Billiards Ball Posted January 9, 2019 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 3 Topic Count: 5 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 1,502 Content Per Day: 0.66 Reputation: 662 Days Won: 0 Joined: 02/05/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted January 9, 2019 A friend posted this today: Sometimes it's hard to think of our land as "sitting in darkness." I see darkness when I travel to Southeast Asia and the land is filled with idols, false religion and superstition. But in America, we mask our darkness behind our materialism, our entertainment, and our isolated living situations. But behind the masks, trouble is brewing. Consider: 1 out of every 6 Americans take antidepressant drugs 17% of high school students have seriously considered suicide and 8% have had a failed attempt at suicide in the past 12 months. More people will die of drug overdoses (mostly opioids) this year than died in the entire Vietnam War As many as half of all marriages will end up in divorce. 4 out of 5 full-time workers live paycheck to paycheck and 56% of Americans say they are over their heads in debt. 20 million Americans are addicted to drugs or alcohol, and 30 million Americans have an eating disorder. Pagan, extreme, animalistic internet porn is now the leading way in which young people are introduced to sex -- often before reaching puberty. These are more than just shocking statistics. They refer to real people and real families that are suffering real pain. They reveal to us that multitudes in our land are sitting in darkness. Despite these realities, massive numbers of people in our country have been persuaded the answer to their problems has nothing to do with God, Jesus, or the Christian church. Many are convinced we are the source of their problems. And yet, to those sitting in darkness, a great light appeared. What was that light? It was the coming of Jesus Christ! He is the one to save us from our sins. He is the one who can heal all our diseases. He alone deals with our root problem of being alienated from God Himself; He alone can reconcile us to the Source of life -- our Creator God. But the solution is more than just Jesus. While HE is the answer, WE are the agents through whom the answer is delivered. Often, the first step in being that agent is simply showing we care. If there is someone in your neighborhood suffering from one of the problems mentioned above (and I can almost guarantee there is), it may be as simple as walking across the street, taking them a meal, letting them know you care, asking if there is any way you can help, offering to say a prayer for them, etc. It may mean inviting them over for dinner or asking a lonely person if he would like to watch the big game at your house. In a word, it begins by loving them. Love can open doors to lost souls. Love can get beneath the masks. True Christian love can change the world one soul at a time. Who do you know who needs to be loved? It may be inconvenient and costly, but will you love them? Will you do it today? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted January 9, 2019 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 0 Topic Count: 905 Topics Per Day: 0.19 Content Count: 9,646 Content Per Day: 2.02 Reputation: 5,832 Days Won: 9 Joined: 04/07/2011 Status: Offline Share Posted January 9, 2019 The actual view of humanity and life on this world by the very nature of people and things is most unsettling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sower Posted January 9, 2019 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 14 Topic Count: 32 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 5,251 Content Per Day: 0.97 Reputation: 5,858 Days Won: 1 Joined: 07/09/2009 Status: Offline Share Posted January 9, 2019 53 minutes ago, Billiards Ball said: Sometimes it's hard to think of our land as "sitting in darkness." I see darkness when I travel to Southeast Asia and the land is filled with idols, false religion and superstition. But in America, we mask our darkness behind our materialism, our entertainment, and our isolated living situations. John 3:19 And this is the condemnation: that Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. "The light that shows us our sin is the Light that heals us".............. "Be a lamp in the chamber if you cannot be a star in the sky".. "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy is when men are afraid of the Light!" Sow the seeds of the Good News..............Light... God is Light... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted January 9, 2019 Group: Worthy Ministers Followers: 0 Topic Count: 905 Topics Per Day: 0.19 Content Count: 9,646 Content Per Day: 2.02 Reputation: 5,832 Days Won: 9 Joined: 04/07/2011 Status: Offline Share Posted January 9, 2019 Consider this... We hail from a Christianized society in league with other Christianized societies... But what if... ours is but a veil of Christianity over the same exact circumstances you found? Preposterous! Right? I do not know your age, but I am 58, and I have seen a swift / marked change in the American Christianized society when I was a child and when I was a teen and when I was in my adulthood. The veil which motivated the masses (in part at least) not to be like what you found was methodically removed indicating we were not so Christianized as we believed. Why? Does not the Gospel of Jesus Christ change things? Indeed it does... even when diluted by human traditions and misplaced authority on the committees of man rather than the Holy Spirit of God (where it belongs). 2 Peter 1:20-21 Humanized versions of Christianity blanket the landscape in order to perpetuate the perception that all is Christianized. Absurd? Prove me wrong. The passage I mentioned states the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible and how he did it... and it states only he interprets the Bible and not the will of man. And that this is the starting point of biblical interpretation. Hold that up to any Church, denomination, non-denomination, Messianic or otherwise... Ask them what is their authority? Some will say the Bible. Okay. Which interpretation? Usually you'll get the deer in the headlights look. Some will say God's interpretation. Show me the process. Clueless. Or they cite one human interpretation (collective or individual) after the other without even realizing they are placing man in the authority seat that God alone belongs in. Mark 7:13 (NIV84) 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” Psalm 138:2 (AV) 2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. The very point Jesus Christ was making in Matthew 16:13-23 was the distinct contrast between the things of man (which gets all things wrong) and the things of God (which is pure truth, pure fact, pure reality). And... Jesus (by calling Peter Satan) attributed human thinking / reason to the devil. Echoes of John 8: 44... Is this who and what we ascribe to as authoritative? Mere mortal men? Is this what we gamble and risk our individual eternal destination on? Matthew 7:21–23 (AV) 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 1 John 5:13 (AV) 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. But the word of God is nullified by the traditions of man that people subscribe to (Mark 7:13 again). We can know beyond the shadow of doubt on God's authority that we are saved. Or We can [think] we know... or misapply the definition of faith Romans 8:24 / Hebrews 11:1 when clearly we have the biblical evidence we can KNOW we are saved. Of all the things in life we make certain of... the baby is not left alone in a tub of water, granny is helped on the stairs, that we signed our paycheck, that our medicine is not poison, that we hold our breath under water... on and on... what could be more important than being sure our eternal destiny is secure? How can you know? 1 John 5:13? This is a general indication that you can know... but what exactly is written that you can know? You gotta look into the book (the Bible). Ah, but the Catholics say it says one thing, and the Baptists say it means another... and that's without the misapplication of extrabiblical authorities like creeds, catechisms, papal bowls, denominational platforms, etc . Just how they interpret the written word of God contradicts the Bible. Begin at the beginning "Know this first..." 2 Peter 1:20-21 Tests all things (1 Corinthians 5:21) including [and I would say especially] the spirits (1 John 4:1) which includes what we believe to be the genuine Holy Spirit (because of our inabilities to truthfully discern even that)... But how? How do we make this determination? By the scriptures. ACTS 17:11 / 2 TIMOTHY 3:16 / PROVERBS 25:2 / DEUTERONOMY 29:29 It's cyclical. You validate the scriptures by the Spirit and the Spirit by the scriptures. Then the Body of Christ on Earth will have the universality that Roman Catholic Empire [claims] to have... including all its Protestant offshoots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr3032 Posted January 9, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 13 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 332 Content Per Day: 0.16 Reputation: 273 Days Won: 0 Joined: 06/23/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted January 9, 2019 (edited) True enough. I remember not even being in middle school yet, and I went online looking for Garbage Pail Kids cards, as being a small child, I found vomit and urination funny. Thus, even though I sought GPK cards, I was introduced to internet porn. Like they say, it's only ever a few clicks away and you don't even have to be looking for it. More oft than not, as well, it tends to be strange; fetishes and taboo engagements are on the rise. The slippery slope warned about long ago is more evident now more than ever. Then I see these people giving their 4 year old children phones and tablets to waddle around with and I know that kid is going to have some serious issues as they get older. The suicide thing is true enough, too. I had a buddy in high school who got sent off to an institution. I only ever heard this through the grapevine, mind you, but I think the story was that he cut himself laying in the bathtub and his parents came home unexpectantly. He was on pills when he got back after... Just short of a year, I think? He seemed happier and he even got himself a girlfriend. I'd say he got lucky though, as many kids can't be saved before they bleed out. In general, even though society has always had it's issues, it seems to be escalating (or it HAS been), and rather quickly. Parents allow technology and the public school system to raise their kids, many kids go without one parent or even both, and then what they to have to look up to and admire are most often degenerates and reprobates. What is good is becoming evil, and what is evil is becoming good. Here in the western world, things are just as pagan and wicked as elsewhere, but it's covered in glitter to try and make it look pretty. It smiles at you, wishes you a swell day, and then kicks your dog. It looks attractive and attempts to appear good, but no amount of glitter can produce light in darkness. Edited January 9, 2019 by dr3032 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preciouspearl Posted January 9, 2019 Group: Senior Member Followers: 11 Topic Count: 86 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 813 Content Per Day: 0.20 Reputation: 516 Days Won: 0 Joined: 05/02/2013 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/03/1987 Share Posted January 9, 2019 and immoral videos easily accessed by children are masked appearing innocent. research elsagate. or don't. its disgusting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steffenfield Posted January 10, 2019 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 14 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 307 Content Per Day: 0.16 Reputation: 53 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/22/2018 Status: Offline Birthday: 04/06/1970 Share Posted January 10, 2019 I once heard that somewhere around 25% of all females are on some type of medication. To me this is just terrifying. That's nearly 75% of girls being left untreated. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr E Posted January 10, 2019 Group: Members Followers: 0 Topic Count: 2 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 20 Content Per Day: 0.01 Reputation: 11 Days Won: 0 Joined: 12/28/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted January 10, 2019 16 hours ago, Addison said: I once heard that somewhere around 25% of all females are on some type of medication. To me this is just terrifying. That's nearly 75% of girls being left untreated. Okay-- that was just plain funny. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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