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I found this interesting and helpful. Below are distinctions between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ. The first same number will denote what happens at the Rapture. The second same number will denote what happens at the Second Coming.

1 Rapture Translation of all believers to incorruptible body
1 Second Coming No translation at all
2 Translated saints go to heaven
2 Translated saints return to earth
3 Earth not judged
3 Earth judged and righteousness established
4 Imminent, any-moment, signless
4 Follows definite predicted signs including tribulation
5 Not in Old Testament
5 Predicted often in Old Testament
6 Believers only
6 Affects all men and women
7 Before the day of wrath
7 Concludes the day of wrath
8 No reference to...

US nursing home capacity is 1.7 million. If at full capacity 1 out of 17 are dying of Chinese Coronavirus. Most of this is due to governmental incompetence, particularly Governors Cuomo and Whitmer who ordered Coronavirus patients dumped into nursing homes so they could spread the virus and kill the old inmates. Not smart but that's par for the course for most of these incompetent Governors.

WSJ News Exclusive | Covid-19 Deaths Top 100,000 in U.S. Long-Term Care Facilities

Ezekiel 39:23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

Ezekiel 39:24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

Ezekiel 39:29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
If we start with verse 23, we at least know from the text that the Lord God had been hiding His face from the house of Israel up until this point in time. We then need to backup in Ch 39 a bit in order to see what...

Ephesians 2:8-10
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

So we can break down this passage into 10 points that show how faith, grace and works can be in harmony with one another in the Salvation process.

1- by grace we are saved
2- it is through faith
3- not from ourselves
4- its a gift from God
5- not by works
6- no one can boast- about their works regarding salvation
7- those saved are Gods workmanship
8- created in Christ
9- to do good works- post salvation
10- God prepared those works in advance for us- to...

Hi All,

Any Christians on here think there may be truth and lies worked into the religion and the bible itself?
Or do you believe the bible to be all truth?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts...

This is what the dictionary defines as the meaning of free will :

the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion.

Have not many heard this :
And he SAID TO ALL , "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. -Luke 9:23

Why many have gone to church did not discern this ?

Hello you,

When Jesus Christ chose his disciples, who ended up being hand picked by Yeshua, the Apostles, where they the ones given an authority to perform miracles? (This is excludes the later chosen disciple - that was cast lots for joining in with the group.)

Is there a difference between an Apostle and Disciple?

Were the 12 Jewish hand picked Apostles different than everyone else because they had been chosen; predestined?

Are denominations like medicines where different ones work best for different folk. And so they're good things rather than bad and we should choose the one that works best for us?

For example, I believe in free will and so I would never be able to adopt a denomination that didn't acknowledge that. And it wouldn't be because of a lack of understanding of that denomination. It would simply not be possible for me ever to disbelieve in something that to me is self-evidently true. It would twist me in knots and make me feel phony if I tried. And I feel the same about some of the defining beliefs of other denominations.

So I think that, in practice, we seek out a church that feels right for us, and perhaps often we won't be able to...

Children of disobedience abide under the wrath of God.
They are children of wrath by nature.
They hold down or suppress the Truth in unrighteousness.

Ephesians 2:
1 And you who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in
the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, just as the others.

John 3:36. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not
believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

Romans 1:18. For...

How can Christians and Christian communities flourish in a pluralistic setting, contributing to the common good of all within that setting, without becoming isolated and thus ineffective or becoming relativistic and thus ineffective?

This account comes from For the Life of the World:Theology That Makes a Difference by Miroslav Volf and Matthew Croasman (BrazosPress; Grand Rapids, Michigan; 2019; pp. 104-107).

"What are some key elements of a Christian account of flourishing life that allow those who embrace it to live in peace and pursue common good in pluralistic settings, and to do so not only notwithstanding its claim to be true for every human and the entire world, but also largely because of it?"

1. Trinitarian monotheism:...