Poindexter

The USA couches and is home to a large segment of society which has accepted Christ as Lord and redeemer. My contest is that God does know whose are His. Yet men paint the broad brush stroke across the faces of everyone within striking distance. I say that the USA and it's allies are sinful nations. But I say they bear no more shame than other men in other nations. If you think murder of innocent unborne babes is a sin you do well. But to say that in the face of an ideology which serves a God who they have determined loves to mince murder and hatred into a bomb around a twenty year old boy or girl's waist , or to cut off a five year old boys arm for stealing a loaf of bread when he is starving, or to enforce great restrictions on women because they are not worthy for anything more than chattels in a heavy handed marriage relationship, ones whose sole purpose is to breed men children for the cause, then I suggest some are in a great imbalance. I know some are not making that case per se, but it smacks of an idealism which denies that for all of it's faults, the nation of the USA has a powerful calling to uphold the world peace as best they can in an ever growing state of anarchy. I am sure too that it will topple at a time appointed, but not because it is a sinful idolatrous nation given to spitting in the face of God, but because there will be an overtaking flood of a new world order which will swallow them (us) up in a world wide glut for power and control centered upon one devil man who the world will welcome with open arms because they see the peace he brings to a land torn asunder... My experience has been that salt and light come in different "shakers." That fact alone makes it sometimes hard to recognize salt when you see it on the "table" of another heart. I have myself been shaken and I have myself been "peppered." Salt is useful as a preservative and as such it is an antibiotic. Salt is also good to the taste, enhancing many other flavors. But too much is not good either. I see in this instance of heated debate, that one who brings salt is suggestively unsavoury and therefore no longer salt. I note also that salt when mixed in water become brine. That is good for pickling. Pickling is also OK if done for a good reason. Just musing....

I think that is why there is to be a great final outpouring. Upon ALL FLESH...I seriously doubt this has happened yet....I also believe it will be upon every unbeliever. Atheists coming to know God. Religion bowing to Spirit. Joe 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: Joe 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. Joe 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

I too am a word man...base my thoughts and intents upon what is related to in "known scripture." (I place that in quotes, like see me standing with little fingers hooking the air.) For what is truly "known" by scripture? The interpretive skills of many on any given passage has ultimatley created the mind boggling divisions of today"s "church." So the very word we seek to espouse is also that which "created" the mess. I long for the ultimate expression of truth and the closest I find is the " Amplified" bible... for it gives every nuance of meaning of every known word and those words are quite elastic in elevating the finality of that meaning to unqualified levels....beyond that, it is a matter of distress to realize that Jonestown and many other settings of ultimate calamitous falsehood stemmed from someone's intrepretation of those same words.... What did the "early church" have? Just the apostles and the letters which were eventually written. (And the original Jewish scriptures which were obviously used to this intent... Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.) I think they depended heavily upon direct impress from the Holy Spirit...and due to the concerns of this day and the need to rightly divide I would expect nothing has changed in that regard... for anyone who is not led by the Spirit will NEVER realize the kernels of truth locked within that word...." Nor will they realize the prophetic depth which goes layer upon layer deeper and deeper into the heart of God. Most merely see the surface layer...the gramatical historical evidence of what was spoken and maybe at times the setting in which it was spoken, for apart from knowing to whom the words were spoken and under what circumstances they were spoken, there is no opinion or voice which may "enlarge upon that word" (in understanding) .....Everyone who makes their reports in the forum are not necessarily Spirit led and spirt fed.... Most quote the red words of Christ (for instance) as being from the very heart of God in a context which directly applies to us today without even making the assesment that Christ Himself was born under Jewish law and had it imposed upon Him, and due to the fact that He had not yet made an end of the law by His death, he made reference to the things of the law upon several occasions telling the lepers to show themselves to the priest etc.......and so along we come and begin to mingle our grace with that law and such things we observe in our fear based and sin concious interpretation...bringing even more bondage than before......."except for the cause of adultery."

Ah, yes! That ever elusive proof...The thing is that one needs to accept that there are absolutes. The world at large prefers to believe that everything is grey, no black and no white... For brevity, I cannot make a soliloquy in discussing that except to say that there is no such thing as darkness. Darkness is merely the absence of light. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is the absence of heat. If you go north far enough you will eventually find yourself going south. If you go west you will go west forever or if you go east you will go east forever. So at some point one has to realize an ultimate truth. Now, spirit is spirit and flesh is flesh. These are absolutes but the lesser is borne of the greater, for all things have a spiritual beginning. "And God said." God is spirit. He works with words. Those words, have to be by their very nature, absolutes. If one can accept the concept of God at all, which the quintessential nature of man stirs to do, then one has to bend to an absolute. But "proving" anything whatsoever is set in a body of principals which mut be agreed upon by all concerned, or "proof" remains in the eye of the beholder. Millions have accepted the bible as such proof, in and of itself based upon the aforementioned dynamics. Millions more have never heard about it or have rejected it out of hand. For those, the radar scope continues to sweep the horizon for what is otherwise unknowable. My radar has locked on and I am satisfied. Children of a lesser God are everywhere and live in contempt of the truth of God, wittingly or uinwittingly.

Are we to believe that before Christ can return, we Christians must have evangelized the entire world? I wonder if any kind of survey has been done that gives the demographics of the ratio between Christian believers and the world of other religions or unbelief. I suspect the number of Christians is extremely small against the backdrop of the world. I suspect that this cannot be a parameter for understanding when Christ returns. Beyond that, it appears to me that the case for "go ye into all the world" would have had to be performed in every generation to be fair. I submit it is not the thing Christ needs to return here once more. He even asked, Luk 18:8b . Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? The implication is NO. Psa 68:18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, [for] the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell [among them].

Paul's response was to serve the Lord. Some might have blamed the Lord for blinding them, hated Him for knocking them off the horse, and might have dispised the gospel anyway. Some people don't want God at all. If very God showed up in the road and blinded me and spoke words of "Why persecutest thou me?" I expect I would be all ears also...a supernatural event has to be tops in response...for me I was spoken to and told to "Turn aside" three times and I knew I better listen and obey...my testimony starts there...I have also wondered why one person may get attention and some other may go a life time without intervention...I have been told several times that I am called to a great work. Yet I sit here looking all around at my natural.

Some people are being dominated by "plants." Since not all of us use drugs, it would follow that we are not all "controlled" by plants, and those that are "controlled" by plants (drugs) are not controlled because there is no other way. They are controlled by these substances because they have willingly given their own control up to the drug in question. God is still in control of His creation, but we have been given stewardship of it. God is in control? In a way he is. But he gave dominion to men. That is why there is disorder. For we had dominion and we gave it to Satan....even Jesus did not deny his (Satan's) claim to the earth...Mat 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; Mat 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil but that job is not yet done. Astonished at that? So you do not think that disorder can fit into GOD's plan? The scriptures tell us that it is GOD who brings calamity and peace. I have always been fascinated by the notion that some folk have that GOD's creation is not exactly what GOD intends it to be. How can Romans8:28 be true if GOD is not in control of "all" things? Why would anything that is actually a GOD create something HE did not know what it would be or how it would turn out? And if HE did know how it would turn out, than how is it not understood that HE created it to turn out just as it is? I would not say that creation is not unfolding the way God intends it to be. I am just saying man forfeited his dominion over to the devil. God is still in the process of taking it back. Because He is just. Even the devil gets full rights to the turf. For now. I am therefore saying God uses the devil to bring about His ends. All the while we exist in a fallen state. Let us compare how many folks are not captive to plants etc. I am not. Unless I include wheat as I indulge my daily bread. Most Christians have some temperance. But against the backdrop of humanity what is the score? But Christians are not occupying til He comes all that well. We have not given up much ground because we never had it in the first place. I am explaining in my limited rationale why evil exists and bad things happen to good people. And we have dominion over the animals and the earth......so we can bring about imbalance to the exosphere...is that God or the devil?

Some people are being dominated by "plants." Since not all of us use drugs, it would follow that we are not all "controlled" by plants, and those that are "controlled" by plants (drugs) are not controlled because there is no other way. They are controlled by these substances because they have willingly given their own control up to the drug in question. God is still in control of His creation, but we have been given stewardship of it. God is in control? In a way he is. But he gave dominion to men. That is why there is disorder. For we had dominion and we gave it to Satan....even Jesus did not deny his (Satan's) claim to the earth...Mat 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; Mat 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil but that job is not yet done. Astonished at that?

At the fall, man kinda lost it. Even the plants have dominion over men now. Corn, rye, cannabis, poppies etc...drinking and smoking all the way to hellish nightmares. Man lost it when Adam fell, Man received it when Christ ascended and the Spirit of God flows through out the world. Through the salvation provided through the Son of God, man has been reconciled with God (should man choose to) and thus through the Holy Spirit, man has been granted dominion (again) over this earth. yes, even over plants and animals. as Saul of Tarsus, being clamped onto (bitten) by a viper (dominion over animals), he shook it off into the fire, with no ill effect. The Holy Spirit will provide us this same protection (as long as we do our part, and that is walking in the Spirit, not in the flesh). John, boiled in oil and lived, that would be dominion over plants and or minerals. We are a Spirit being, housed in a physical body. we do not have to live our lives as though the physical is all there is, there is more then just physical world, our world should be more spirit then physical. mike Good reply but man is still being dominated by plants..the drug culture ought to show us that. I always wonder how it is that Christ came to set us free yet many are still on a sinking ship. If one names it and claims it then one is castigated for kingdom dominion heresy. Christianity reminds me of a barrel of crabs. If an enterprising crab climbs up the side of the barrel in a bid to escape, the other crabs will pull him back down. This is not directed to Mike here at all...just a generic overview...

At some point the kingdom better have dominion or else we are a foolish bunch. I think Jesus demonstrated kingdom dominion theology. He ruled over everything. Including wind and waves.

At the fall, man kinda lost it. Even the plants have dominion over men now. Corn, rye, cannabis, poppies etc...drinking and smoking all the way to hellish nightmares.

At least you have friends. At 60, I have no friends really. Not that i am not friendly. It is a matter of lifestyle and work...And my wife has friends. They call once in a while. I feel more in tune with her friends (female) than I would with man friends.

It is a direct implication of how many idiots are on the move during a full moon compared to that of a moonless night.

One could grapple with any number of hypotheses in this post but I will limit myself to a couple. A 747 could have flown in the days of ancient Rome as easily as today. It probably would have if God had not intervened at the tower of Babel. And faith has substance and evidence. (Heb 11:1) I think science can be described as the natural evidence of what God has done.

A long and well thought out reply based upon personal experience and spiritual intuit. Few on the forums are so ready to wear their heart on their sleeve. I thank you for pointing out that life is not fair. It seems to be especially so for the believers. Because now is the time to die to self with great effort. I am sure the day of vindication does come. 2Th 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; 2Th 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: 2Th 1:5 [Which is] a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 2Th 1:6 Seeing [it is] a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 2Th 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 2Th 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 2Th 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 2Th 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.