Fraught

we have already entered the rest. we no longer need to be reminded of His future coming as He has already arrived! (edited to clarify 1st coming)

re: existence of brown dwarf Coldest Brown Dwarf Ever Observed: Closing The Gap Between Stars And Planets ScienceDaily (Apr. 10, 2008)

i'm not sure if i believe that this next president will be our last or if it's only wishful thinking.

WOW !!

besides being interesting for its own sake, this helps to say something about the global warming issue. lately i've been reading about a brown dwarf star that has entered our solar system. it has an effect on the magnetosphere which has to do with solar radiation and apparently, the entire solar system is warming a little due to the effect of this brown star or as some call it, planet X. it was predicted to cause greater volcanic activity and increased earthquakes. (in diverse places). nebula, i know you watch this stuff, i've been wanting to ask you a question about something i came across awhile back. it was an article in new scientist about an explosion of light which scientists speculated was from a super-nova, but a very unusual one. a quote from a more recent article than what i previously saw: An odd celestial explosion recorded two years ago has been confirmed as the brightest supernova ever identified. It is so bright that scientists are still scrambling to explain it. the prior article in the same mag quoted an astronomist as saying they were assuming it was a super-nova since they didn't know how else to explain it. anyways, i've still been curious about it. i figured i'd go on and try to glean some more info just in case you or any other worthies had heard about this. btw, i loved this quote that closes out the article: "But it turns out that the universe is so vast and so wondrous that there's much more left to be found." lol

i believe that there is too much contradictory evidence to take it for granted that the earth is millions of years old. for one thing, fossils are more likely to form under catastrophic conditions rather than slowly over time. secondly, new advances in the field of physics make it very likely that the speed of light has not remained constant.

i wish i could say that. my dream is to move to where i can be in walking distance of anywhere i need to go.

for myself, i set these words alongside the rest of the bible as i think we should do with all the bible. paul himself apparently disobeyed some governing authorities or he would not have landed in jail himself. if he lived today, i see him driving the speed limit, obtaining a fishing license, paying taxes, etc. however, if he were told not to preach the gospel, he would go ahead and do it, while being prepared to pay the consequences.

i am blown away that the sky looks like that to the naked eye. beautiful!

odd but i was just studying about this last week. there is no doubt in my mind that the idea of clean and unclean animals was clearly understood in the days of adam and eve. also sacrifice, since abel sacrificed to God. the sad thing is that the reasoning behind the idea is lost. moses' people didn't question it, so it must have been one of those things that was just taken for granted that everyone knew about it - something like the idea of shaking hands nowadays or covering your mouth when you cough.

Not precisely. There are many prophecies of the Messiah that are fulfilled through Jesus, and I won't deny that. But there are many many many many more that have not been completed. Christians take the view that these prophecies will be fulfilled during the "Second Coming". Jews don't believe in a second coming and believe that when the Messiah comes all the prophecies will be fulfilled. So I think it is misleading (at best) to suggest that the writings fo the prophets have been "totally fulfilled". Likewise, the historical/archaeological similarities. Some do exist, but there are many events not covered by ancient contemporary writers (who was Pharaoh of Egypt, and why was no mention made of the Exodus, or why did no contemporary historian mention the mass reincarnations/resurrections of saints who had fallen asleep but came alive again in Matthew 27). I certainly can understand trying to make the Bible appear "better" than other religious texts, but is this so????? Just a thought, Actually there is a world of difference between the Bible and other texts both in terms of fulfilled prophecy and archaeological and historical accuracy. In addition there is more textual evidence (in terms of numbers of ancient texts available) than any other holy book. The fact that the Exodus is not mentioned by the Egyptians is not surprising. when examining other ancient writings, it is just as important to note what is not said. i guess that's true for any historical literature. sometimes there are gaps; instead of assuming the information is lost, it could be deliberate omission. now that i think about it, we probably should apply that to just about anything we read and hear. one more note about the bible. the depth of knowledge is incredible. thousands of scholars have studied these scriptures for thousands of years; yet, we are still discovering things previously hidden.

I've noticed that so much of what was destroyed were corn crops....maybe God's way of saying 'Hey fools, corn is food, not fuel'? awhile back, i read that we eat so much corn, we may as well be a walking frito. maybe this will be a needed correction - LOL

i think it is a mistake to separate believers into jews or greeks or male or female or young or old. all are believers in one body and i believe that whenever we are raptured, we will go together.

that is exactly what I am doing now, shopping the sales...reading the flyers for the first time in years. I'm waiting for flour to go on sale so I can buy a winter's worth of that for sure. this is wisdom.

the scriptures have survived for thousands of years. scrolls and other writings have been found that agree with it. much of the writing is confirmed by other history. the amazing thing that confirms it for me is that of the writers themselves. they wrote at different times and in different places but they all wrote about the same thing. all their writings carry out the one theme of God's plan. 40 different writers wrote the 66 books of the bible over a span of hundreds of years. still, it carries out that one theme throughout the whole thing. (we've had thousands of years to try and disprove it; yet, no one has been able to do it yet.)

on the serious side, i did see a news blurb that stated spam sales had risen 20%. i guess this is why. btw, i'm trying not to feel smug when i walk out to the yard before dinner and bring back a nice bundle of lettuce and greens. i'm watching that one green pepper out there like a hawk - lol speaking of watching like a hawk, when i see a sale, for instance the concord grape juice that was $1.98, i'm gonna grab about 10 jars at least, same with any sales. time to forget the list, take your weekly grocery money and whatever you see on sale, buy a whole pile of it. i plan to get a winter's worth of groceries before september and hope it all levels out by by spring '09.

Jesus' statement in mark 8:36 is one that clouds the issue somewhat. where he says what good is it to gain the world and forfeit one's own soul? if the soul is only physical and temporary like i've learned, then why would he say this? is this one of those places where the original greek makes it more clear? just wondering.

'the wages of sin is death'. this is not a rule; it is a governing truth such as the law of gravity or of entropy, etc. the goal is not to save us 'from God'. it is to save us from death. what is the last enemy that Jesus will put under his feet? death. the 'rule' here instituted is that a substitution can be provided to die in our place. (this idea must have been in place forever since you see it in so many myths and 'b' movies - i.e. "king kong", not to mention even abel as recounted by moses in the book "genesis".)

i have been taught that the soul is where our emotions reside. the soul is subject to temporal influences; our spirit is either the spirit of God or the other. our spirit is synonymous with the heart in many places in scripture - it remains the same and is the ultimate influence upon the soul.

a question about your statement i copied here: Gen 49:10e sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. (KJV) Shiloh is a symbolic name for our Lord Jesus Christ. Per that prophecy, the royal sceptre was not to depart from the tribe of Judah all the way to Christ's second coming. on the part i bolded, how did you come to that conclusion?

the conversion idea appears to be a rumor so far; other than that, i don't see this as a big deal at all. obviously, the pope considers himself to be a christian, recognizes the american president as a christian, and a powerful one, and repaid the great hospitality he received. check out this excerpt: However, Mr Bush did not, as expected, kneel in prayer before the Grotto of the Madonna of Lourdes.

then you should take this up with the Lord because your interpretation of what He said in one place makes Him contradict what He says everywhere else. With regards to salvation, all people are under a curse and need Yeshua's blood atonement. All people are under the judgement of the Law and need mercy. All people are gone astray and must come to Him by trust (faith) However, there is yet a distinction between the jews/Israel and the nations/gentiles even within the Body of Messiah or we wouldn't need chapters 2, 3, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the book of Romans, would we? Not to mention other books addressed specifically to them like Peter and/or Hebrews For instance, Romans 11:28 says that they are "the elect" just by being physical descendants of Abraham. God has made a covenant promise that is unique to only them. For I, brethren, would not have you be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits: that blindness in part has happened to Israel (celt: is this speaking about jews or just the 10 lost tribes?) until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in and so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written: "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins." Concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake; but concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as in times past ye have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief, even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all. you'll want to read paul's words in light of the words of Jesus himself, not the other way around. read deeper into these 'all' that paul speaks about. surely messianic jews right now would not consider themselves 'concluded in unbelief' and neither would you and i consider them so. they are believers.

I am biased for biblical truth. I apologize if that hurts anyone but faithful are the bruises of a friend. Israel is a manifestation of the Kingdom of God. There is no "Body of Christ" apart from Israel. The word "church" has been redefined post-biblically to mean something separate but that is not found in any quotes from the bible. The proper definition of "church" is The faithful remnant of Israel and those gentiles who are added to them Any other definition is just wrong and misses the point of the entire bible. The jewish people are the natural branches of "the Body" which I am defending. The Lord's Bride, according to the Word of God, is New Jerusalem and that is the same Kingdom promised to the faithful remnant of Israel and those gentiles who are joined to them. I understand that you have always been told that the Bride is the church and came by the greek perspective honestly.....but that is not found in the Bible anywhere. That is an invention of post-biblical european theologians. God made a promise to Israel (the jews) and for the sake of their Fathers; Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob and He will keep it. We are part of their covenants...or we are not in the Kingdom at all. To be a righteous man in the Kingdom is to be a righteous man. This is what the Lord requires of all His people, jew or gentile. however, you will find no place in the bible where a jew can become a gentile or vice versa though there are many places where a gentile can be joined to the tribes of Israel with complete equality of purpose while retaining a distinction. Ruth, Rehab, and Caleb are good examples. But to be a jew is something else altogether....to be a "jew" means you are a descendant of those Patriarchs whom the Lord promised the land of Israel to OR that you have undergone a conversion ceremony to become a jew. So Paul is speaking only to that group of people when he tells them that to be a "true jew" means you are a descendant of the Patriarchs, observant of God's instruction (Torah) and have also been circumcised in the heart. yod, i respect most of your exegesis; however, if i'm reading you right, this one is completely false. Jesus himself said that to be a descendant of abraham meant nothing. God could raise up descendants from a stone and then went on to do just that, (read matthew 3:9) with Jesus being that stone.

link provided did not work. article can be accessed here: http://www.globalresearch.ca/ i hadn't seen that site before. very intense.