Dave-regenerated

Marijuana caused me to get paranoid schizophrenia at a young age. I think I may have been prone to that illness previously but it's very difficult to say, and what complicates it is the realm of the demonic. I eventually ended up have panic attacks, severe anxiety and depression so I needed to go on medication. I would say that smoking that stuff at a young age is definitely not a good idea, so as long as medical marijuana is for people over the age of 25 I don't have too much of a problem with it. Then there is cannabis psychosis, which apparently can affect people at older ages too. And there is a definite effect of memory loss associated with it. A Christian is supposed to be SOBER minded and alert. I don't think there's any doubt that drugs can lead to states of demonization either and God says people who take drugs are going to hell (unless they get saved). The trouble with "medicine" is that everybody reacts differently to them, so it's hard to be objective. But on the other hand, if it wasn't for medicines, a lot of people would have died early or suffered with pain etc. So ultimately I think it is a personal issue with regards to the potential for intoxication.

You can't guarantee there is no evidence. In order to do that you would have no know if any of the Israelites that weren't prophets were saved in the Old Testament. This is not part of your knowledge, so I know you are bluffing. You simply cannot know that information by natural means. You need to also read the other posts in the threads because they explain the gist of the discussion. I noticed you seemed to skip them because I already wrote about limiting God and confusing that with me saying there are more ways to God than through Jesus Christ. I'm so very sorry you didn't see it. By the way, your combative approach is not friendly. There may be others that have noticed that, too, and not just me?

Apology accepted. But don't do it again. Only kidding.

I used parenthesis on purpose. It's in there. I wasn't referring to the mode of salvation through Christ but to the way God deals with people when He brings them to Himself.

I didn't say otherwise. You probably misread. It's quite frankly amazing to me that people around here often don't seem to read things carefully. I don't get that anywhere else.

Of course the prophets (some of them) knew something of Christ but my intimation was that they didn't have full revelation. So I think you misunderstood. You are limiting God by claiming he is chained to saving people in only one way. ( I didn't say Jesus, as that is obvious. We are Christians here). If you don't accept other people's testimonies of salvation, nobody should be inclined to accept yours either. Period.

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” I'm curious to know how you are able to limit God's actions in the way that you do, as if you actually have telepathic knowledge of other peoples minds and their state of salvation. Because none of the prophets or people in the Old Testament knew about Jesus Christ and that the only way to be saved was for them to believe in him. If you want to insist that God is limited to saving people who only know "believe in Lord Jesus", then you might not be informed that the Old Testament exists yet. I can't help being sarcastic here. I hope you understand the point.

From an objective point of view it is not possible to see into another persons mind to establish if they are saved or not. Fruits are a different matter. But if someone says God saved them you aren't in a position to claim otherwise and you don't get to tell God how to perform His salvation. There are an untold number of testimonies out there that have people saying God saved them when they had no interest in God or the Bible etc. I'm sure you would be happy to extend charity to them just like they would to you and not question your salvation just because you did it in a Gospel ABC manner. Otherwise, I'm afraid you are engaging in occultic telepathic psychic powers.

This is not even near true. You didn't distinguish between demon possession causing voices and mental illness causing voices. People can use medication and still experience demonic oppression.

I didn't say anything about myself. I simply asked a question. It seems to me you didn't address it.

That sounds like an assumption. How would you know this? Are you a Charismatic?

You are a mortal person on a forum telling other people to not listen to other mortal people. That's circular logic.

That must mean you don't believe in the Trinity then too, because that word isn't in the Bible either.

Yes, sorry I confused the terms. I have read that it was a Theophany somewhere before.

I don't know why I wrote "if demons exist" to begin with. I have experienced them directly, and even seen them with my eyes. God allowed me to see them I think, because ordinarily that doesn't happen much.

If a person is mentally ill and they hear voices, in what way is that different to a demon possessed person hearing voices?

It's extremely intimidating to people in a crowd to have to listen to someone broadcasting their religious views over a microphone with a loudspeaker. That's the problem here.

Jesus commanded people to love God and their neighbour as the whole of the law. That's not the Mosaic 600+ laws about hygiene, what animals to eat, what clothing to wear, how to do material things of various kinds etc. etc. Can you explain please how the 2 commandments that are the most important, according to Jesus and Paul, can cause the loss of salvation?

Isn't this called a theonomy or epiphany, a type of Christ in the Old Testament?

I'm very surprised that nobody has answered this question so far. It's interesting. I thought Christians are supposed to be warring with Satan a lot of the time. And nobody has anything to say?

Judging by the replies, it looks to me like the Demonic is actually almost non-existent in the lives of most people here. Do they put it down to the intervention of God by staying in the Word regularly, or through some other means?

If demons really do exist, how important would their existence be to you out of 10? 1 to 10. Thanks

Greetings. I would like to understand and know what the fight against principalities and powers looks like to other people, other Christians, in day to day life. General examples of persecution in some sense are welcome. It's important to separate persecution from paranoia. P and P. Thank you

I was saved over 9 years ago, I don't think I am a baby Christian any more. Yes I did speak to many Christians on Facebook when it first happened and I shared the details of my experience but eventually because of either indifference or negative feedback I chose not to share that experience except with people I feel I can trust. And I hardly know anybody anyway, even online. I don't understand how people can have 100s if not 1000s of "friends" on Facebook and despite my many posts in groups etc., nobody attempts to befriend me. I only have about 9 friends there and most of them don't speak much anyway. In real life it is worse - I only have 1 friend! I don't attend church for various different reasons, the main one being because I drink early in the evening. If I wanted to go to church it would be one that is quite far from me and I just don't like the idea of going alone. I'm an introvert by nature anyway. As for mentors, they would be famous Christians I have seen on Youtube or who's books I have read. I am a heavy reader, except when it comes to the Bible for some reason? I've met some people on Facebook that have helped me. Regarding my experience, I once tried to share it with my Dad and because I have a mental illness as well (perhaps I should have mentioned that earlier) I don't think he was open enough to believe me. The most frustrating thing for me is that I cannot get through to my parents about Christ and salvation. Dad is like a skeptic, Mum is a lapsed Catholic into New Age things. Every time I have tried to give her a book to read she doesn't read it, but she is happy to read novels. Because I still live with my parents due to my illness since I was a late teenager, I am extremely attached to them and I don't want them to go to hell. But I have tried everything now, for many years, and they just aren't responsive. The demonic attacks are intense sometimes. It even comes in the form of people harrassing me with car horns near my house, incredible as that may seem. I know that is true because I have tested it countless times in various ways. And then there is people behaving oddly outside when I venture out to the shop or whatever. Sometimes very odd things occur, like people will cough when I walk past them, even if I am on the other side of the street. And lastly, there is attacks while I am trying to sleep which comes in the form of images popping into my mind that are hideous and obviously demonically implanted. A bit hard to describe but at the same time as the images there can also be unspoken words of a demonic nature. This only happens if I read the Bible the previous day. When I skip Bible reading they don't occur. And interestingly, I wanted to put a cross around my neck to see what would happen with those events coming into my mind while I slept. Guess what? 90% of it went away! Demons fear the cross, so that makes sense. You see, in the past I put on a cross necklace before and went to bed with it on and when I woke up it was dangling on part of the handles on the chest of drawers next to my bed. I don't know how that happened.

Thanks. I already knew much of what you said, but I'm just frustrated that I can't seem to break these addictions. I suppose that people that have addiction problems don't find it easy to overcome and so if I knew the answer to this I would probably be richer than Elon Musk and Bill Gates combined. I wish there was an easier way out.