BibleStudent100

The Pharisees personally witnesses many miracles and even resurrections that Jesus performed, but they resolutely refused to believe in Jesus. So how much more so will atheists see what we see (the abundance of proof of creation that surrounds us) and still deny Christian reality and then go another step: condemn and ridicule us.

I appreciate your humble attitude and your demeanor of personal growth through deep honesty with God. It is hard sometimes to have this free will of openness toward God.

So what happens when dozens of countries have ballistic missiles and cruise type missiles? Will countries just start launching rockets and missiles at each other? Conventional warfare as we know it is over? No soldiers are on the front line anymore? We all know that the US learned that to "take over" a country you need at some point to "put boots on the ground," but if a sovereign state is in a punishing mode, then simply lob rockets and missiles at other countries. Evidently, Hezbollah has tens of thousands of rockets at the southern border of Lebanon all aimed toward Israel. Rockets are being fired from Yemen toward ships in the Straight of Hormuz and it seems like it is difficult to attack the direct source of said rocketry.

I enjoyed George Whitten's sermon from March 31 of 2024, in which he says that the focus should be on spreading the gospel versus focusing on when the End of the World will come. After all, Matthew 25:13 reminds us: "Keep on the watch, therefore, because you know neither the day nor the hour."

Agreed! Somewhere there needs to be a balance between the words uttered and special effects used in a sermon. When I speak in a capacity of a lay minister at the my church, I use a couple of still images only during my 30 minutes of preaching. The use of sparkling/dazzling lighting effects is new one!

To the degree that you are comfortable, would you like to share the details of these two miracles?

How great that you are distributing Bibles; how is the effort to offer Bible studies with these individuals so that they understand what they are reading?

Interesting perspective; I have not thought about this matter in such a way. Maybe the "world" will "invent" more pervisity, pervisity that we never have even imagined!

Does anyone know what the working on this billboard says?

Are you referring to a power point slide/s? Do some ministers go overboard on the visual slides/videos? Just wondering.

Well said brother!

The Devil knows our sinful proclivities and he exploits these weaknesses. Personally, I have never had a weakness toward substance abuse (I have never been drunk, nor have done drugs, nor tobacco, etc.) and I "don't get it" why others have these weaknesses, but that is human nature: we "don't get it," until we ourselves have the same problem. My weakness (not surprisingly): being self-righteous, something I struggle with daily.

Jedi4, I am not sure what your point is. It seems the physics is quite straight-forward. What I would like to point out is that the celestial phenomenon from yesterday SHOULD make us even MORE appreciative of the awesome power of God and how He continues to awe us with his capabilities so that one is moved to worship Him (Ps 89:7; Isa 29:23)! Christians are encouraged to “render God sacred service with godly fear and awe” (Heb 12:28). God’s servants give evidence of this awe by earnestly striving to please Him, recognizing that he will call all to account and render judgment without partiality.—1Pe 1:17; Re 14:7. What I found interesting is that on the national news accounts from yesterday, broadcasters were talking about the "spiritual" nature of the eclipse, but the "spiritual" essence of that moving event was NOT tied in with the Bible, nor with God. People now days have an odd definition of "spirituality" that does NOT involve God.

As a public high school teacher in Southern California, I see a whole lot of anti-Christian behavior on the part of our born and breed "native" American population; additionally; many of these students have little interest in learning (i.e. academically lazy) and feel entitled to what America has to offer. Many of these immigrants are at least willing to come here and try to learn English and are willing to work hard!

Before COVID 19, I would have thought that an epidemic was a straight-forward health crisis impacting the world and that medical expertise would have been united in its approach toward a virus. Never did I perceive that COVID 19 would become so politicized. Although being one to saddle up to health expertise with little questioning, I now too have questions about this past pandemic and all the ancillary questions it has raised. But my biggest question is this: What will happen, politically, socially, economically the NEXT time we have a deadly virus that spreads through the world? What will be our response as a nation and as Christians? I fear more Americans will be incredulous (for good reason) and that the transmission requirements imposed by the governing officials will not be followed, thereby increasing the chaos more as this future virus spreads unchecked. In other words, if we thought there was confusion and turmoil on COVID 19, wait until the next virus slams into us!

Good Morning Mr. M: We are all works in progress and we are all at different stages of building our Christian personality and yes, it is frustrating to deal with fellow Christians who still “feed on milk” and have yet to reach the level of spiritually consuming “solid food” that enables them “to distinguish both right and wrong” (Hebrews 5: 13, 14). But our charge from Christ is to continue to minister to others and I hope you find the proper venue for this and thank you for your contribution over these past months!

Let's ponder for a moment about this offer: The Devil offered Jesus Christ “all the kingdoms of the world.” Did all these worldly governments really belong to the Devil? Yes, for how else could he have offered them to Jesus? Jesus did not deny that they were Satan’s, which he would have done if Satan did not own them. Satan is really the unseen ruler of all the nations of the world! The Bible plainly says: “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) God’s Word, in fact, calls Satan “the god of this system of things.”—2 Corinthians 4:4. We thus have to carefully examine the support we give to governments and governmental agencies as they may very well be agents of the wicked one.

Indeed, watching the war in Gaza is distressing. I have visited Israel and numerous Arabic countries, as many of you have in this forum, and I find these people to be God-fearing, family loving individuals who desperately crave peace. We have even stayed in the homes of some of these good folks in our travels and we find them all charming , yet this part of the world has been so plagued with strife and conflict and our hearts ache for a solution. However, the only solution will be to rely on God's kingdom to one day put an end to these conditions of warring between nations and until then, our Christian charge is to remain neutral in accord with the key principal found in 2 Corinthians 10:2-4: " For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage warfare according to what we are in the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things.

Day in and day out the public is indoctrinated with materialism. Buy this! Buy that! Borrow money here! Practically every medium of communication constantly stresses the importance of money and material possessions. Even godliness and Christianity have come to be equated with material success, as in "prosperity theology." Of course, you can't beat Jesus' words: “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal. Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, . . . Observe intently the birds of heaven, because they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses; still your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are? . . . So never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ or, ‘What are we to put on?’ For all these are the things the nations are eagerly pursuing. For your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you”—Matt. 6:19-33.

Don't forget that Jacob asked for his body to be cremated in the Egyptian style before his body was transported back to Palestine to be buried with his forefathers. That is a many day trip as they would have traveled by camels or donkeys. Thus we have to assume that the Lord does not require a certain burial process.

Thank you for sharing Brother Tan. Yes, we do indeed need to worship God in "spring and truth," as John 4:24 states.

Insightful--Thanks for sharing. On the sub-point of superhero movies, the constant bombardment of these demi-gods or "gods" existing even in the fanciful world of entertainment in film and TV, can after a while take on a "real existence," in the eyes of the younger ones. They grow up with the notion of the very real possibility of other worlds with other civilizations that also experienced their own evolutionary cycles that brought life to other planets. Another example of the Great Lie promulgated by Satan: one more distraction that causes people to ignore the existence of a loving Creator and our responsibilities to Him.

Great analysis Dennis, Satan has been very successful in twisting human thinking that we either evolved or have "arrived" here via panspermia. Remember "Chariots of the Gods," the book from the late 70s that exposed many Americans to the "seeding" theory or that earth had at least been visited by visitors from outer space?

Is the "Anti-Christ" a person? Or could he/she/it/they be an organization or group or entity or consortium of anyone who opposes Christ. Thus it could refer to all people, organizations, or groups that falsely claim to represent Christ or claim to be the Messiah or that oppose Christ and his disciples? 1 John 2:22 seems to provide the basis for this interpretation: "Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son."

I enjoyed your expressions Vine! Yes, we can intellectualize the Bible as a literary masterpiece (which it is), but it is designed to change and transform us! Praise the Lord Brother!