LadyRaven

IMO, people should go into marriage with eyes wide open. And then spend the rest of their lives with at least one of them partially closed. You have every right to want to marry this person, regardless of his health. And you have every right to try to convince him that he is wrong (in love of course). But he has every right to not marry you if his conscience is uncomfortable with the idea of dying too soon after marriage. It may be misguided in one sense and you may believe that he is over reacting, but he still has the right to not walk the isle if he is not 100% into the idea. And he has every right to have his pov respected. I recommend you communicate completely with him exactly how hopelessly in love you are and how you're not going away and maybe even how his hesitance is a doubt against your character if that is the way you feel, but also listen to him and his concerns. Then, if he wont marry you and you want to stay with him, do it single. You dont have to be married to be faithful and loving, you're still there with the person.

glad it wasn't my house.

They didn't ask me, but I am tired of it. I'm also tired of Miley Cyrus, and Mamma Mia.

That is awfully hot. I would think that that magma would be a reasonable theory. There is also a hot spot in the ocean, cant remember where.

You cringe because it is the language used by some heretics from a long time ago. The words come right from the language of demons. See, sometimes when heresies rear their ugly heads they are responses to excesses in the church proper. At one time, and still today, there was a false teaching in the church, that we are saved based on works. Legalism. A heresy being taught in Christ's name. In response to legalism, which anyone who reads the Bible for themselves knows is untrue, someone took the pendulum and swung it the other way and said, no, devotion to God has no rules. It's all about love. God does not expect anything of us. This heresy is called Antinomianism. Sometimes heretical language ends up worming its way into the church because it sounds good and it voices the frustrations that we have when we see the church going off on the wrong track. The phrase "Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship" is one of those examples. It sounds good and does counter the whole culture of 'if you dont look like me, if you dont do this or do that you're not a believer' thing that frustrates people, but it is not true. It is correct to state that it is MORE than merely a religion. It is. The truth is that Christ does have expectations. It is also true that we can obey most of those rules and appear religious when we are not so in the Biblical sense. Scripture calls those things dead works. But Christ expects that those who love and are devoted to Him obey those rules, when we do not we know it to be sin. It is the presence of that love and devotion that makes it all a joy, it makes the burden light. It makes following Christ MORE than just a religion, it makes it pure religion. I am not saying Shilo is a heretic. Frankly, I dont see that to be true. Just about everything I have read I've either agreed with or understood from Shilo's posting history, so I would just not ever insinuate that Shilo is a false teacher or a heretic. I also believe Shilo has good intentions and is reacting to another error. However, using the terminology that Christianity is not a religion is wrong. It is a false teaching which has it's roots in a heresy and I do hope that Christians with good intentions stop using the language of demons.

No, the world is saturated with false religion. If we dont draw the distinction between false religions and the one true one then we run the risk of teaching error and leading people astray. All of those men had false religion. We have to teach the gospel. Period. The truth is that some sinners run to false religions which are based on works because it suits them. The rest of the story however is that you have other sinners running away from anything which places requirements upon them at all as they are in rebellion against any authority whatsoever. While some people fall easily into the error of legalism (religion which requires things God does not), there are others who fall into the error of antinomianism (religions which requires nothing, or at least nothing but good feelings). Some people dont mind it when you walk up and say that Jesus is a relationship and not a religion because they dont want to be tied to anything or anyone which tells them to do anything. Speaking the language you speak borders on proclaiming that there are no requirements for being Christian, and that quite frankly is not true. There is a true Christian religion. It is neither legalism, nor antinomianism. it is not works and it is not emotion. It is not simply a set of rules and it is also not the absence of them. It is, however, correct to point out that Christianity is much MORE than a religion, it is also a relationship and a way of life lived of total devotion. This would be true. Saying that it is NOT a religion though, is a falsehood and I will beat this into the ground if I have to.

That is why I said that I never proclaim my hatred for religion without qualifying what I mean. There is biblical Christianity AND there is the Chrisitan religion. no, there is, according to James, pure religion. True religion. That of course is Christian as it is following Christ (Christian means Christ follower, btw). It is not a matter of dressing truth in society's clothing. It is a matter of showing the world that we are not promoting a religion. But that is wrong. The true Christian religion IS what we should be promoting. We stand against false religion and false teaching. Including the one which says there is no such thing as a true, pure Christian religion.

This would be the practical option, if they are so upset about parents and children together buying in their stores, just get rid of it altogether. Much easier to deal with. But most likely alcohol is too much of sell to stop selling it.

So, umm, this means that single men are unable to control their sexual urges? And that it is right to advocate fornication? I think not. It is hypocritical if you consider the standard they held for their personal lives yet they believed that single men couldn't even control themselves....

I think it has a measure of shock value and is good as a means of turning a conversation around to Jesus. I would never say I hate religion without qualifying what I mean. It can and has served as a means getting people past the idea that Christianity is a religion. It opens the door to share with them that Jesus is not about relgion about restoring mankind back to God. We should not be saying things merely for shock value and using terminology which is misleading simply to calm unbelievers down. There is a true religion, He came and restored our ability to discern and live it. Saying that Jesus has nothing to do with religion is misleading. Scripture does refer to the religion and traditions of men, which is what most Christians who diss religion actually mean. But when we speak with unbelievers we must still use the biblical terms and phrases and leave society's preferences alone. We are to take them to the truth, they can accept it or not, but we must not dress the truth in society's clothing.

As we all know that it is illegal just about everywhere to sell or supply alcohol to minors, and as we all know, some parents drink, and as we all know, you dont hide drinking from your children and as we all know that drinking itself is not a sin...Other than being bossy, what exactly is being accomplished here? A parent who would supply booze to their kid isn't gonna do it in the isles of a supermarket. They will do so at home or out of the public eye. They could come along without their child and then go home and give it to them, nobody is stopping anything by making them do it without their child in tow. All you are doing is forcing the parent to, if they chose to drink, make an extra trip. Well, most likely they will stop using the place and go somewhere else more convenient. Who knows, maybe they will go to a liquor store and get their booze there, and maybe buy more than they normally would because that's all that is on offer, as opposed to Tesco where they can get soda and tea. And your not making drinking less glamorous, you are making it more mysterious, by taking out of the mainstream of the child's life (if the parents drink, the kids know, even if they never see it). You're not protecting them from anything.

this will have to go down in history, I agree with Axx here. It is a matter of respect, your family has no respect for you as a person. I am not exactly sure how you go about demanding that respect without coming off as someone not worthy of that respect, however, you do need to insist that you are respected in some fashion.

I don't understand it either. Where did you come up with that concept? Who told you this? Major Snippage Does that help everyone to understand where this question comes from? Yes I do. And much like the concept that there is a discernment among all believers that we can work on, and then a gift of discernment that is beyond that...God uses you now, where you are and as you mature, He uses you even more, or perhaps I should say in more intense places and different situations. Right now the Lord is using you with the questions you ask. Later He will use you to answer questions. You might have the gift of discerning spirits, you might have some other gift. It will be as your measure of faith, as your faith grows so will your gift. It will be small now and grow as you walk in faith. However, if we wait until we are 'fit' then we will wait forever, nothing would get done this side of glory as we are all human and 100% fallible.

I believe that it is more helpful to be consistent in scriptural interpretation than to try to apply the current events into it. If one wanted to determine what the mark of the beast actually was, one would have to do a study of marking in scripture. Though there is no way I'll ever get a barcode or a computer chip placed in or on me in any fashion, but that is because I'm a privacy nut.

I'm glad he was arrested, he was abusing the system.

Not sure this is a particularly helpful thought pattern, especially considering the information which follows. When you withdraw, you also withdraw your influence. Depending on which place you are in the world, there is much swearing or cussing or blue language or however you chose to describe it. I remember on a theology discussion list I belonged to, it was international and there was this person from Ireland there, using words that most American believers were appalled to read. It was determined by the person running the list that this was common language where this person was from and not considered 'vulgarity' anymore. It was still forbidden as it was an international discussion list, but it does show that what is considered crude in one area is not necessarily crude in another. You cannot make him agree with you, you can only stand up for what you believe and possibly convince him that you are correct. Of course as a free thinker you already knew that, you are just frustrated right now that he doesn't agree with you. As to the idea that he should support you, I would have to agree that, as the woman of the house, your say should go above the wishes of everyone else besides him. The two of you are supposed to be a unit, against the rest of the world. If you did not manage to convince your daughter of the value of clean language while she was of teachable age, you cannot make her do anything now and it would cause problems for you to do so. But, you can tell her that she will not use that language around you, if she cant speak in a civil manner then she can go home. You would prefer that she stay, etc, but it's entirely up to her. And your husband should back you on this as he is not making a stand for himself or any time that you are not home, only when you are. You are out of sync with society in so many ways Bucky, look at your SN for crying out loud. And I dont mean that in a bad way, as you probably have figured out that I am not exactly in sync with society either. When culture and society runs itself off of a cliff we are not obligated to follow it. It does not matter if you are running your life contra culture, as long as you are right. Dont sit around trying to convince the man that you fit with the whole of the culture, you will lose and it's a moot point. The question is, are you right? And if you are right, is this a hill you want to die on? Only you can answer that one.

I pray that the word of God ministers to those people. However, I do not cotton to using the faith as reality TV.

Then what you hate is false religion, not religion itself. Yes, your word does come from binding, but one has to ask to what you are being bound. I frequently say myself that I cannot bind someone's conscience if I have no scriptural command to do so, because it would be binding someone to a lie. But why wouldn't one want to be bound to the truth? And the truth is that we are bound, we are bound either to Christ or to the devil, but we are bound eternally and that is a good thing if we are bound to Christ.

i disagree with the portion of your comment that i bolded. one's religion is more often what people require of you in the name of God, which is why so many people hate religion. in fact, God hated religion in that sense, also. (remember the pharisees? remember the moneychangers in the temple?) religion is a set of doctrines that are prescribed by man instead of an obedience to scripture as set forth by God Himself. Actually, what I posted was an oversimplification, but it was not untrue. Theology is quite literally 'the study of God,' it comes from the greek, ology meaning the study of and theos being God. It refers to the study of anything that has to do with God's existence, attributes, acts, plan, etc. Once you've studied God, you come up with some conclusions about God's attributes (such as His perfection) and these are also 'theology.' Hence, theology is what you believe to be true about God, based on a study of the same. Your theology could be true, or it could be false, depending on where you get your information and how you apply that information and how you apply it. From that theology flows something called doctrine. Here are some scriptures about doctrine: Deu 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Job 11:4 For thou hast said, My doctrine [is] pure, and I am clean in thine eyes. Pro 4:2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. John 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or [whether] I speak of myself. Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. Mat 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade [them] not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Eph 4:14 That we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, [and] cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 2Jo 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into [your] house, neither bid him God speed: Rev 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. It is quite clear from scripture that doctrine is also necessary, but only if it is good, sound, true doctrine. The word doctrine comes from the Greek word didache:

I heard one heresy hunter ask something one time that still convicts me each time I think about it. "Are you willing to do for the truth what others are willing to do for a lie?" Think about how much time Copeland spends studying. Paul/David (?)(cant remember which his name is) Cho prays for at least an hour per day along the lines of the Lord's prayer. Mormons donate two years of their youth witnessing door to door. JWs spend hours each week doing that.

In most places, they aren't. I believe the issue here is that grocery and convenience stores sell alcohol too in many states. Here is the South, we can buy beer and wine and those combo drinks (like wine coolers and such), but not hard liquor in our grocery stores, gas stations and pharmacies. You have to go to a package store to get whiskey and the like, though. And children are allowed in, as long as they are accompanied by parents, because what are you going to do with your three year old, leave him on the front stoop? Leave him in the car? No, you walk in with him, get your stuff and walk out. There is one place where you can buy your stuff through a window if you already know what you want, like you do late nite at the gas station. I think it's good, fewer robberies would happen too, especially if you use bullet proof glass. But I'd never mandate it.

Scripture does not reveal her eternal destination, therefore it is not ours to guess. The secret things of God belong to Him alone, what He wants us to know He will tell us. Same goes for Judas, we don't know if he ever repented either. We know he regretted a good bit, but we don't know if he did anything spiritually about it (it can take a long time to die hanging oneself, he may have or may not have chosen to use that time to repent). There are actually few people we know the eternal destiny of in scripture. Most of them are listed in Hebrews. I think there is a good reason for that. It's not for us to determine, beyond a certain point, who is and who is not saved. As to the subject at hand, I believe the person's critique to be right on target, or it is as much as I can understand on pain killers. the author was off in deep probing left field, it's a works based thing in new clothing.

Thank you so much for answering. Would you consider someone who can tell if someone was lying, deceitful or just tell if someone is not a who they say they are have the discerning gift? Or is it something altogether different than that? Scripture says to test the spirits, to see if they be of God. Therefore everyone has some ability to tell, but there is also a gift of discerning spirits, which I believe is on a whole secondary level. When Elijah asked God to open Elisha's eyes, he did not need to test those spirits, he knew what he was seeing. It goes for other things too. For example, in scripture, when the gift of tongues was given, people heard things in their own language in Acts 2. Therefore, it's an earthly language spoken if a person spoke tongues in the assembly. Theoretically, someone could learn many many languages and become quite proficient at them without the gift of tongues, or the gift of interpretation. But, if you have the gift of tongues, you would not need to learn the language, you just speak it, and if you have the gift of interpretation of tongues, you would not have to study to understand them. Therefore, anyone who spoke Swahili could interpret for someone who spoke it in the assembly, but one with the gift of interpretation of tongues would not have to learn Swahili to do it. Anyone who spoke it could speak in the assembly, but those who had the gift of tongues would not have to learn it. Make sense?

Of course, however, most heresies are outside of the church or held to by rogue denominations, this particular one gets passed along inside the walls of churches which are normally within the realm of orthodoxy. For example, Assemblies of God are not heretical denominations. I disagree with quite a bit taught there because I'm not charismatic and I am not a pretrib rapture person. However, there is nothing heretical about those things. My first contact with WOF happened with a guest speaker at an AOG church. He wasn't a head-liner like Capps or Hinn or Copeland, just a local travelling preacher. The man returned at least twice before he taught heresy, and it took the pastor of that church two months of teaching to explain why the sermon was heretical. Even then, the congregation pushed for him to return and at least a third left the church for an independent one who had him there on a regular basis. This is why this one is particularly dangerous. Some churches do not take the time to investigate the teachings of heretical teachers like Hinn before they invite them to speak at their assemblies.

We should not say that religion is bad. That is something that really bugs me about some believers. Thing is, I 'know' what they are 'trying' to say. However, by saying that some religions are bad or that religions of man are bad they end up also casting stones at true religion. Your theology is what you believe about God. Your religion is what that God requires of you.