unworthyservant

I guess I'm somewhat qualified to address that part of your question because as a sick child who did see Jesus once while recuperating from a surgery when I was very young. I don't believe that Christ has actually physically appeared to anyone (myself included) since His ascension and won't until He comes again. I believe that I had a picture so ingrained into my head that when I was sick and weak, I saw a physical transformation of that picture. I actually believed for years that I had actually seen Jesus in the flesh. It's kinda ironic but how would one even recognize Jesus by seeing Him as the image we all know as Jesus is actually believed to be the illegitimate son of a Renaissance pope.

Hallelujah, sower. That pretty well says it all. Anything else is just noise and while I can't help but hear the noise, God has put a song in my head that helps me deal with it. It's called, "Jesus Saves!"

Mr. Copeland has done pretty well for himself. Most have him listed as the richest preacher in America with a net worth in the neighborhood of $300 Million. Hallelujah, pass the plate!! Now to put that in perspective, there are approximately 1/2 million homeless people in the US and it costs around $3 per meal for the average soup kitchen to feed 1 person 1 meal. That means if Mr. Copeland were to sell all that he has and give it to the poor and live like you and me, he could feed every homeless person in America a meal a day for about 7 months, all by himself.

Well, thanks. You and other posters saved me from having to actually waste my time reading it(whatever it is). Not that I would have anyway since I like you believe my time is better spent reading my Bible, but it's good to know that several folks here seem to have taken the time to read "it" and report, so thanks and God Bless

Yeah! I believe that it's hard enough already without politics dividing us and political leaders mocking.

Once a man named Steven preached about the Lord Folks were saved then folks were healed as they heard his word Satan did not like it soon he had his crowd And as he was tried they heard Steven cry out loud I see Jesus standing at the father's right hand I see Jesus over in the Promised Land Work is over now I'm coming to thee I see Jesus standing waiting for me As the stones fell on him beating out his life Steven knew he'd soon be through with all his toil and strife So much like the Master his heart was so true He prayed Lord forgive them they know not what they do Through the gates of glory down the streets of gold When the martyrs of the Lord march into heaven's fold When he meets the Savior at the great white throne I believed He'll smile and say, Steven welcome home I see Jesus...

Amen! I just wanted to post what I saw and didn't make any judgements of the man. In reply to a post, I mentioned that I think it's a bad way to make any point and while I stand by that statement I agree, in God's overall plan it's OK. God not only knew that he was going to say that for all eternity, He knows the intent and He indeed has his reasons for giving power to those to whom he does. There's an old saying that goes "Those who desire political power are generally those whom we should least trust to wield it." So, I'll just trust God and His plan because He wields power many times greater than political power.

I just saw a short bit and was quoting what I heard. Thanks for the context but I still think that's a bad way to make any point. If he wasn't declaring himself to be "The Chosen One" then he must be using using the phrase in a flippant or mocking way. Either way, I don't care for it. BTW, I went there and watched the entire video and you are correct that he had his hands in that position several times but when he made that statement is the ONLY time he turned his eyes toward heaven.

Thank you.

I know that many ancient cultures imbued their rulers with Godly attributes if not believed that they were indeed deities. I just saw our President, Mr. Trump, on the news with his eyes lifted to the skies and his hands reaching toward the heavens. This is what he said " I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!"

Once again, it's not a cliche. Oxford's defines cliche as "a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought". As for overused, in my own experience the Preacher that I referenced is the only other person I have ever heard use it. Maybe he got it from someone else, I don't know but I just checked and it doesn't seem to be overused on the internet. (My internet search ability isn't the greatest but when I do a Google search for the phrase, I get zero results) As for lack of original thought, I never claimed it was an original thought. My first line gave credit to the person from whom I heard it. And it's not meant to be evangelism. It was presented as nothing more than a quote that I thought was catchy and who knows maybe someday for someone it might come in handy when witnessing to an atheist. So, I fail to see the problem with sharing it and wish folks could just take it for what it is and if you like it fine, if not, fine but please don't make it anything it's not meant to be.

While I don't know what they saw, in my humble opinion, they went nowhere. I personally don't believe that God gives certain persons a glimpse of Heaven of Hell and then doesn't take them. Since never is a word I seldom use, under the heading of "with God all things are possible" I can't actually rule out the possibility that some of these experiences may indeed be of God but I don't have the time nor inclination to try and sort them out.

Amen. That's probably the very reason God gave us a sense of humor. The old saying is that you can never know a mans trials or tribulations until you have walked a mile in his shoes. But despite the circumstances, sometimes a little humor is all that's needed to lift the spirits and I feel like everything that lifts our spirit is probably of God.

Indeed we can reason and I didn't necessarily think you meant to endow God with a trait, I simply mention it as something that bothers me when folks do. The Bible says he is Holy, Righteous, and is LOVE. That's enough for me.

On a cold barren hillside, in a foreign campaign. The troops were surrounded, the shells fell like rain Their flag was shot down, their spirits were low As the hid in their foxholes while shots rang below Now the Captain knew that the danger was real If his troops couldn't rally, they'd die on that hill They needed a brave soul to raise back up the flag If they could hold out til darkness to hoist that tattered old rag When the Captain called out for a man with no fear A young lad from Boston said I'll volunteer But sir there's no need to wait until dark I'll raise that old flag at three o'clock sharp So when the bell tolled three in the village below He climbed up that hillside to the battered old pole With mortars exploding, bullets hitting the ground He raised a new flag and then started back down With Old Glory flying the men raised a great cheer The young lad's valor had erased all their fear They charged down the hillside their backs to the sun The enemy was routed and the victory won The Captain cried out, Son you could have been killed There must have been angels somewhere on that hill The soldier said "Sir, I'm really not brave And I'm not the hero of the victory today Sir, my mother works in a factory all day When her shift is over she kneels down to pray So that's why I went when the clock rang out three Cause that's when my mother was praying for me

I really tend to shy away from statements that tend to attempt to define any of the attributes of God other than those that are given in the scripture. While I believe it is possible that God has some sort of sense of humor (he made me didn't he?) I just don't believe that I'm qualified to endow God with a human trait. When God defined Himself to Moses he said "I am that I am". To me that indicates that we can't even comprehend God with our feeble intellect. Don't mean to throw a wet blanket on a discussion on humor but it's just something I think about.

"Well wife I've found a model church, and worshiped there today, It made me think of the good old times, before my hair was grey. The meeting house was finer built, than they were years ago, But I found out when I went in, it was not built for show. The sexton did not set me down, way back by the door. He knew that I was old and deaf, and saw that I was poor. He must have been a Christian man, he lead me boldly through The long aisle of that crowded church, to find a pleasant view. I wish you'd heard the singing, wife, it had the old time ring. The preacher said with trumpet voice let all the people sing. "Amazing Grace" was the tune, the music upward rolled. I thought I heard the angel band, strike their harps of gold I tell you wife it did me good, to sing those hymns once more. I felt like some shipwrecked sailor, when he gets a glimpse of shore. It made me want to lay aside, this old weather beaten form. And anchor in that blessed port, forever sheltered from the storm. Dear wife our toil will soon be o'er, the victory soon be won. That shining strand is just ahead, our race is nearly run. We're nearing Canaan's happy shore, our hopes so bright and fair. Thank God we'll never shed a tear, there'll be no sorrow there" So, now is there really a model church? If so what or where is it? Personally, I believe as the song somewhat alludes to that the true Church of or Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, isn't in any building but in the hearts of those true believers who are carrying on the work of God. When Christ said "upon this rock, I will build My church, the rock (or cornerstone) wasn't a building but a person. Christ said that upon Peter's faith (not actually Peter the person) He would build His church. There is only one Temple that is ordained of God. I often wonder what the world would be like if every dime that has been spent over the centuries building cathedrals and churches where Christians could gather to worship had instead been spent on helping the poor. We could worship God anywhere in this beautiful world that He has built if we could overcome our nature to use something that man has built. So, what would the world be like if that were the case? One last thought, the mention of cathedrals reminds me of an old story (I'm at the age that most everything reminds me of an old story). It's about a fellow who came upon a construction site where workers were starting a stone foundation. He decided to inquire and found a bricklayer who was taking a break from what seemed like hard labor as he was obviously tired. He asked the man, what are you doing?. The man replied "We're laying a foundation". He found another who was chipping away at some stones and looked weary from the endeavor. When he asked him the same question he replied, We're laying stone". Then he came to a fellow who he had noticed was the one mixing and carrying the mortar for the masons and obviously had the hardest job there. He seemed happy and didn't appear to be nearly as weary from his efforts as the others. When posed with the same question he replied "We're building a cathedral." So, maybe we should ask ourselves sometimes when, in our own life, our labors for the Lord leave us weary and our hearts are heavy laden, have I lost focus on the finished product while getting bogged down with the sacrifice necessary to complete it? Please don't get me wrong, I do understand man's need to build great structures to honor God. All I'm saying is that the only thing Christ said that we need to do to worship God is to show His love by ministering to those in need and give God the glory so that those with whom you share your blessing might worship Him, too. And for that matter why all the focus on building bigger and newer churches when there are already plenty of nearly empty ones?

You make some good points and I would possibly use it but then I'd have to learn to spell it. I usually use the term Christ, which isn't referring to Him as a name but as what He is.

She removed her false teeth, her wig and her glasses, you should have seen the look on my face. I wanted to hug her, I wanted to kiss her, but her head was scattered all over the place.

And for the most part there's no use in debating speculation because it turns into a circular argument and does nothing but end in disagreement anyway.

There are those who believe that it refers to an alpha/numeric code system popular with early Christians to communicate without alerting anyone who was persecuting them to the meaning. In the code, numbers are decoded into letters and words. Many have determined that it is indeed code for Nero but when you research the code itself a little further you see that, while it definitely could be referring to Nero it's not that simple, as it could also be some other name (it does say, "the number of his name, so we know it's a name). What these researchers simply found is, that of all the known enemies of Christianity at the time Nero was the only one that worked with the code but it isn't definitive to the exclusion of all others. So, without going on and on, I'll just say that this just one of the reasons I don't bother with such things unless I come upon them and comment. I find that trusting that God will reveal any secrets that He needs me to know in order to serve Him saves me worrying about everything else. Makes for a simpler and happier life in my case.

This topic is exactly why I prefer to stick to the teachings of Christ and only use the other scriptures for any commentary or insight they may offer on them. There's not nearly as much room for interpretation or controversy that way. I believe that what, if anything, I believe or don't believe about the number 666 has absolutely no bearing on my Faith and has no practical effect on my following the teachings of Christ. So, while I don't have an answer, I'm not the least bit concerned as God will explain all when we see Him and until then He's given me plenty of other stuff to do.

While I believe that humor and laughter are good things as they can lighten our spirit in a an unenlightened world, I don't see any humor in "He that sitteth in the Heavens" laughing in derision which is defined as contempt or ridicule. Ditto, the wrath of God upon the Philistines. I'm not sure where anyone gets humor from God punishing someone with hemorrhoids or tumors (as the meaning of emerods actually was used in the broader sense (all tumors were emerods) and hemorrhoids was a more defined word that has been used when the situation warrants). Personally, I doubt that God needs humor as since He is omniscient, He already knows the punchline to every joke ever. I believe He gave us a sense of humor in order to help us smile and laugh occasionally. I just don't think it wise to laugh at God's wrath on the Philistines or His derision from Heaven in the Psalms.

That's all it's supposed to be. A catchy little sound bite. Not meant for serious consumption or solid responses. Just a catchy little answer that's actually pretty hard to argue with in my opinion.

I once knew a pastor who always said that he had a pat answer when nonbelievers would question his faith. It was simply this If I'm wrong, so what? If you're wrong, then what?