gop_jeff

Anyway, Jason (if you're still reading this) like I said, there are a lot of different opinions. Good luck!

This was a great read - and exactly what I needed to hear today. Thank you.

1. Please, state your congregation/church name. Grew up in the Church of Christ. Currently attend a Nazarene church, but I describe myself as an evangelical Christian. 2. What is grace? Where does it come from? What is it for? What does it do? Can you feel it? Grace is God giving you something that you do not deserve. I don't think it can be felt, per se, but it is a promise of God as a result of our faith. Through grace, we receive eternal life, spiritual gifts, a place in heaven, etc. 3. What is soul? Its essence? Its compounds? Where is it? Is it eternal by itself? I believe that our sould is the immortal part of us that lives on after out physical body dies. God has control over where that sould will go after death (i.e. heaven or hell), and we will be conscious of it. 4. What is to be holy? How can you describe such state? How is it different from normal state? How do you reach it? What is it for? To be holy is to be absolutely perfect, as God is (and as He describes Himself). God has made us to be holy, but it can only come through the saving grace of God - man could never earn holiness. 5. What is free will? Do we always have it? Who doesn't have it? Free will means we have the option of whether to follow God's will or not, both on a large or small scale. I believe that all humans have free will. 6. What is faith? Why do you believe? What makes you believe? Where faith comes from? Faith is being sure of something with a lack of indisputable evidence. We believe because we have enough evidence to believe, but we do not have 100% positive proof about it. 7. What is sin? What does it do? Why do we sin? Sin is any transgression against God's law. It causes us to be in violation of God's law and subject to His judgment. I believe that we sin because it is in our nature as fallen human beings to sin. 8. What is salvation? How do we get it? Salvation comes through faith in Jesus as the Son of God, and faith in His death, resurrection and saving power. 9. What is hell? What is Heaven? Who gets where? I think heaven is where the people that accept God through faith will spend eternity. It will be in the prescence of God and will be an incredibly great experience. Hell will be both separation from God and judgment from God. It will be an extremely painful place. 10. Who is Christ? Why did He come? Why did He do what He did? Why did He come in that fashion and at that time? Jesus Christ is who He said He is: the Son of God, and one in essence with the Father. He did what He did for two main reasons: because of His love for us, and because of His obedience to the Father, who wanted to provide for the salvation of mankind. 11. What is the TRUTH? Where is it? How can you get to it? Truth... books could be written on this! But truth is what God says it is! 12. Why do you pray and go to church? I pray and go to church (and read my Bible, and fellowship with other Christians, etc.) because God has told me to do so. It is what I am expected to do as a Christian.

Jason, The answers to this question are as numerous as the people who answer it. Some people are strict KJV-only types, others prefer word-for-word translations, others prefer phrase-by-phrase translations. I have only seen a couple of Bibles that I would avoid - the New World Translation, which is used by the Jehovah's Witnesses and is purposely mistranslated to fit the JW's theology; and the Message, which I have read (and listened to) fairly extensively, and I feel is not totally accurate. All that said, I would recommend the ESV to you as well. It is a word-for-word translation that uses modern English while avoiding slang phrases. But you know that already! If you are looking for a phrase-for-phrase translation, I'd suggest the NIV. Jeff

In addition to what's been mentioned, God cannot do anything that is intrinsically impossible. For example, God could not both create the universe and not create the universe, because such a situation is intrinsically impossible.

Can't say I don't blame him... Rainier Beer, while not great, is certainly better than Busch.

I think you are blurring the lines quite a bit. Jesus is not the Father, nor is Jesus the Holy Spirit, or is the Father the Holy Spirit. All are God, but they are not each other.

Very cool! :t3: If only we were always happy about hearing God's word! It seems that too often people are discouraged when we hear about how we are supposed to live.

I enjoy Southern Gospel but I'm a bigger fan of Christian rock, like Jonah33, 12 Stones, Modern Day John, etc.

To get to the ORIGINAL topic... I would recommend either NIV, ESV (English Standard Version), or NKJV for a new believer. These are all easy enough to understand that a new believer won't have to be a high school grad to understand, but all very accurate. A very motivated new believer could easily start on the NASB, though I find it a bit choppy. I would not recommend a KJV for a new believer, because frankly, English has evolved since 1611. God's Word certainly has not, but the English language has. I also would not recommend the Message, as it is a paraphrase written by one man, and not an accurate translation.

Someone else said it already, but the important thing is not how often it is taken, but that it is taken. I grew up in the Church of Christ, which does communion weekly. I now attend a Nazarene church, where we do it monthly. I really don't think it should be a point of contention. Not to mention, you can take communion anywhere. I have done communion with my family at home.

The ideal church should be firm in its belief in Jesus and in the Bible. It should also be a church where you feel comfortable attending, in terms of people, worship style, size, etc., which of course is up to the individual - my ideal church is going to be different from yours because of that. But as long as their teachings are correct, and the people in the church are dedicated to following Christ, you should be all right! :t3:

hey adoni, glad to see someone from my neck of the woods! I went to Gig Harbor High School, but now I live out in Puyallup.

I read through it when I was still single. While I think he makes some good points, I was not convinced that dating was the wrong way to go. In fact, I dated my wife for about 20 months before we got married, and it was a lot of fun for both of us. Joshua Harris presents an alternative to dating in his books; however, it is certainly not a one-size-fits-all approach to finding a spouse.

If you guys want to peruse a good site for witnessing to Mormons, check out http://www.utlm.org/ . The couple that run this site are ex-Mormons and really know their stuff.