FriendofJonathan

I love it. Especially that the youngest girl made the find. I just pray it stirs some from their slumber into believing.

The resurrection and the "rapture" are indeed scriptural. We know by the witnesses (the NT writings)(Matt. 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20; Acts 1, that Jesus resurrected from the grave. Those NT witnesses confirm the prophesied resurrection of the OT writings, Psalm 16, Psalm 49. The "rapture" or catching away of saints at the end of this age is not in dispute (1 Thessalonians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 15:50-55). It's the timing of the catching away that is what has been debated by and between Christians for centuries, which has been the source of much consternation for some.

So very true. Yet many are falling prey to the wiles of the devil. To quote Dr. Vance Havner: "The devil is not fighting religion. He's too smart for that. He is producing a counterfeit Christianity, so much like the real one that good Christians are afraid to speak out against it." In a little while, at God's appointed time, in the end many professing to "believe" in Christ will be worshipping antichrist because they were led by a blind preacher.

The will of God. Repent and believe. (John 6:40) Abstain from sexual sin. (1 Thessalonians 4:3) Give thanks in all things. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Submit to doing what is right. (1 Peter 2:13-15).

So true. I sometimes wonder how many of those tiny six-legged parasites I'm destroying when I rub my eyes after good nights sleep.

It's no wonder. Birds of a feather flock together.

It is a fact that man shares common genetic codes with all living organisms. This is further proof of creator God, and that God designed each organism in a unique way to serve its unique purpose in God's creation. Thank you, God. ♥

Brilliant. Let's check your theory. If you are a "real Christian", then please read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, but wherever you see the word "charity" or "love" (depending on the Bible version), replace it with your name. After you've done that, tell me whether you've met God's agapé standard, especially as it relates to the first three words of v.8.

What you've quoted is from the preamble to the US Constitution, and neither that preamble nor the Constitution itself promotes socialism. We are certainly a charitable nation, and we do have a common interest in providing relief to those that dearly need it. But do go a few pages to the right of the preamble, where you'll find the Amendments to the Constitution. Tell me, if you're able, what purely socialist nations in the world have codified the rights of their people as those rights are codified for Americans in the US Constitution?

I don't believe you have any of those traits either. Nor does any man. Agapé is a level of love that only God possesses.

Doesn't America and other countries have laws that say to do xy and z or be punished? All countries have laws that say that. You'd prefer anarchy, where the only law that matters is the autonomy of the individual? What would happen when your subjective autonomous rule conflicts with your neighbors subjective autonomous rule? Anarchy. God has created order, and God has ordained men to have authority over others so that order prevails. Order in the USA is achieved through laws, civil and criminal, along with freedom and liberty in accordance with good order. But order in a purely socialist country is absolute control. There is no freedom or liberty, only control.

You assume too much. And you still have not understood what pure socialism is, and what it is not. Pure socialism is totalitarianism, it is absolute indoctrination and control over people, absolute control over every thing produced wehether of goods or services, it is abdolute control over the means of production, absolute control of the distribution of goods and services, and absolute control over speech, the press, assembly, religion, etc. I prefer to live in charitable country where freedom and liberty are its principles, because I am charitable and I enjoy freedom and liberty. I just so happen to be priveleged to live in the most charitable country in the world. Pure socialism is not charitable, because it is evil.

Believe the Whole Word of God because it's all about Jesus. Therefore, believe every word of the Bible. Not some of it. Not most of it. All of it.

I wasn't suggesting you were wrong. Only that you are doing what other "well-meaning teachers and preachers" do. Take for example, John Nelson Darby. It's reported that he began a theological movement on the visions and dreams of sickly teenaged girl named Margaret Macdonald. Or Ellen G. White, who in the mid 19th century claimed to have dreams and visions from God, and wrote extensively about them. The Seventh Day Adventists to this day proclaim her writings prophetic and from God, and they rely heavily upon them to determine the meaning of scripture. Also: Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, C. I. Scofield, Peter Ruckman, and so many others whose followers rely upon their writings to determine the correct application and interpretation of scripture.

Okay. I understood your question not as you intended it to be understood. Perhaps had you worded your question a bit differently, say, for ex: What is the most important thing that God created in the beginning? My answer would be different, since God's grace is one of His eternal attributes, one that God put in creation, all in accordance with His plan of redemption.

I suggest you take a close historical look at nations that implemented a political and economic system of socialism. Venezuela, for a present example. The USSR. Mao's Chinese Communist Party. You'll find that those socialist nations were godless political entities that killed more of their own countrymen than all the wars of the 20th and 21st century combined. Socialism is not love, it is evil. It tells its people to do xy and z or be punished. Jesus was/is no socialist. Jesus is the embodiment of agapé, which says: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? the gift on the altar, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? (Matthew 23:17-19). Likewise, which is greater: the church, which is made up of sinful men that fall short of God's glorious standard, or the perfect grace of God that reconciles fallen man to God; the perfect grace that sanctifies and justifies and glorifies the church - which is Bride and Body of Christ? "Whosoever shall swear by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon. And whosoever shall swear by the temple, swears by it, and by Him that dwells therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by Him that sits thereon." (Matthew 23:21-22). Likewise, he that swears by God's grace, swears by all that God's grace has accomplished, which includes: the shed blood, death, burial, resurrection, ascension of the Son of God, the forgiveness of sins, the gift of eternal life for the Body and Bride of Christ, and the promise of the second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without God's grace, would we even have the word of God?

Rev. 9:11 - "They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek it is Apollyon." Strong's Lexicon Apolluón: Apollyon Original Word: Ἀπολλύων Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Apolluón Pronunciation: ah-pol-LOO-own Phonetic Spelling: (ap-ol-loo'-ohn) Definition: Apollyon Meaning: Apollyon, The Destroying One, a Greek translation of the Hebrew: Abaddon. Word Origin: Derived from the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), meaning "to destroy" or "to perish."

So you see, without God's grace and plan of redemption, there is no shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sin. But God created a plan that He put into action to redeem His people.

Others you disagree with may claim to be doing precisely what you claim to be doing, namely: asking Him for guidance, understanding, insight, and wisdom. And then let God interpret scripture, and then teach from that place of understanding. I agree there are many false and corrupt teachers in the world. But not all are. However, when you judge others who do the same thing you say you are doing, then you are judging yourself, because you do the same.

If you believe wherever you read the word "all" or "whole house of Israel" means every single Israeli that ever lived, I must say you are not comprehending scripture. Paul clearly states that only a remnant of Israel according to the election of grace will be saved. (Romans 11:7). And Paul continues to write that Israel in large part is fallen, or lost, but that he hopes he might be able to provoke some in order that some might be saved. (Romans 11:11-14). But Paul knows that his fellow Israelis are for the most part lost. When Paul speaks of "blindness in part is happened to Israel" (Romans 11:25), he is not saying all of Israel is temporarily blind, because we know Paul and the other apostles who are saved are Israeli, and the Jews saved at Pentecost, and the great number of Jews that sold all they had and shared in common everything, were all saved. The blindness in part refers to those Israelis who don't see the truth because they can't see the truth, and will never repent and believe. "AL Israel shall be saved" in Romans 11:26 refers to the faithful remnant that Paul mentioned just 21 verses earlier: "a remnant according to the election of grace." (Romans 11:5). I'm sure you've read John 19:11, where Jesus said that the greater sin is on he who handed Jesus over to Pilate. If the "he" is Judas, and Judas is Israeli, then you'd have to agree that Judas, the son of perdition, will be saved. If the "he" in John 19:11 is the chief priest Caiaphas, then you'd have to agree that Caiaphas will be saved. Neither of them were faithful toward the Lord Jesus, and both have the greater sin for handing Jesus over to Pilate. How can they be saved? Perhaps you've heard of Tovia Singer. He is in American Jew living in Israel who actively works to convert back to Judaism israeli Jews who receive and proclaim Jesus Christ as savior. Tovia Singer is among the many talmudic judaism teachers in Israel who teach from the Talmud a verse that says that Jesus is tormented day and night in boiling feces in hell. Tovia is a Jew and you think that Romans 11:26 guarantees his salvation?

The locusts that come out of the smoke from the bottomless pit have a king over them. (Revelation 9:11). This king is not Jesus, but is the angel of the bottomless pit. Where do you see in Revelation the locusts declaring "the goodness of the kingdom"?

You understand doctrine is another word for teaching? And I'm sure you understand scripture exhorts us that all scripture is profitable for doctrine. (2 Timothy 3:16). If a particular teaching of scripture is essential to the Christian faith, and has been so deemed for nearly 2,000 years, is it your position that it is not settled and you are free to interpret it differently?

I'll answer you if you can tell me whether Jesus shedding His blood was an act of grace and was according to His plan of redemption.

What you've basically said is what the Bible says is true of all men, namely: we are all sinners that fall short of the glory of God. Accordingly, we will never achieve a standard of perfection, not even in completely and without error understanding the word of God. That said: if it is contrary to settled essential doctrine, then it is heresy. Therefore rebuke it. If it is heterodoxical, reproof and correct it. Otherwise, give liberty to those who differ in nonessentials. It will all work out in the end.