Adonaijah

I was always taught that Hell and the punishment of the wicked will endure forever is that true? I have heard different arguments on this, one says yes they will suffer forever and another says after a time they will cease to be? I hadn't really studied this subject but plan to. What are your thoughts and please give scripture, thanks

First of all let me say that I am a survivor of attempted suicide. I was an unbeliever at the time. In my opinion If you are a christian and commit suicide, I can't imagine facing Jesus with that sin when the bible says he came so we could have life. He said if you love me keep my commands. Thou shalt not kill was one of those. It also says that muderers will not enter the kingdom of heaven and if you can't repent of murder you can't have Jesus' blood cover it. As a christian who is suposed to love God with all your heart, knowing he died for you and suffered for you, committing suicide would in my opinion be like throwing it all in his face like what he did wasn't good enough for you. As to wheather suicide=hell for the unsaved yes. For the true believing christians = ? But what kind of true believing, God loving christian would do such a thing when God promised to keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him, and what about "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me' If a christian who ponders suicide as a real option believes that thier sin of suicide will be covered by the blood of Jesus, why can't they believe that God will not give us more than we can bear, that in our weakness he is our strength?

I have been attending a church of christ church. I visit all the deniminations to see what I can learn from them. What I learnt from the CoC so far is that they believe they are the only true church desended from the book of acts. That the Holy Spirit no longer works through people. Spiritual gifts were only for the first church. They don;t believe in a rapture a seven year tribulation armageddon and such. They don't believe you are a true christian unless you belong to their church and baptised by them. They told me if I wanted to be a member I would have to be baptized again by them. They don't believe in any instumental music inside the church. Only a man is allowed to speack whenever they want in church such as singing and prayer and preaching, unless a man let's the women join in. Even in the bible study a woman cannot speak unless a man tells her she is allowed. The women ae not allowed to make any decisions concerning the running of the church, like decorating the church and making decisions on how the money is to be spent. They don't believe in giving donations to charity organizations unless it is ran by them, they say God should get the glory in what the organization does and if the Coc doesn't run it it is a sin to contribute. They say that it is a sin to allow your child to go to prom because dancing is a sin. They say that the old testament does not mean anything to them they only go by the new testament. they believe that Jerusalem is not special in any way and that the Coc has taken the place of the jews in God's favor and blessings. They believe they are not a denomination and all churche's who don't belive as they do are denominations and are in error leading people astray.They also believe they are saved by works as part of their salvation plan beliefs. This is what the Church of Christ church I attended believes. I worshipped with them and attended bible study with them. I know there beliefs firsthand. I don't know if this is how all the CoC churches function I only know about this one.

Hate Crimes Bill May Threaten Free Speech By David Brody CBN News CWNews.com

Trading Teddy Bears for Toy Guns By Charlene Israel CBN News CWNews.com

One of my favorites is "The Book of The Lover and the Beloved" by Ramon Lull. It is poetry verses about Christ and us and our relationship. It is very very good. Another book I like alot is "Fire of Heaven" by Bill Meyers. It's a fictional novel about the two witnesses mentioned in revelation. They are a man and woman and must overcome their own wants and stuff to be who God called them to be. And I'd recommend the author Frank Peretti, I really like his work. It's about the supernatural and our Christian faith.

My brother and his girlfriend are not christians I am. About a year ago they made a commitment to each other to remain in a monogomous relationship with each other and when she finished college to get married. He obviously broke his commitment with her and was unfaithful to her and his word. That's what I call cheating. It's the same in anything you give your word in wheather its a relationship or a buisness deal if you don't keep your word then you have betrayed the person you gave your word to.

"UZBEKISTAN: Pastor's re-education 'impossible without isolation from society'" by Felix Corley ("Forum 18," March 23, 2007) Tashkent, Uzbekistan - Protestant pastor Dmitry Shestakov is appealing against his four-year sentence in an open work camp, imposed on 9 March in his home town of Andijan [Andijon] in retaliation for his religious activity, Protestant sources have told Forum 18 News Service. The court ruled that Shestakov had to be deprived of his freedom "given the absence of the possibility of re-educating him without isolation from society". Shestakov's lawyer lodged his appeal on 16 March, but no date has yet been set for a hearing at Andijan Regional Court. Shestakov remains in Prison No. 1 in Andijan until the appeal is heard. Forum 18 has learnt that the prison administration, which is headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Pulatov, has banned Shestakov from kneeling to pray and confiscated his copy of the New Testament. Instead of the New Testament, he has been offered the Koran to read. Andijan was the centre of an anti-government uprising in May 2005 and Shestakov is being held in the prison which was stormed by some of the rebels during the uprising. He is currently in Prison No. 1's Samara section, where those sentenced for membership of the Akramia movement and the Islamist political movement Hizb-ut-Tahrir are also being held. Refusing absolutely to answer any questions about Shestakov's sentence was Begzot Kadyrov, chief specialist at the government's Religious Affairs Committee in the capital Tashkent. "I have no information about the case," he told Forum 18 on 21 March, despite the fact that Shestakov has frequently been attacked through the state-run media, often in comments sourced to Committee officials. Asked more generally about the extensive controls on religious communities including at the local level

"Texas woman convicted of operating on child who later died" (AP, March 22, 2007) Abilene, USA - A woman was convicted of bodily injury for helping perform surgery on her neighbor's 7-year-old daughter who later died. Callahan County jurors deliberated about five hours Wednesday before finding Rebekah Hawkins guilty of assisting in surgery on Terri Silas in 2003. Following the surgery at Hawkins' home, Terri, who had a leg infection, died at a Fort Worth hospital. A judge will decide Hawkins' punishment. District Attorney Shane Deel said Hawkins will be sentenced in May. Hawkins, believed to be a member of a religious sect called the House of Yahweh, faces up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine for the third-degree charge. Deel said Hawkins, who remains free on $50,000 bond, also is eligible for probation. If Hawkins had been found guilty of serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony, she could have faced a maximum punishment of life in prison. "We're pleased with the guilty verdict and glad that we're able to get some measure of justice for the child," Deel said. The child's mother, Deziree Kay Gideon, who is also thought to be involved with the sect, pleaded guilty in October to injury to a child by criminal negligence and was sentenced to five years' probation. The House of Yahweh, an Old Testament-based group, gained notoriety in 1996 when several hundred of its followers changed their last names to Hawkins in honor of its founder, Yisrayl Hawkins. He had changed his name from Bill after leaving the Abilene Police Department in 1977. He founded the group, with headquarters in Abilene and a 50-acre compound in Callahan County, in 1980.

I am glad all christian churches could unite against this. If we could stand togather more often maybe things would have and would be better.

"Mexican churches form united front against abortion bill" (AP, March 21, 2007) Mexico City, Mexico - Roman Catholic, evangelical, orthodox and Anglican church leaders said Wednesday they have formed a united front against bills to legalize abortion in Mexico, an issue that has divided the nation and drawn in conservative President Felipe Calderon. In a news conference, the church leaders said they will call on their followers to march against the proposals that would legalize abortions in the first three months of pregnancy. The abortion bills have been filed by lawmakers from the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, in both the national Senate and Mexico City legislature. "In the name of Jesus Christ and his Gospel, we ask, we implore they do not approve an unjust and bloody law that kills the innocent," said Rev. Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Catholic Archdioceses of Mexico City. Catholic church officials have previously said they will excommunicate lawmakers who vote in favor of the bills. Rev. Eduardo Rangel, an evangelical minister in Mexico City, added that "abortion is disobedience and betrayal of the word of God." While about 90 percent of Mexico's total population of 104 million are Roman Catholic, there are more than 4 million evangelicals and the number grows annually. Current Mexican law permits abortions only if the pregnancy endangers a woman's life or if the woman has been raped. But advocates of the bills say this does not stop wealthier Mexican women traveling to the United States for the procedures while thousands of poor women remain in Mexico and have back-street operations. The law would allow abortions to be carried out under safer conditions, they argue. "We need to stop thousands of women from dying in unsafe operations," said Sen. Carlos Navarrete, who heads the PRD in the Senate. "This is a right our laws should guarantee." The church's position comes in spite of a constitutional ban on political activity by religious groups. It is also being supported by the Vatican, which is sending its chief anti-abortion campaigner, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, to inaugurate an international conference in Mexico City on Friday Calderon, of the conservative National Action Party, has also spoken against the measure. "I have a personal conviction, and I am in defense of life," he told a Tuesday news conference. "I have a plain respect for dignity and human life and, within this, I believe the existing legislation is adequate."

"Nigeria teacher dies 'over Koran'" ("BBC News," March 22, 2007) Lagos, Nigeria - Secondary school pupils in north-eastern Nigeria have killed a teacher after apparently accusing her of desecrating the Koran, police say. The teacher, a Christian, was attacked after supervising an exam in Gombe city. It is not clear what she had done to anger the students. The authorities, concerned that communal unrest could break out, have ordered all the city's schools to shut. Similar accusations sparked riots in neighbouring Bauchi State last year. At least 15,000 people have been killed in religious, communal or political violence since the country returned to civilian rule in 1999. 'Restored calm' Nigerian police say students beat the teacher to death outside the school compound after she had been invigilating an exam. The students had apparently accused her of desecrating the Koran, though it is not clear exactly what she had done. The police arrived at the scene to restore calm and say their intervention stopped a riot. The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says violence based on such accusations is not new. Last year, in Bauchi State, a rumour swept the city that a Christian teacher had also desecrated the Koran, which prompted riots in which at least five people were killed. In fact, the teacher had confiscated the Koran from a pupil who was reading it in class. Religious differences have long been used to justify all kinds of violence in Nigeria, our reporter says. In reality it is often fuelled by ethnic or political conflicts and competition for resources, which can be fierce, given that so many people live in poverty, he says.

"Faithful flock to bleeding Jesus paintings" (Reuters, March 21, 2007) Port Blair, India - THOUSANDS of people are flocking to a policeman's house in India's remote Andaman Islands to pray in front of two portraits of Jesus Christ, which are said to have been "bleeding" for the past two weeks, police and witnesses said. Eric Nathaniel, a police radio operator, found red fluid trickling down a portrait of Jesus in his house two weeks ago which he believed was blood. "We lit candles and prayed all night and a little later the blood dried but it soon started trickling down from the hands and heart of another portrait in the house," Nathaniel said in the islands' capital Port Blair today. Officials said red paint used in the portraits could be melting in the extreme humidity, but islanders and priests were coming in boats from remote parts of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago to pray. "This is indeed a miracle and shows that Jesus was in pain because of our sins," said John Chrysostom, a priest at the Anglican Church of Port Blair. One portrait was temporarily moved to the local bishop's house for public viewing after police found it difficult to control swelling crowds.

I recently discovered that my brother is cheating on his girlfriend of whom I am good friends with and her family. This other girl has gotten him into drinking and drugs. My question is should I tell his girlfriend or maybe give him an ultimatum to stop what he's doing and threaten to tell? Any suggestions on what I should do?

"Islamic groups impose tax on Christian 'subjects'" ("AsiaNews," March 19, 2007) Baghdad, Iraq