Eli1

On 4/18/2024 at 8:30 AM, BibleStudent100 said:

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

Yes, of course. 

The one involving sight was the one that happened in one of the churches i go to. 
I saw a white light which looked like an angel to me. It had human shape but no face, and it had wings. 
It appeared in front of me and i got very scared at first but i didn't have fear because i knew immediately that this was a response to some of the prayers i was doing for months, in regards to a health-related situation. 
So it was more of a shock-scare, like when someone yells behind you to scare you but you know they don't mean any harm. 
The angel stayed in front of me for about 10 seconds and then it flew away on the top of the church and went through the roof of the church. 

My wife was also present who saw this. It was only me and her in the church on a Wednesday afternoon, and the priest opened the door for us so we can pray. 

So i also have her as a witness to "comfort" me that i wasn't crazy. But even if she wasn't there, i wouldn't care if people believe me or not. Because miracles are personal, unless God wants them public like the Fatima miracle or other miracles throughout history. 

The one involving smell is related to an icon in Pennsylvania which releases an oil which smells like roses. This is also a miracle onto itself on how this icon releases oil but i was lucky to be anointed with this oil. 

So, 3 months after, when i was praying, i smelt this scent as a response to my prayer and the issue which was health-related, was resolved. 

GLORY TO GOD!

Interesting topic. I've seen this topic many times. 

So, in general, 90% of people who Christians call as "satanic" are basically people who troll Christians or do these "satanic rituals" either as a way to upset Christians or because they think they're "cool" rituals. 

For example, since i live in Massachusetts i have been to Salem which is basically the official "witch" town. 

All i saw in there was a whole town which has monetized the whole "witch" topic. 
There's nothing demonic or anything serious in there. It's a tourist town. 

-Hey young man, come here so i can read your hand for $100.
- Yeah, sure lady, go rip off another tourist. 

However, real demonic possessions and appearances do occur in our realm. 
I have personally never encountered them myself and i don't want to, but the priest at my church as well as other relatives have told me many cases. 
The most famous case which is televised is a series on History Channel called The Skinwalker Ranch is a a place littered with UFOs, entities and other paranormal activities. 

The crew of the show such as cameramen, had to leave the show because in some areas of the ranch they experienced horrific visions followed-up with horrific dreams, as well as their skin would appear as burned, by simply walking into a (what i think is) an unholy area. 

So, yeah, demons do interfere in our realm just like angels and God interferes according to our prayers and His will in many other miracles in history and today. 

On 3/30/2024 at 5:18 PM, obedientFool said:

The Bible says, faith comes by hearing the word of God. But the more I read, the more inconsistencies I find, with more unanswered questions, and the more I lose faith.

This is a common phrase that a lot of Churches emphasize about reading the Bible, but faith is an inward journey where you are seeking God as sort of a need, like seeking your father. 

Faith begins with this very existence we find ourselves in. In this creation, where we have eyes to see and ears to hear. You can look at this miracle and our lives and say it takes no less than a powerful Creator to put this whole thing into motion. 
And to find the answer WHY the Creator isn't here with us right now, that's when you get to the Bible to get more answers. 

But faith begins just by looking at the stars and wondering How is all this possible?

6 minutes ago, Starise said:

I would not discount a brother or sister who has prophetic gifts.

OTOH I know we have a large share of doom and gloomers around. 

I simply look at the times and I KNOW God won't let things slide indefinitely. His desire is to SAVE those who need to be saved. He has a lot of patience.

There are false prophets, doom and gloomers and people with genuine prophetic gifts. If it's a youtuber that gets plays by hyping end times theories, I stay away. If it's someone I know personally who God has endowed in this way, I listen. We should use spiritual discernment. ( see comments in the thread on hearing the voice of God)

Again, even for those who don't have prophetic gifts, the writing is on the wall IMO in light of the bible. Will it be tomorrow or next week? I would never be so bold. I think we should be ready for it to happen. 

Will this be an ark situation or will people have a chance to change? They had 300/400 years to mock Noah. 

The Spirit of God speaks to our spirit and if that Spirit is speaking to others, then yes, something is on the horizon. 

 

Well said. 
From my interactions, online and real life, i have learned that a lot of believers in US don't like a lot of miracles either. 

They either confuse them as something related to the Catholic Church, or related to demons, or simply discount them altogether because they don't fit their interpretations of the Bible. 

For me, miracles are the biggest evidence that we are not alone here despite the separation since the garden. 
God is with us and He intercedes according to His will and as a reaction to our prayers. 

3 minutes ago, NConly said:

The way I understand this subject is

Jesus returns in the air for a rapture of those already repented. The great tribulation starts or gets worse and one/many can during the Trib repent, Then Jesus returns  to be on the Earth once he stands on earth it is to late.

Someone may correct me if I am, wrong.

The teachings that i have received in Eastern Theology don't agree with PreTrib, PostTrib or Rapture. 

Also my understanding of Salvation is very different too. 
Salvation and Revelation are two favorite topics in US. 

I am simply discussing what good comes out of this Dispensational Theology as Marathoner mentioned earlier. Like, how can you win any hearts if you say "the sky is falling" everyday?

Just now, NConly said:

where is this found in our Bible?

This is not in the Bible, it's just my idea. 

This question is common among Protestants too. 

Is this [action] found in the Bible?

There are a million things we do in our daily lives that are not in the Bible. 
What's in the Bible is a moral guide for the million things we do in our lives. 

6 hours ago, other one said:

Not very trusting in our Lord, are they.  He told us of these things coming so we would not lose faith when they came.

Honestly i don't even understand how a Christian can lose faith when he sees the second coming of Jesus. 

For me and others it would be a relief. Finally! God is here to fix this fallen world and bring the New Jerusalem. 

And this second coming would even convert millions of unbelievers too. 

So i don't even know how one would lose faith during a miraculous event. 

1 hour ago, Tristen said:

You have not established your claim in "fact" whatsoever.

 

My decision to check you on what I consider to be an unwise statement is not a legitimate example of "political correctness". Ironically, trying to belittle an opposing view by misrepresenting the person (e.g. insinuating that the person is acting immaturely by disagreeing with you) is an established strategy of the politically correct. The politically correct are those who try to control disagreeable speech. Furthermore, the politically correct tend to emphasize the differences between groups in order to generate divisions between them.

My point is the opposite of "political correctness". I did not claim myself to be "mature". I claimed that there is a spectrum of maturity across Christianity. And therefore, your insinuation that immaturity is a problem exclusive to "Protestants" is both unfounded, and unnecessarily divisive.

 

It is also absurdly simplistic to treat "Protestants" as a singular, homogeneous group (or denomination).

 

Tristen I can see from your response that you’re more interested in word games and it also comes from your legalistic culture so it’s not your fault.

A lot of atheists use this language too so it’s understandable .

However I do not know anything about you to further discuss these finer details or definitions or assumptions about creationism or big bag or anything of the sort to say if you’re applying any of these rigorous concepts to yourself or if you just like to say words. 

In either case, I don’t think the discussion would be very fruitful because I’ve done this sort of thing before with this mindset where people are stuck in text or definitions without any larger point or failing to apply definitions to themselves. 

1 hour ago, Marathoner said:

I'm in agreement with @Eli1 in this matter, though I would clarify this is a predilection I've observed specifically among evangelicals; "Protestant" is too broad of a brush to paint with in my estimation. I do appreciate your viewpoint as a fellow outsider looking in, my friend. 

I'm an evangelical according to the discrete definition of the term but apart from that distinction, I'm an outsider to evangelical circles and their churches. This propensity to support false prophets and an unhealthy fixation upon "doom and gloom" has much to do with the dominance of premillennial dispensationalism among those evangelical circles, Eli1. 

It's not not fair nor truthful to paint all evangelicals in such a way, for there are some who hold to a decidedly dispensational theology without falling prey to the hysteria of what I call "end times mania." It's all the rage, my friend. 

No matter the time it's always the same: the end is just around the bend. This was the rage during the late 19th century... the early and mid 20th century... 1988, the 1990s, the year 2000, 2012, 2020, 2023, 2024, 2025, and so on. 

I appreciate your response here Marathoner. It also helps me understand more the fine details of Protestants. 

You have to understand that from my point of view, a lot of Americans fall under the general umbrella of Protestantism but I realize internally that you have many flavors inside that too. 

However I really appreciate your description about pre millennial dispensationalism  which explains a segment of this population who’s all about doom and gloom and false prophecies. 

Thanks again and God bless you. 
Feel free to ask me anything too. 

1 minute ago, Tristen said:

I would suggest that, for the very reasons you mentioned, your original statement about "Protestants" is a very simplistic and unnecessarily denigrative generalization.

Spiritually mature Christians (of all stripes) understand to trust in God's sovereignty. Many who focus on prophecy see fulfilled prophecy as a comfort - affirming God's sovereignty. But there are also many Christians who are still finding their way to this revelation.

Is this exclusive to "Protestants"?

 

This is just a simple fact of life my friend and as a mature Christian you should be beyond political correctness at this point, but your second question is very interesting one. 

Are other denominations confused? Absolutely!
For example, i go to an Orthodox Church where there are some mature members, but in other areas of the Church in USA or Greece or Albania or Italy, what you see is people stuck in tradition. 

Now, those folks don't make predictions because that's a realm of Protestants mainly, but they're just too much stuck in tradition. So they're confused too. In pretty high numbers i'd say. Like 60%. 

32 minutes ago, Tristen said:

Are you talking absolute numbers, or a particular percentage?

 

Sorry, i didn't mention numbers but i'd say is as high as 50%, which is pretty high. 

Because think about it, you flip a coin and you get a false prophet. You flip it again you get some other person linking a daily occurrence to the end of the world, you flip it again you get some other person lost in conspiracies, and then you flip it one more time and you get a regular Christian who says :

Quote

Do Not Be Anxious
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[a] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

and then you say: Wow thank you brother or sister it's good to see you among the crowd. 

A lot of times it's difficult for me to understand if people are joking or they're serious in Christian circles, but i think most of the time they're serious. 

And it's this mystery which makes me laugh because if they're joking, then it's a good joke and we're sharing in the laugh, but if they're serious you laugh because it's better than crying or getting worked up over nonsense. 

@farouk i remember you from other forums where almost 10 years ago you were asking about tattoos.

I'm curious, why are you so obsessed with this topic?

Thanks. 

I don't think you're insane, i think you're an empath and it's a normal reaction to our fallen world.

I feel the same way too. But i hope that you will overcome your feeling of "urgency" because that's a reaction of your theology which says that you need more "wins" in your pocket to "save" people by having an ingrained sense of doom and gloom yourself.  

But your feeling of empathy, i hope you never lose. I hope i never lose it too. 

Hopefully you don't think i'm hateful. 

God bless you. 

26 minutes ago, other one said:

You sure about that?

Because a LOT of Protestants are the opposite of that. 
They're all about doom and gloom, the sky is falling, run for the hills, false prophets type. 

7 minutes ago, backontrack said:

I wish I knew my spirit is heavy and as if something is going to happen and I think God is in this what ever it is.

Well, if you are blessed by God to receive a miracle then be thankful and use that to guide you forward. 

27 minutes ago, Figure of eighty said:

Aside from losing my job, losing daycare,being robbed,mental health health failing, behind on bills, tax refund delayed, there was a fire situation at my apt. I wanted to go to church today but couldnt..

I need so much help and I feel God is not doing anything. I'm losing faith in him and am ready to just turn away and live my own life if I don't get help soon. 

Im not asking for riches qnd fortune I just need help. 

Sometimes yelling at God is okay too. 

That's what David did, my least favorite character in the Bible, and the point of that is to stay in communication with God even when we think that things are not going according to how we want. 

But the question of suffering is a complex topic which doesn't have very clear answers.

21 hours ago, backontrack said:

Who feel like something big is on the horizon coming down the pike but cannot put their finger on it!

I don't. 

Why? What do you have in mind this week?

On 3/20/2024 at 3:41 PM, Vine Abider said:

What do you think?

I'm glad that it's free because i was preparing to take out a loan. 

1 hour ago, FJK said:

Does anyone out there actually believe that we live in any kind of sane and sustainable society?

Definitely not. 

We are now living in the movie Idiocracy and we are on America Season 12. 

8 minutes ago, D. Adrien said:

Jesus is the obvious choice for top spot for all! What's your second choice? Which sinner?

I guess Peter would be my second choice. I like his personality. 

Not even a question for me but it's Jesus. 

My least favorite character is David. 

1 hour ago, R. Hartono said:

Imho the world must stop all gas engine right now, use lithium battery car.

Indeed.

And Biden needs to send unmanned drones in everyone's house to take the vaccine shot. Whoever doesn't, will be taken to a re-education camp. 

5 minutes ago, R. Hartono said:

Isnt that actually cooling your home but heating the air worse ?

Don’t question liberal logic.

They know what they’re doing. 
 

Everyone needs to pay for carbon credits. 

7 minutes ago, Neighbor said:

Hi, The point or purpose? ???

We need to install air conditioning units asap!