zecha51

Dougm - Thank you and thanks for the other replies.

Some people are big on the exact date of salvation. Like at my Church, the two new ministers have the exact date of their salvation written in the bulliten for the week. satan uses doubting of salvation (dont get me wrong - its important to make sure you are saved by grace through faith in Christ), to bother Christians alot. Any thoughts on having to know the exact date of salvation? Any advice to someone who is bugged by not knowing the exact date? BTW Ruth Graham is quoted by Billy Graham as saying she has always known the Lord as far back as she can remember. ("Answers to Life's Problems" - Billy Graham) It is important to take God in His Word through faith, this is the only personal advice I can give. Thoughts?

Billy Graham if he goes before.

"This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself." -2 Tim 2:11. It is better to be beheaded like Paul and go to heaven than to deny Him and stay here on earth if the situation happened. Would I be terrified? Yes, but also no. "He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself." - What love! God loves us so much.

Andrew great information. The Rylands fragment is from 130 AD (sooo earlier when looking compared with other ancient works), which is earlier than say 160-170 AD if you are into specific specifics. Proving that Jesus historically existed is great. Even secular sources should be referenced, but remember of course they are not inspired and do not claim to be. I think there are definately people who are saved by learning how much apologetics accurately supports Christianity and then they come to be saved by the true gospel which attests that Christ was buried for our sins and rose to life again. Andrew, thanks for the Lord is my shephard desktop background. I applied it as mine. Before I had a spiral with the books of the Bible swirling around. (from 'biblewheel' or something).

I think the goal may not always be to "stay alive." God will garden us and shape us as he pleases, but praying in the Spirit, giving thanks to God for the good things you have, obeying his commandments like not stealing and honoring your mother and father, and realizing that God is ultimately in control can help. Pray to Him and ask for insight about this verse. Remember that God is a great gardener, he will not just throw you in the fire for no reason. He actually loves you if you are in the "true vine". To join the true vine one must recieve Him. "John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name"

lovingHim4 - You seem to have an open mind but not so open that you would be led astray by false doctrine which is so rampant nowadays. Praise God for Him allowing you to recognize that you have sinned against Him and that you asked for His forgiveness. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" Colosains 1: 14 I don't always agree with other preachers, etc and always am careful to line up everything in accordance to our scriptures. It takes maturity to sometimes endure the anger that comes when you confront someone with a false doctrine like someone who says we are saved by works. We are not saved by works, they are a great fruit though that comes after being saved "by grace through faith." eph2:8 littlelite - great post! remember a tiny light in the darkness can be seen a loooong way away.

Yes, and even the unedited version of Josephus' writings give great evidence for the historical evidence. There was definately a historical Jesus, he was God in human flesh and died for you and me.

I am single and get lonely once in a while. It is not that bad though, God has a good plan for all of His people. Take comfort in the promise of Jesus - "I will never leave you nor forsake you" Heb. 13:5

Do You Believe in "Once Saved, Always Saved"? YES.

Starlight don't take this the wrong way, but you tend to discredit "belief" when it can serve the same purpose of faith. "For God so loved the World, that He sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) "You are all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus." -Galations 3:26 So there can basically be faith and belief in the same definition, or belief in a totally other way of looking at it. Do you see what I am saying. These two scriptures are in agreement. The belief is just different than the type of belief you were talking about. On an aside, it takes more than intellectual faith in Jesus to be saved. It is really beliving in His person and His sin sacrifice that paid for our sins. : )

glory you have my sisters jeans. Coffee, coffee, and coffee at night. I drink a cup and am a nervous wreck, hahah.

The anti-christ has not been revealed in full yet. IMO according to the scriptures he IS ONE PERSON and will "do great signs and wonders." He will be known by many names, like the Biblical "antichrist" and "son of perdition", but also by many other names like potentially "president", "diplomat", etc, etc, etc, .... "peacemaker"........... He will be totally evil and Jesus will destroy Him. Call on the Lord today if you are scared about this anti-christ or worried about his coming or even the coming of the Lord Jesus himself! Revelation 22:12 - "Behold, I am coming soon!" Our world is worried about how to develop the next microchip that is .0003Xp whatever smaller than the last and worried about the smell of the latest expensive cologne or bubbqle bath. They are not looking for Jesus, but he is coming quickly! The anti-christ is not Bill Clinton or anyone in power right now in my personal non scriptural opinion about who he is. He is being prepared for though

"I hate those who cling to worthless idols, I trust in the Lord." - Pslam 31 These things like tarrot cards become idols to the sinners who use them. They can sometimes be used to tap into demonic forces. Do not dwell on such things, but instead pray to the Lord. "Do not give the devil a foothold." - Ephesians 4:27 While we must remember satan is real and out to get us, we need to dwell on God and not give satan a foothold by worrying about this mirror being used by wiccans or whatever. We need to saturate ourselves with the Word of God. satan is upset becuase we have incredible power through the Lord Jesus Christ. Only as his followers and beloved do we have this power. Becuase he loves us! Stay close to the Lord and pray for wisdom about these things.

I am in this position now. Thanks for the post. It is hard to wait on God but the Psalms say explicitly.. "wait on the Lord!" If we wait on Him and let Him strengthen us and give us patience, it can pay off and help us and the Lord's kingdom.

Thanks for the replies. Had a headache today from "withdrawl" but it should pass soon.

VitaSplash... I just went to Walmart, should have looked for it.

Did not know about Eric Burdon.... I do know that Brian Welch from Korn quit the hard, dark, rock band for Christ. He has a website that strikes pretty hard with imagary. [Mods this is a link to a Christian site from a black rock band rocker who came to Christ, which is the URL just in case] its Former Korn guitarist to Christ

Hello, I have a past of severe anxiety. God has been the factor in healing it so far..... HOWEVER, as far as diet... I have just quit caffeine. Was drinking about 3 sodas a day and feel a huge difference. Do you find less caffeine gives you less anxiety? I understand everyone has a different body and some people like my sister can drink coffee all day, but I am beginning to suspect it was a pretty big cause in my anxiety. Thoughts? Experiences? Every quit caffeine? Thanks for the responces.

I don't think we pray to the same God, becuase Jesus is God. We need to witness to them in love and in correctness about this question... "What think ye of Christ?" - Matthew 22:42

No way... heaven will be awesome!!!! We don't deserve to go to that place so much it ain't even funny. Praise God for his mercy and for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to pay for our sins we did not deserve!! More than a man! More than a prophet! More than a pixel on southpark! More than a curse word used in blasphemy by men trapped in sin..... Jesus is GOD!

Man is creative, intelligent, and seems like thing to trust in so often. People rally behind all kinds of human men and leaders and ultimately find that they are let down. Only Jesus Christ fulfills totally and provides totally, though it is not always easy the Lord loves and guides those who trust in Him. great verses

I use the NIV in Church, at parks (reading the Bible out in nature is awesome!), and for general study. I use KJV/NKJV for deeper study and that being much less frequently. what the heck... a verse for today on the mind: "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin." - Hebrews 9:22 AND Leviticus 17:11

Thanks Leonard. I have a degree from a secular University. There was a GREAT opening for a youth minister. I gave the preacher my resume and talked to him, but he said that I had to have gone to seminary to be considered. The new guy is really cool and I was down about it admittedly for a day, until I remembered Romans 8.... However, God has plans for all of us. Praise Him!

Testimony can be very powerful. I know a guy who was a crack addict and now has basically memorized the New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ and is an awesome witness. A very humble and nice guy. However, the Bible by itself is still the ultimate tool in my opinon.