Vickilynn

Shalom David, Please be more specific. What do you mean by "this is"? Hiring someone for a position in the church? Yes, that is an activity for the leadership of our church. I personally do not hire people for ministry positions in our church. We have a leadership in place that does that.

Shalom, Of course. The essentials of salvation in Jesus are worth the effort on my part. Personal convictions and preferences are not.

Shalom David, You are asking about the MINISTRY, not just the interaction between Christians? I don't make decisions about who is hired in our church for ministry, our male leadership does that and they have Biblical criteria for doing so. And yes, their lives and living out their testimony are considered for a position.

Oh, no, Ddavid.....I've never seen you look the way you do right now, in that dress. Shalom Bib, Spot on!! :73_73: You have needlessly bruised my ego Shalom David, Take it to Jesus!

The question is ....is lying ever the right thing to do? This question invites your belief. Of course beliefs can differ. And the question ivites response. It isn't conditional on offering an opinion based on guilt. Come on. We're not throwing stones. Shalom, AMEN. Let's stick to the OP's question and not throw stones, OK LadyC?

Shalom, EXACTLY. We can look at fruit, but we can in no wise ever know their heart and know if they are truly saved. There are people who exhibit "good fruit", yet are not born-again. There are people who are born-again Christians who need to clean up their act. We need to stay FAR away from making judgments about someone else's salvation.

Oh, no, Ddavid.....I've never seen you look the way you do right now, in that dress. Shalom Bib, Spot on!! :73_73:

Shalom Bib, BINGO. What we have here is a failure to trust G-d and using that to justify willful sin. We should choose to trust HIM, not our own devices.

Shalom David, Nope. Sorry.

Shalom David, Pick any other sin and ask the same question. Are we to sin whenever WE feel the situation warrants it? Murder perhaps? Adultery? Fornication? Stealing? Are we to trust ourselves or G-d to take care of the situation? I'll choose G-d (no lying), thank you.

Shalom, No. You are to trust G-d, not willfully sin. The Bible does not make an escape clause for liars with good intentions. Sinning for "the greater good" is man's thinking, not G-d's. We have to do things HIS way, not ours.

Shalom, I opened a thread about this recently. You might want to look for it. The answer is no. Lying is a sin. Willful lying is willful sin.

Shalom, Yes. When it goes beyond discussing issues and you get mad or personally offended.

Shalom David, Yes, I see that. Which is why I tried to help you. I responded with all sincerity and care. I thought I was helping you by showing you the truth that you cannot claim that you are 100% "pure-blooded" and why. However, your reply was such that I know that believing you are a "pure-blood" is somehow very important to you, so I'm not going to bother arguing with you. If that what makes you happy, then whatever. Some people believe what they want to, regardless of the truth stating otherwise. I just wasn't going to continue down that trail and argue it out is all. And, in fact, this sounds so much like the rhetoric of Nazi Germany, who wanted a "pure-blood" race of people. I find this elitist way of thinking dangerous and detestable personally. But that's my opinion. Your comments about Neanderthals and such are not consistent with Bible thinking, but rather evolutionist thinking which is not consistent with sound Bible doctrine.

That's the current thinking, yes. It was previously thought that the two sub-species warred and the neanderthals were slaughtered to extinction, but they're thinking now that it's more likely they eventually interbred. Paleontologists go so far as to suggest that ginger haired people exhibit genetic traits from the neanderthals. Shalom, However, that's not the BIBLICAL thinking. We did not "evolve", we were created. The Bible tells me so.

That really does depend on how you define "pure" blood, doesn't it? For myself, I think a demonstrable connection to the Norman invasion on one side and the ancient Celts on the other suggests at least a measure of "purity" in the sense of being of English descent without apparent Scottish/Gaelic, European or Asian influences. If you want to go back to the beginning, then we're all pure-blooded humans, since the cro magnons apparently interbred with the neanderthals to produce the modern human species... but that would be facetious of me. Shalom David, Well, if it makes your clock tick to call yourself "pure-blooded", then have at it. If that is important to your sense of well-being you can tell yourself anything you choose. Your last comment was way off the map, but whatever. Believe what you like, I was just interjecting the truth, I have no horse in this race and don't really care to argue with you about it.

Shalom David, I must disagree. No one can trace their heritage back to the beginning and thus no one can claim they are "pure-blooded." The key term in your post is "able to determine." I do not believe anyone today (except for segregated and sheltered communities such as Third World villages) can claim to be "pure-blooded."

When you say "two people" do you mean to say you think homosexuality is OK? If not it might help to be a little more specific. I said "two people" to emphasize the idea of two sovereign individuals deciding to enter a relationship of mutuality. I wasn't trying to make a point about homosexuality, which isn't a topic of relevance in this thread anyway. How very PC of you. So what you are saying is that " two sovereign individuals deciding to enter a relationship of mutuality" should be encouraged to "date or marry" as long as they both want to, regardless of basically anything. Neither race, sex, religion or age should stand in their way, nor should society have an opinion about it either way. Is that "wikipedia" enough for you? Shalom Danny, Homosexuality is not the topic of this thread as georgesbluegirl said. The topic is inter-racial dating and marriage.

Shalom, You didn't mention whether these hypothetical people were born-again Believers. That is the REAL question. G-d doesn't "bless" marriages of unbelievers. I disagree with the premise that G-d blesses the marriages per se. He blesses the PEOPLE in the marriages and He does that by their hearts. If the people are truly repentant and are forgiven in Yeshua and walking in G-d's ways to the best of their abilities, after His heart, according to His Word, He will bless THEM. Divorce or adultery or fornication are not the UNforgivable sin. We must remember that. G-d forgives sin.

Shalom, Amen. I didn't answer the poll because it was too limiting. Of course I believe in healing, but the healing is up to G-d as to who, how and when. I don't believe everyone gets the same type of healing. My last one came through G-d using doctors, chemotherapy and other medicines. Again,

Shalom Alan, And the answer would be a resounding "NO." G-d calls and equips men to pastor and preach. He does not require every pastor to go to seminary.

I would prefer it if you would try to become more like Christ. Which is, what I believe, this forum is all about. Becoming more like Christ. I am certain there is no one here that would suggest you become "just like them". Brothers and Sisters should always be pointing each other toward the goal of Christlikeness. I for one would never want you to become just like me. Goodness, one is more than enough. Shalom Bibs, My sentiments exactly. I don't want to be like anyone else and I don't want anyone else to be like me. We ALL should strive to be more like Jesus, every day.

Shalom Emily Anne, I'm SO glad you posted this! It really DID need to be said. It's so much easier to blame the "other person" for our offense to a post, when in fact, we are in control of it.

Shalom, AMEN to these comments. I pray that we will ask ourselves are we WILLING to look at marriage the way G-d looks at it, not the way man looks at it. It is a spiritual, emotional, physical, legal union, in every sense of the word. The Word says it is when TWO BECOME ONE. If we truly looked at our marriage as G-d does, would we be so quick to separate or divorce? I think not.

Shalom Bibs, This is the absolute truth and you hit it right on. Many times, it is the READER who has mis-read the post, assumed the worst and flies off on a tangent. It is the responsibility of the READER to make sure of what the person is really saying, before they falsely accuse. And to do, the reader must ask if they are unsure. And not assume anything. BTW Jackie, Emily Anne started this same thread and it was closed rather quickly.