them in other ways Himself. Paul gloried in this not only because it was an opportunity of sacrificing something for his Master, but also because it added a new force to his ministry, and met the reproaches of his enemies that he was preaching for personal aggrandizement or gain. Every missionary in China knows how hard it is to persuade the people that we are influenced by purely benevolent motives in seeking their salvation. They are themselves so thoroughly selfish that they cannot understand anybody giving something for nothing, and when they really discover that the object of the missionaries is purely disinterested the impression is most profound, and is one of the most powerful assets of the missionaries in winning their confidence. There is nothing more important in our Christian work than that we should be free from all men, and that the spirit of self-sacrifice and independence should inspire every servant of the Lord Jesus. We have no business to be any man’s echo or hired preacher. Our authority comes to us directly from the High Court of Heaven, and the gifts of God’s people lay us under no human obligations, but are simply their own duty to Him whose representatives and ministers we are." Chapter 1 – Victorious Suffering Chapter 2 – The Dependableness of God Chapter 3 – Victory

Why would it be stopped ? It has been orchestrated, as YHWH permitted, (not because it is good, no, not at all), by the world government(s) ..... as they pleased....

Hebrews 6:13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there ... biblehub.com/hebrews/6-13.htm New International Version When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, HIS WORD IS ENOUGH. There is nothing else even ever close.

Acts 16:17-21J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) Conflict with evil spirits and evil men 16-18 One day while we were going to the place of prayer we were met by a young girl who had a spirit of clairvoyance and brought her owners a good deal of profit by foretelling the future. She would follow Paul and the rest of us, crying out, “These men are servants of the most high God, and they are telling you the way of salvation.” She continued this behaviour for many days, and then Paul, in a burst of irritation, turned round and spoke to the spirit in her. “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” 19-21 And it came out immediately. but when the girl’s owners saw that their hope of making money out of her had disappeared, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the market-square. There they brought them before the chief magistrates, and said, “These men are Jews and are causing a great disturbance in our city. They are proclaiming customs which it is illegal for us as Roman citizens to accept or practise.” J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) ----------------------------- MSG One day, on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortunetelling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. She started following Paul around, calling everyone’s attention to us by yelling out, “These men are working for the Most High God. They’re laying out the road of salvation for you!” She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, “Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!” And it was gone, just like that.

When anyone depends on tradition, and often their life and livelihood and family and friends depend on it too, they won't go down quietly, and they cannot rest until, if YHWH PERMITS, they turn to YHWH for HIS WAY, HONOR HIS WORD, and cease from tradition that all opposes HIM (i.e. a complete life change is required).

Does idolatry scare you? Does adultery ? Greed ? ...... no, hopefully, and likewise hopefully there's not desire to sin.... Idolatry, adultery (and much worse), greed, and ecumenism all goes together in this world..... oh, and deception, deceiving the whole world as it is written....

Correct, Concerning this as always, when you use Scripture, YHWH'S WORD< as THE Authority, those who use tradition cannot counter it nor address it with any Godly authority at all. They are 'lost' as regards Authority, and get off and far away from Scripture more and more....