Hawkins

First we need to understand the boundary and limit of human science. Science is based experiments can be carried out inside a 3D space. We (science by far) can't go beyond our 3-dimensional time-space framework/paradigm. That's the problem of science. Now the first sentence of the Bible, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It is possible that God created not just our 3D space only. "Third heavy", "Hades"...etc. could well be other spaces (or heavens originally). And we also have the "new heavens and new earth", could it be just another universe? Everything seems to be possible and more importantly it is apparently outside the reach of our science. Does science prove God exists? I do think the question in prior to that is that 'can science go abit further beyond its current capability?!

There could still be a gap between "He knows" and "the outcomes decided". For example, if I know that tomorrow will be a rainy day, it doesn't mean that tomorrow is decided by me. Instead I just happen to know that tomorrow will be raining. Moreover, the results are for humans to witness. He can't just say on the day you were born that "You are guilty of sinning because I know" You need to live your life and only after that He will judge you. Still in a nutshell, we as humans don't understand fully what pre-destination is.

As long as the church can bear good fruits, it is still the church of Christ. On the other hand, if you ever helped to destroy the church while it bears good fruits, you are just a helper of the Lawless One. http://www.worthychristianforums.com/index...t&p=1561797 When the church saves no souls (as a reult of the abomination causing desolation), you shall fleet to the mountains as the end of days shall come. Yet before that, any advocate on leaving the church is actually helping the Lawless One. Help the church if it has problems instead of fighting against it.

From my studies. The dark force is three-tiered. Satan(dragon) -- Fallen angels(beasts) -- False prophets (possess a physical body) The first 2 tiers don't necessarily have a body on earth. They can 'speak' through the false prophets. The second tier; Revelation 13:4 Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" The third tier; Revelation 13:11-14 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. Revelation 19:20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This third tier interacts with the world physcally. They are the horde of false prophets possessing a physical body. The second tier again; Revelation 17:8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come. Revelation 20:3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. The Abyss is more like a lair of the beasts, perhaps in the deepest parts of Hades. And sometimes here and sometimes there these beasts will go out of the Abyss (perhaps to the parts of Hades 'nearer' to earth) to do their jobs through the false prophets and to serve Satan the old dragon. Both the anti-Christ and the Sinned One (Lawless One) are such beasts (fallen angels), left and right hands of Satan, direct commanders of the horde of the false prophets. They attack different targets. The anti-Christ is for the deceiving the world to deny Jesus Christ, while the Lawless One is to bring down the Church invisibly. The Lawless One is to bring the lawless abomination which causing desolation into the Church (God's Holy Place on earth). Matthew 24:15 So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel

Since when I even remotely hinted that we don't need to study the Word of God? More importantly, our readiness refers to whether we have attained the holiness specified by our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, if we don't study His Word and teachings, we can hardly be holy.

Judgment at the Throne of God http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?searc...mp;version=NASB Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire This is the second death, the lake of fire. The Judgment http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?searc...mp;version=NASB Matthew 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; The above are all talking about what will happen after the final Judgment. Hades/hell/sheol are of the same place, from the interpretion of the different culture, of which hell bears one more meaning of a burning place. Psalm 139:8 (NASB) If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. Psalm 139:8 (KJV) If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Before the final judgment, Hades/hell/sheol is described as 'darkness' or 'gloomy dungeons'. 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;

Since no one knows the exact day, there's nothing to worry about, except for my own readiness as we are warned that He might come like a thief and we should be ready for His coming.

Yep, I think so. But it may also bear other meanings, which I can't tell. 2 Peter 3:15-16 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

You open the door means you need to seek Him out actively and with faith. Continue to seek, and you may find Him. The path will be much easier if you are willing to surrender yourself first, instead of insisting on 'feeling His presence' first. He's God. Ok let me put it this way, if God exists and you insist on that 'you must do this and only then i will believe you' is a kind of bad attitude.

Revelation 12:9 The great dragon was hurled down

Basically there's no hell fire at the moment as we speak. Hell fire only happens after the final judgment. Then death and Hades will be burned to the Lake of Fire with the wicked as well as Satan and his angels. But their visions/dreams may refer to what the future is. God can give out visions about the future. Acts 2:17 " 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. You can also JUDGE by comparing what they said to what the scripture says. Yet sometimes (alot of times here ) it is out of people's own pride to think that they can understand the Bible 100% to judge. Yet NO ONE, NO ONE can understand the Bible 100%, especially the Book of Revelation related topics which actually are waiting to be revealed. They will be revealed bit by bit as time approaches the end of days, and as a testimony that the Holy Bible is truly from the all-knowing God. To simply put, the Book of Revelation is still open ended, not to be amended but to be revealed. So the best way is to follow God's teaching. That is, 1)to speculate the fruits they bare, 2) to test their spirit to see if they are from Christ (to see if their doctrines are denying Christ directly or indirectly). If you can't speculate from these 2 points, leave it to the hand of our Lord instead of insisting on judging by yourself. Matthew 7:15-20 15"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 1 John 4:1-3 1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

One of the meaning of Baptism is that it is your own open declaration that you are reborn to follow Jesus Christ to be entitled to the protection of the Second Covenant. You need Christian witnesses such that...well... In a court case, it is always better to have your eye witnesses such that you won't be able to be sentenced to death. And in this case, Satan (possibly the ex-Archangel) will be the accusser. So choose your own eye-witnesses carefully. Better make it as open as possible in front of as many true Christians as possible. A good church is also important. Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.

People didn't believe Jesus even with evidence staring them in the face. So. . . . Which only shows each human brain/belief system is unique, what's evident to one may not be that evident to someone else. Moreover, people's hearts are handened to see God. Faith is all we need.

Actually, they who don't know HIM can go and experience HIM by asking GOD to make HIMSELF real to them if He's real... and since He is... He will... Sure. I was writing to those who's looking for 'empirical proof' of God's existence. I ask them even when His existence is truth, how can this truth be conveyed. Yes I am 100% sure of my salvation and His existence. How can one know for sure? REPENTENCE! I know what I know because I am NOT the same as I was! Creation! Just look at this amazing planet and everything in it. With all this order on our planet and in the universe, how can we believe that there is not a God? Can we really believe that all this happen by chance? The earth, universe, and all life have a very special design to them and they are reflections of a Designer, God. If you where to come home and saw that something had put 100 rocks in a perfect square, in your back yard, you would conclude that someONE HAD TO HAVE DONE THAT. OR perhaps you would wonder, HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE FOR THOSE 100 ROCK TO END UP IN THAT SHAPE ON THERE OWN. WHAT IS THE MOST LOGICAL? BECAUSE THERE IS ORDER IN ALL LIVING THINGS AND ORDER CAN BE SEEN IN THE EARTH AND IN THE UNIVERSE, WE KNOW THAT THERE MUST BE A GREATER INTELLEGINCE BEHIND ALL THAT WE SEE! HOPE THIS HELPS e God gives evidence to individuals who have faith in Him. And those individuals who tasted the gift from God may try to convey the truth by their witnessing and testimonies, yet unbelievers need faith to believe in the end. That's the deal. They may ask God to give them proof, which means they at least need faith in God in the first place to ask Him for the evidence.

Luther and Calvin are good theologists, they are not prophets and can't represent God. There works are great but never comparable to the Word of God. Moreover, knowing the future is part of God's omniscience. It is humans' own limited minds which failed to figure out what pre-destination is. Calvin just made such an attempt which can hardly be 100% correct.

On the other hand, the root of Christianity comes from witnessing, witnessing plays an important role in Christianity till today. Moreover, many will deny them and their coming...I mean how will you be able to recognise them and distinguish them from what you think to be the liars?! http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?searc...amp;version=NIV The Bible teaches us to identify by the fruits they bore instead of relying on our own subjective knowledge, and to test their spirits. Why not just listen to what God says? Matthew 7:15-23 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' 1 John 4:1-3 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

Actually, they who don't know HIM can go and experience HIM by asking GOD to make HIMSELF real to them if He's real... and since He is... He will... Sure. I was writing to those who's looking for 'empirical proof' of God's existence. I ask them even when His existence is truth, how can this truth be conveyed.

No No. You don't have the death experience to say a firm 'No'. Jesus Christ death can bear a very multi-folded meaning. While I simply tried to point out what might have been overlooked instead of denying its other spirtual meanings.

If they claim to be their own experience and didn't lie. Then it is their experience. If their testimonies bear good fruits, then there's chance that they might have received visions from God. If they lied and did false witnessing, they will have to face our Lord's judgment.

Actually, it wasn't "normal" at all. You need to die to know that. j/k. All I can tell is this is a typical explanation. I respect that it is from the church's position, but that's not necessarily Biblical.

Rather my question is, if you meet with God and know for sure 100% that He exists, how will you be able to convey this piece of truth to other humans?! Please noticed that there is no efficient way for such a truth to be conveyed. Those who listen to your story will have to rely on their faith to choose to believe or not.

I have had this discussion several times in the past, though I have never agreed with the premise that a negative belief is a religion. I don't have much time at the moment or I would provide you an explanation; though you have probably heard the rebuttals already. I'll have to get back to you later. You put forth some interesting points. Whether you realise it or not, whether you like it or not. It is the simplest illustration to show you your own religious face.

To me, it only shows that Jesus died a normal mortal's death. All people die that way at their last moment, they all have the strong feeling of being abandoned. Perhaps you and me at our last moment will yell the same like 'God don't foresake me', or 'God why foresake me'. And my theory is that, Christianity is about witnessing, and Jesus's death can thus be witnessed/proven by everyone, as long as you are willing to memorized what is written about when He's in the cross. After you experiencing the process, you will wonder why is it so much like what is written down. And you start to wonder if He didn't come back, who wrote it so clearly the process of a typical human death in the Bible. Only a dead man returning back can write down such a process so clearly.

In Christianity the 'now' part only occupies a fairly small space, most of what Christianity talking about is the FUTURE, which we can hardly touch directly. Faith and Religion ----------------------- As long as the following question is without an answer, religions will continue to exist. The only thing actually changes is that people start to lose their self-awareness to recognise what kind of faith they possess. And the question is, Does afterlife exist, does soul exist? If your answer is Yes, that represents your religion as your answer is religious. If on the other hand your answer is No, that also represents your religion as your answer is also a religious one. The more scientific answer is "I don't know". Yet unfortunately, it's not an answer you can keep till you die. If you don't make a consent choice, your sub-consciousness will pick a "no" for you. As for those whose answer is a 'yes', they have the self-awareness about what their own faith and religion is. As for those whose answer is a 'no', they don't even have that awareness to realise that they are religious. Religions only change forms. People jump from one side of the fence to join another bandwagon of faith. That's it. There will be less and less people believe in God as predicted. Only those who endure shall be saved. ------------------

No. But he's a didicated person. So I think if you speculate someone who is not so clever but can achieve through dedication he might have the devil's heritance. The second characteristic may be that his will for desire is strong, yet he gives up without a good reason. So he might launch attacks very dedicatedly by spotting your every single weakness. Yet when you put up all your armors and weapons for a good fight, he may suddenly decide to leave you alone (unreasonably it seems).