FighterforJC

I agree with you. I also agree that it is a command and therefore we must love. I Cor 13 tells us what love is, but my question is - How do we love the unloveable? I understand about loving the sinner and not the sin, but in real terms, how do we love the unloveable? I would be grateful for any practical suggestions on this because this is a problem that is affecting my life at the moment. To love the unloveable... the greatest love you can show the unloveable is by preaching the Gospel to them when you get the opportunity. Until then, make sure you don't end up murdering them. Personally, I feel that once you've earnestly preached the Gospel to someone you don't like, you're pretty much off the hook. You also develop compassion for them in the process and not hate them so much afterwards. So my suggestion is, actively look for opportunities to preach to this person. If they get born again, they'll probably be more loveable. If they're already saved, or claim to be anyway, I guess you'll just have to bear it and wait till both of you are in heaven so you can hang out like buddies.

That passage has led to many of interpretations. One explanation I've heard is that what Paul was really saying was, in the grand scheme of things, a woman will find fullfilment through child-rearing, not so much the actual child birth. Even so, the child rearing is only a picture of what God's blueprint is for woman. In the context of Paul's writings, that passage is most likely saying that a woman should not try to fill the role of a man. A woman will only find true fullfilment by being what God designed a woman to be.

I don't know you personally but, what's with the hangup over the Ruth-Boaz deal? If you like a girl and you're frustrated because she hasn't come up to you herself to profess her love, it's not Josh McDowell's fault! You should just do the initiating yourself. Peace.

Too bad today WE pay for our pastor's wages. They should all just get regular, full time jobs. Times aren't different, they just want bigger congregations.

I don't know the exact date of my salvation, and for a season I was concerned. I remember different instances that suggest I was already born again. There were a few events that either led me to salvation, or events that proved I was already saved. But I can't remember. I remember listening to Greg Laurie on the radio when I was either on my way to work or to school. I could've gotten saved during one of those times. I also remember a specific moment when I was in my room reading the Bible and I read John 5:24 (?) which says something along the lines of those who believe in Him will not be judged and has passed from death unto life (sorry I'm having Scripture block). At that moment I began to talk to God in my mind, as though we were face to face, andI just sorta kept telling Him, "It says this in the Bible...YOU said this...These are YOUR words, and I'm gonna hold you to them!" It could've been that moment that I got saved. I don't know. Was it the Greg Laurie incident? Did I say the sinner's prayer at the end of Greg Laurie's radio program? I don't remember. Did I get saved after clinging on to that particular verse? I don't know. All I know is that I'm saved now. Three things the Holy Spirit brings to my remembrance are : 1)December 1997, I was invited by a friend to attend her church, and my heart was like, "I can finally go to church on my own accord and worship the Lord from my heart!" I was really excited because I was raised Catholic and going to my first real Christian church was exciting as I will get to worship God in truth, in public, for the first time. So this incident tells me that I was saved at least since 1997. 2) No specific year, but I remember a specific moment where the resentment I had towards my parents simply melted away. I was never a bad kid and I never gave my parents anything to worry about, but in the months before I got saved, my heart was heavy with resentment towards my parents, filled with the typical things like theyare holding me back from being who I am and just generallynot having my best interest at hand. All lies, of course. ButI remember the moment that my heart became light and I thought to myself, "I can't continue with these feelings towards my parents anymore." It was actually involuntary, I didn't even try. The resentment just left. I just wish it was like that in other areas of my life! 3)Another incident I remember, I was standing in the living room by the fireplace (not lit) just thinking to myself and finally coming to the realization that the meaning of life is Jesus. It was so clear, it felt as though a light bulb just came on. I was almost shaking my head in disbelief as far as how simple that concept was and how I didn't come to that conclusion sooner. I don't know if that incident happened shortly before I got saved or shortly after I got saved. But the important thing to know is are you walking with the Lord now? Am I walking with the Lord now? This has nothing to do with losing one's salvation as I firmly believe that the Scriptures are clear that there is no way a genuine believer can ever lose his salvation. But your lifestyle and your attitude towards God and the Bible is the first indicator of your salvation. I'm not talking about sinlessness, just your heart towards Jesus. You're either for Him or against Him, and if you find yourself mostly on the "against" side of the fence, it might be time to repent and get born again for the first time.

Yep, there's no "official" age of accountability. People try to invent one, though. For some reason it comforts them.

Call it whatever you want, but our salvation is secure. There is no way a person who's truly born again can ever lose his or her salvation. Glad to hear that you have something to boast about in heaven, how you managed to keep your salvation through ohw great a Christian you were, getting God's nod and approval. Yep, you definitely earned your salvation. Congratulations. Make sure that I get to sit next to you in heaven (that is, if I don't lose my salvation between now and then)

This is probably better off in a new thread, but FIRST and FOREMOST, our salvation is secure, there's no way we can lose it, take comfort in that regarding the friend you just lost. Second, as already brought up by someone, the ONLY unpardonable sin is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, which people have interpreted in many ways. The general consensus really is that in the context of that verse, the pharisees accused Jesus of being demon-possessed and attributed His miracle to demons. Some would argue that that is THE unpardonable sin, which is impossible to replicate today because Jesus would have to be physically present. Others say that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is one's ultimate rejection of God's grace till the day that person dies. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that suicide cuts you off from salvation. If your friend was truly born again, you can rest assured that he is in heaven with Jesus. To adamantly claim otherwise is pure error or arrogance.

I apologize in advance if what I'm about to say might soundharsh. But we need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and stop viewing Christianity as a way to improve our self esteem. We need to get over ourselves and get over this "I can do all things through Christ" facade, which is really focused on the "I." "Me, me me, I'm special. God thinks I'm special. I feel good about MYself." This new emphasis on self has invaded the church. Our relationship with the Lord has been reduced to a motivational, self-help class where being used by God is just a means to feeling better about one's self. The first and most important step to being truly fully committed to Christ is getting over ourselves and our self-pity, and our need to feel important. Decrease so He can increase.

or will we lose our ability to count? I've always heard people describe eternity as being "outside of time" or something like that. Will we be able to keep track of how long we've been in heaven? Again, please no sidestepping answers.

I think you are being a bit carnally minded (worldly thinking) instead of being spiritually minded in your thinking but you have a good question. Revelation 21:4-"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more "pain:" for the former things are passed away." I am not sidestepping but we will have a glorified ressurrected body as Jesus had when he was raised on the third day as they killed Jesus only once and will never be able to do it again. In this life we die a physical death to go on to a spirtual body that cannot be destroyed for we shall live forever. We will not have to go around testing things like kicking others needlessly or jumping off building nor will we be concerning ourselves with those things over there. I hope you will read all of Revelation 21 as it tell of the Holy City where the saints shall abide without all the pain and suffering we have in this life now. OC That's all I'm saying, I never said there would be a "need" to kick each other. But if we choose to, can we? And will it feel like nothing? Can we get tickled?

Well, I haven't been a teenager for over a decade, but I think this is a good suggestion. While teenagers are certainly a unique bunch with special needs, I believe that you should approach them just like any other age group. Sin is sin and it affects all ages, there is no need to treat teenagers differently because number one, instead of focusing on Christ, they will focus on themselves and how "different" they are from the rest of society, and that somewhat makes them an exception to the rules. Number two, they need to mature and become responsible, and the best way to do that is to treat them like adults. To treat teenagers like teenagers is to essentially tell them that they have different responsibilities from the rest of society. There is nothing new under the sun, they are not facing different types of temptations from adults. Really, there aren't that many types of temptations. It usually involves sex, relationships or substance abuse. There is absolutely nothing unique to being a teenager other than the physical changes one goes through. Treat them like adults, let them rise to YOUR level, don't go down to theirs. Definitely don't even try to be hip to gain their acceptance. Be who you are and don't apologize for your age. There is no need to prove to them that you are just like them. As Christians, our common bond is Christ, not our age or the type of music we listen to.

I've seen a handful of his programs on channel 56 or something here in CA. I've always heard nothing but negative comments from other Christians regarding Gene Scott. But personally, I've never heard him teach anything heretical. He's definitely not your cookie-cutter, holier-than-though preacher with a permanent smile on his face. He comes across as angry and rude a lot of times, but I believe he definitely has a heart for the Lord. The only objectionable thing I've seen on his show is his use of female models in somewhat sexual contexts (dancing, if I remember correctly). For the uninitiated, Gene Scott always has these video clips in between the actual sermons, which usually consist of some scenery, or some footage of him riding a bike or some other odd thing. I think once he was sitting on a chair with a couple of girls dancing around him, or something. He's also been known to throw in a cuss word or two. The thing is, Gene doesn't try too hard to mask his imperfections, which he probably should've, for the sake of the weaker Christian as to not cause them to stumble. He's very straightforward, especially when it comes to asking for donations, which I personally think is the right way to go about asking for money (he says things along the lines of, "if you don't send money there won't be a program"). But from what I've seen of his sermons, he is very reverend towards God and he's a very intelligent man. He's just not your typical Ned Flanders type of pastor, but I believe that he is a true believer and he's not a heretic or apostate.

Just a stupid question that I'm sure someone has brought up here before. But can we feel physical pain in heaven? Can we feel at all? Will we be indestructible? I don't mean to be crass, but do you think it would be possible for males in heaven to kick each other in the groin as hard as they can, and just smile after getting kicked? Will we have organs? And what for? Just for the heck of it? Will we be able to jump off some tall building in heaven and land on our heads and not get hurt? What do you think? No sidestepping answers please..

We might be going into a different topic here, but when you say that you have "free will" to "walk away from the Lord" do you mean in terms of salvation? Do you mean to say that when God put your name in the Lamb's Book of Life, you have the power to cancel that contract? Does it make you feel better that you have the power? Hopefully you're not talking about salvation. But whatever you call free will, all I'm saying is whatever it is you ended up doing, God already knew and He wasn't guessing. There's absolutely NOTHING anyone can do to change what God already knows is going to happen. Does that make you feel uncomfortable?

Some just think it's heretical to say that we actually cannot change what God knows is going to happen. For every action we take, could there have been alternatives? Sure. There's an infinite number of alternatives to the actions we take. After I dunked a basketball, it's "possible" that I "could've" just layed it up or perhaps even passed the ball to my teammate at the last second. In the end, the "could'ves" don't really exist. This might not be the best analogy, but I like to view our choices as a bunch of empty cups, and the ones we fill with water are the actions that we ended up taking. On this side of the eternity, it's nice to be able to look at all those empty cups. But on God's side of eternity, you won't see any empty cups.

Uhm, I don't really see any contradiction in that. But as far as being "created in God's image," I don't think anyone really knows what that means exactly besides the fact that only man was ever described in the Bible as having been created in God's image. Animals weren't created in God's image, nor were trees, plants and other forms of life. To me, that makes us somewhat special, even though we don't know what it truly means to be created in His image. It's good enough for me.

This is the bottom line. Does God know everything that is going to happen in the future? Yes. Is there any way we can possibly change what God already knows is going to come to pass? Of course not. To me that means my free will is only apparent. There is absolutely nothing I can do to change the course that God already knows my life is going to take. Every choice I make FEELS real to me. I don't feel like a robot or a puppet, and that's good enough for me. There's a videogame coming out later this month that I've been looking forward to for the last 2 months, and I CHOSE to forfeit it so that I can buy another videogame instead. The choice I made was real. Did God know beforehand that I was gonna end up buying a different game? Yes! Was there a chance at all that I would've ended up buying the game I had originally intended to buy? Not at all. God knew all along that I was going to buy the other one and there was absolutely nothing I could've done to change that. Now before everybody jumps on me and accuses me of heresy, let me just point out that this isn't meant to excuse us of any responsibility we have in this life to do what's right and to stay away from doing what's wrong. We are responsible for our actions and we are accountable for them. God writes the rules. Some might get upset and complain that it won't be fair for God to judge us for the sins that he "scripted" for us to commit, but the same people have no problem with getting heavenly rewards for the good works that the Holy Spirit actually works through us. My point is, when it comes to the issue of "free will," the real problem is each person's refusal to admit that God is in total control. People want to feel that THEY have the power, not God. They will argue that in order for God to be truly holy, we MUST have free will. Uhm, no. He is the potter, we are the clay. He is holy no matter what. People don't like the idea that God doesn't have to bow down to their choices. God gave us the most sophisticated A.I., be content with that. Stop trying to defend your sovereignty and just praise the Lord.

Yeah I have my good days when I even feel like restoring our friendship. Then reality hits, and unfortunately anger is attached to it. I would love to be totally free of resentment, I don't enjoy staying mad. It's not going to happen overnight, but I do pray that I can one day just leave it in the past with no resentment and just move on.

I don't know what God wanted me to learn from it, but I learned to NEVER trust that snake again, and hopefully that guy learns to never try to invade marriages again by preying on weak-minded wives, which thankfully, my wife is not (This guy is 100% responsible for dissolving a troubled marriage that was fully repairable, by encouraging the wife to divorce, by sick twisting of Scripture; need I mention that this guy later became sexually involved with that woman?). I believe that sometimes the best thing is just to simply take things at face value and not try to find deeper meanings behind them. God revealed a poisonous snake, my job is to not get bit by it. You know, you feel the same resentment toward that man that I felt in my marriage and until you come to terms with the face that you are resentful about it and give it to the Lord and until you realize and accept that God is 100% omnipotent and could have stopped it if He had so chosen, but allowed it for a purpose, then you will miss the lesson and the blessing. The blessing is that we don't have to ever deal with this guy again. The lesson is that it is sometimes necessary to participate in God's work by taking action and becoming the instrument God uses. If there was a stranger in my house who's about to physically assault my family, it is not my duty to stand back and pray as the assault takes place but to take that guy down as quickly as I can and beat him until he stops moving. It is the same with the situation I talked about. I saw a snake and I will not allow that snake to ever enter my home again.

I don't know what God wanted me to learn from it, but I learned to NEVER trust that snake again, and hopefully that guy learns to never try to invade marriages again by preying on weak-minded wives, which thankfully, my wife is not (This guy is 100% responsible for dissolving a troubled marriage that was fully repairable, by encouraging the wife to divorce, by sick twisting of Scripture; need I mention that this guy later became sexually involved with that woman?). I believe that sometimes the best thing is just to simply take things at face value and not try to find deeper meanings behind them. God revealed a poisonous snake, my job is to not get bit by it.

My question is, what constitutes forgiveness? I had a friend who has crossed the line of our friendship. He used to be a good friend but for the last year, particularly within the last 4 months, he has been desperately trying to have an intimate friendship with my wife. I don't believe his motives were sexual at all, but he's been wanting to develop a relationship with my wife that is exclusively theirs. I would have none of it and my wife was absolutely disgusted with his schemes that were made obvious through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. I have completely severed our ties. I have not spoken with him for 4 months nor do I intend to ever speak to him again. The only thing in my heart that's weighing me down is that I want this guy to be openly shamed and rebuked for his dark deeds. Beyond that, I don't care at all what happens to him, whether he wins a million dollars or gets eaten by an alligator. My goal is to protect my family and my marriage. I believe that it is perfectly fine to keep things the way they are, there is no need to get reconciled with this guy. He can call and apologize, I'll accept it, but our friendship is dead. If he's truly born again, we'll see each other again in God's kingdom in our redeemed bodies, free from corruption.

"*The 'authrity teaching' floating around in my church. We are to take authority and abolish all demonic forces. This put 100% of the responsibility on us. If something bad happens, we should have been able to beat it, we;ve been given the power, etc." PURE BALONEY. As much as I hate it sometimes, God answers our prayers the way HE wants to, not the way we want. This "authority teaching" you speak of is heresy, geared to draw a huge following for people who have "itching ears" and want to feel as though THEY have the power, not God. Don't listen to this teaching. "*The 'trials and tribulations' teaching. God puts us through trials for our strenthening. Bad things happen for a believer's good." In the grand scheme of things, everything works together for the good to those who love God, the Scriptures say. We go through bad things in our lives and in order to cope better with those things, we are sometimes tempted to try to make sense of everything, why certain things happen. But the fact is, we really won't know for sure until we see Jesus face to face. We just have to trust Him in spite of our circumstances and some of the evil things that happen to us in this life. Easier said than done, I know. "* The "God's discipline' or 'natural consequenses' idea. ok, he is our father, but how do we know what he wants us to learn? " Again, we don't know exactly what He wants us to learn. Whatever it is God wanted us to learn through "natural consequences," or whatever you want to call it, we learn it, whether we are aware of it or not. It is not our place to try to figure out why God allows us to go through certain trials. Only two things can result from trying to get into God's head. Either we'll come up with something truly heretical or we'll be extremely frustrated. Trust God. Easier said than done, I know. "And I am freaking out because I have no idea how God wants me to take this!!" To be honest, I would freak out, too. I'm not some hyper-spiritual guru who has "already attained." But it is important to keep praying about this. This is probably part spiritual warfare, the timing of things, to shake your faith. We don't know that for sure. We don't know, period. But it very well could be. The only thing you need to realize is that God is worthy and He knows what He is doing. "Oops" is not in His vocabulary. I know how hard it can be sometimes when you're doing the best you can to walk with God and your life seems to get worse. Remember, we walk with God because we love Him, not because He'll reward us for obeying Him. Still, it sucks when things turn out not-so-good. What can I say? There's no easy answer. Just seek God and let Him minister to you through prayer, reading His Word, or through others.

Shalom Smiles, Amen and amen!! This is the point! At least they DID something! they got out there and stood up for Jesus and on the foundation of the Word. I disagree that someone "more qualified" should have been there... we are each qualified by the Holy Spirit to speak His truth from the Word! We just need to be willing to step out and DO IT! Listen, this is the truth: G-d does not need our ABILITY But G-d desires our AVAILABILITY!!! Amen. Apologetics has its place, but ultimately, it is God's Word that matters. It does not return void. I didn't see the debate, but judging from the posts on this board, it wasn't very good. We don't know what God is doing "behind the scenes." God personally chose each and everyone of us as individuals, and He's done so in different ways. That debate might've only produced one converted soul, but heaven is rejoicing nonetheless. It doesn't matter what the polls say about the debate afterwards. Every single soul matters to God. I hope that none of us was hoping that the debate would somehow "vindicate" Christians by teaching those darn atheists "a thing or two" about science and God, and proving on national TV that Christians are pretty smart after all. God always chooses the foolish things to confound the wise. We will get ours when Christ returns in what will be the BIGGEST "I told you so" story ever told.

I don't know, I was getting ready to leave work.