We often hear that only Jesus, being fully God, was able to drain the dregs of God's cup of wrath in three hours on the cross. However, this seems to be only a popular belief.

I want to ask you Universal Reconciliationists (or whatever you prefer to be called), do you think it is possible that a reprobate can suffer God's eternal wrath in the same manner before reaching ultimate reconciliation? Like, Jesus paid in advanced our sins who believe, but those who don't, they would possibly undergo that sort of punishment quick, even though it would seem eternal? Does one have to be God-man to suffer in such a short period what would be eternal to endure? Is there any verses to back this up?

The AP Stylebook has now ventured into the political hot potato that is abortion, and is seeking to obfuscate the practice of late-term abortion by instructing journalists not to use the term at all in favor of “abortion later in pregnancy.”

If Universal Redemption is a heresy why was it not brought up as heresy for the first 500 years of the church? Several things were condemned as hereby the earthly church but this was not one of them. Would not those who spoke the native Greek language of that day call it heretic it was ? It seems that it became heresy only after Augustine and the influence of the Latin thinking.

I don't think this is the least bit controversial, but I am sure many do. From a facebook post I made a few months ago. Just curious to see what people will say.

Today's scriptural tidbit of truth. You can stick this one in the category of: “Jesus did not walk this earth as a demi-God.” Wait what, who says that? Actually most of Evangelical Christianity. They just never thought of it in those terms, but the word demi-God fits exactly within the framework of the teachings as to how Jesus preformed his miracles and walked a sinless life. I’m only going to talk about the miracles in this tidbit.
John 14: 10 Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. 12 Truly, truly, I say to you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father. 13 And whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Jesus walked this earth as a human being. The miracles he did were done by God the Father and the Holy Spirit. That is why he says in verse 12 that the miracles his followers saw through his hands would be available to be worked through the hands of all who believe on him.
The entire Bible teaches that the Jehovah the Word would come, and did come to this earth as messiah, a human being, not a demi-God. In the book of Acts this is abundantly made clear in the Apostles presentation of the messiah to the world as they did not call him God one single time. Out of 159 times the word God is used in the book of Acts it was never used in reference to Jesus except twice in the phrase Son of God. This was used in witness to Jewish folks. Jesus was always referred to as a man that God was with and that God did miracles through. There are two reasons for this. One is because it is not true that Jesus walked this earth as divinity. He was divinity, he laid down the physical attributes of God and came to earth as a human, and then became divinity once more. Paul calls it a great mystery. I would suspect the other reason he was never referred to as God in the apostles evangelistic efforts is that Greek and Roman world are filled with idolatrous beliefs about demi-gods like Achilles, Hercules, Theseus and Perseus. The apostles were not going to present the messiah to that world as the Jewish version of a demi-god. Therefore they kept their teachings about the fact that Jesus is God pretty much in the churches to minimize confusion in their evangelistic efforts.
Why is this important to us? Just because it is true? Hardly. It is important to us because of all the roadblocks the world places in front of us to keep us from what the grace of God made available to his people. We do not need to place our own roadblock to the miraculous by believing Jesus did his miracles because he was divine. We are not divine, ergo we cannot do the works he did, like he did, that is the belief. That Jesus walked this earth as a demi-God, although not worded that way, is in fact the biggest roadblock to the miraculous the evangelical world is facing. The reason a lot of the Pentecostal world does not have an issue with this, and has for the most part accepted that Jesus somehow walked this earth a a human being is because they have experienced God doing miracles through them as he did through Jesus. We all need miracles, our families need miracles, our friends need miracles. Let's not deny them those miracles by not seeking that grace from on high because we don't think it is available to us.

Martin Luther's Preface to the Revelation of St. John (1522)
About this Book of the Revelation of John, I leave everyone free to hold his own opinions. I would not have anyone bound to my opinion or judgment. I say what I feel. I miss more than one thing in this book, and it makes me consider it to be neither apostolic nor prophetic.

First and foremost, the apostles do not deal with visions, but prophesy in clear and plain words, as do Peter and Paul, and Christ in the gospel. For it befits the apostolic office to speak clearly of Christ and his deeds, without images and visions. Moreover there is no prophet in the Old Testament, to say nothing of the New, who deals so exclusively with visions and images. For myself, I think it approximates the Fourth Book of Esdras; I can in no way detect that the Holy Spirit produced it.

Moreover he seems to me to be going much too far when he commends his own book so highly [Revelation 22]—indeed, more than any of the other sacred books do, though they are much more important—and threatens that if anyone takes away anything from it, God will take away from him, etc. Again, they are supposed to be blessed who keep what is written in this book; and yet no one knows what that is, to say nothing of keeping it. This is just the same as if we did not have the book at all. And there are many far better books available for us to keep.

Many of the fathers also rejected this book a long time ago; although St. Jerome, to be sure, refers to it in exalted terms and says that it is above all praise and that there are as many mysteries in it as words. Still, Jerome cannot prove this at all, and his praise at numerous places is too generous.

Finally, let everyone think of it as his own spirit leads him. My spirit cannot accommodate itself to this book. For me this is reason enough not to think highly of it: Christ is neither taught nor known in it. But to teach Christ, this is the thing which an apostle is bound above all else to do; as Christ says in Acts 1[:8], “You shall be my witnesses.” Therefore I stick to the books which present Christ to me clearly and purely.

The 1522 “Preface to the Revelation of St. John” in Luther’s translation of the New Testament. Pages 398-399 in Luther’s Works Volume 35: Word and Sacrament I (ed. E. Theodore Bachmann; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1960).

Been quite some time since I have heard anyone discuss, or even refer to it.
Discussions of conditions for God's love is all the rage; no mention of unconditional love lately. Currently out of fashion?

Differentiating agape' from phileo and eros was once important gospel discussion.

Do we apply unconditional love in all these situations?

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

1 John 4:8
He that loves not knows not God; for God is love.

1 John 4:16
And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.

Romans 5:8
But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The islamic world hates Israel. But why? You will find the answer in Revelation 17:16-17: "And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled."

A North Texas lawmaker filed a bill that would require all social media users to be 18 years of age to create an account.


The bill, HB 896, (pdf) which was proposed by state Rep. Jared Patterson, will force social media sites to verify a user’s age with photo ID and allow parents to request that their child’s account be deactivated.


I don't need the government's permission to exercise my constitutionally protected rights.

I am not obligated to identify myself to exercise my freedom of speech.

The law of the land does not grant the government any power to encroach on my unalienable, God given rights; because some parents have neglected their God given responsibility to raise their children.

Hey Everyone,


I’m back and unfortunately I’m reaching out again today for some support.Something that’s really bothering me,is these constant nagging doubts about my salvation which haven’t bothered me this badly in a minute.So I’m constantly examining my life for fruits and honestly I do see fruits but they’re all soaked in uncertainty.It’s this uncomfortable feeling of condemnation and sadness that’s overtaking me.And It’s really hurting me.Like I’ve said before in previous posts in the past,I cannot in any form wether it be emotionally,physically,mentally live without Jesus,my sanity as I know it rests on salvation,And if I’m not saved I’d fall into insanity.Everytime I find myself having committed a sin,I get on this constant worry cycle of despair if I’ve been saved or not.But what I find to be the most troubling at this moment is uncertainty on belief in Jesus,it’s like no matter how much I feel and claim to believe there’s always this nagging deep uncertainty on Wether or not I TRULY believe in Jesus,I don’t doubt that he is the way at all.It’s doubt on my ability or my soul really believing that scares me.

It’s just that finding fruits in my life and having the comforting conviction of salvation is something im lacking and it’s worrying so badly to me.

I want to clarify that none of my worries now are as severe or terrible as there were months or a year ago.But right now the problem I find myself in I can’t overcome by myself,I’ve been,by the Grace of God been able to overcome almost every anxious fit these past 3 months,but as of right now I can’t.


Plus if anyone can,I’d be so grateful if any of you could pray for me.

@BillMcEnaney, a newcomer to Christian Forums, expressed an interest in exploring this doctrine typically associated with Seventh-Day Adventists, namely, soul-sleep. He was hoping that someone could explain this doctrine "because it confused me when an Adventist told me about it" in a private email exchange, he said, someone named Michael Scheifler. As I hold a very similar view, I was happy to engage him on it. We began discussing it in his introduction (here) but he wanted it moved to its own thread. For previous remarks and the lead-up to this post, see his introduction thread.

I began by explaining that Adventists are physicalists of a sort (which I would later have to clarify, in this post here). On their view, I had said, the human body is not possessed of an immaterial soul; rather, the human body just is a material soul. Adventists would disagree with substance dualists, who hold that the human mind is a product of an immaterial soul, but agree with property dualists, who hold that the mind is a product of (but is not reducible to) the physical human brain. So, it parallels but contrasts with reductionism, insofar as mental events are constituted by but not identical with physical events.

It gets a bit complicated because, in one sense,

• Adventists don't believe in soul sleep (since they reject the idea of immaterial souls surviving the dead human body)

but, in another sense,

• Adventists do believe in soul sleep (if we respect their belief that the human person is a soul).

It's in the latter sense that they believe the redeemed who die are said to "sleep" (because they await a resurrection to eternal life) whereas the damned who die are said to "perish" (because they await a resurrection to eternal punishment). Keep in mind: Adventists believe in conditional immortality, and so they believe eternal punishment is a death sentence that is forever.

By way of contrast, Martin Luther did believe in soul sleep in a Cartesian sense, that one has a disembodied immaterial soul that "sleeps" in the intermediate state, to be awakened by Jesus in the resurrection.

McEnaney wondered if Adventists and other soul-sleepers believe that "sleep" is a metaphor for death. Yes, I said, in a way. They believe it's a metaphor for physical death in the same sense that Jesus did. When Jesus told his disciples that Lazarus had fallen asleep and he was going to awaken him, Jesus realized that they took him literally. So, he had to tell them plainly, "Lazarus has died" (John 11:11-14; cf. 1 Thess 4:13-14).

The remainder of this post is my engagement with his response to the above, a discussion that will follow in this thread from here on out.

BillMcEnaney said:

After writing the post you just answered, I discovered my mistake. In that post, I argued that since physicalism presupposes causal determinism, it implies that rational thought is impossible. But I forgot that physicalism is false if God exists.

Click to expand...

The existence of God rules out physicalism only if we are dealing with ontological materialism, which assumes among other things that the Universe is a closed system. [1] Carl Sagan is an example of this, saying, "The cosmos is all that is, or was, or ever will be." Clearly, as an evangelical Christian, I am not talking about that. On my use of the term, physicalism refers only to the created realm; it says nothing at all about the creator thereof, who on my view is transcendent and spirit. Unlike ontological materialism, physicalism does not preclude metaphysical emergence, downward causation, holism and so forth, much less a transcendent creator. [2]

Even more precisely, I am speaking not of ontological physicalism but only anthropological physicalism, the object thereof being just humans. After all, you and I are talking about soul-sleep, especially as held by Seventh-Day Adventists, so we need to keep that specific focus in mind. The best argument for anthropological physicalism, in my opinion, was made by the Christian philosopher Lynne R. Baker, who argued for a constitution view of human persons (according to which we are not identical to but rather constituted by physical bodies).

I believe that the only real ontological dualism in Scripture is the creator–creature distinction, the contrast and relationship between God (as creator) and everything else (as his creation). This distinction is a fundamental safeguard for our interpretation of reality. "We should argue that intelligible predication is impossible," Cornelius Van Til said, "except one make the creator–creature distinction basic to one's thought." The creator is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, whereas creation is not infinite but finite, not eternal but temporal, not immutable but mutable in its becoming, as Lane Tipton of the Reformed Forum explained.

Moreover, I hold that the creator alone is supernatural while all of creation is natural—and I do mean all of creation, including angels. Consistent with this creator–creature distinction, only God is supernatural, existing outside of the natural world (without denying immanence). Obviously, our Standard Model of physics is still in its infancy and cannot account for things like angels—it can't even account for 95% of the observable universe (dark matter and dark energy)—but I expect that we could eventually, given a more complete understanding of fundamental physics that is yet to be developed. This is in addition to my belief that human souls are constituted by physical bodies, that there is no such thing as a disembodied soul. (I believe that our resurrection bodies will likewise be physical, whether baryonic or some other kind of matter.) On this view, neither angels nor humans, whether in part or whole, are supernatural (outside of the natural realm). God alone is supernatural, whereas his creatures are entirely natural.

BillMcEnaney said:

Anyhow, Michael Scheifler confused me when we emailed me about soul sleep because he quoted the [King James Version of the Bible]. In the KJV, Genesis tells me that Adam became a living soul when God breathed into Adam's [nostrils]. But some other translations say that Adam became a living being. That translation sounds compatible with Aristotelian-Thomistic hylomorphism and the belief that the human soul is immortal. The KJV's rendering of the verse seems to conflate the body and the soul or make those words denote a living body. That's why I hope someone will explain why one translation of that verse is better than the other, if it is better.

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There is nothing problematic about how the KJV translates that verse. Whether Adam became a living soul (KJV), a living being (NIV), or a living creature (ESV), at no point in this text is Adam ever a disembodied soul or being. The dust did not embody a soul or being, it became one. This fact, along with the KJV translation, is fully consistent with the biblical view of people being souls, not having one, wherein the term nefesh ("being") in the Hebrew Bible usually refers to the whole person (i.e., there is no conflation because there is no distinction) and never to anything immaterial or immortal. The concept of an immaterial and immortal soul, distinct from the body and surviving its death, did not appear in Judaism before the Babylonian exile; it was a later development resulting from interaction with Persian and Hellenistic philosophies. As the esteemed Old Testament scholar Brevard Childs said, a person "does not have a soul, but is a soul." (For more, see James D. Tabor, "What the Bible Says About Death, Afterlife and the Future," The Jewish Roman World of Jesus [website].)

BillMcEnaney said:

No offense to SDAs but even articles by [their] professional theologians seem theologically and philosophically superficial when I read them. Those writers seem to comment on proof-texts taken out of context. Those people remind me of fundamentalists who memorize Bible verses handwritten on index cards.

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That may be so (I cannot speak about your experiences), but it's not exactly relevant to our discussion. All I can do is try to assure you by our discussion that I'm representing their position in the strongest possible light, as someone who has very similar beliefs on this doctrine informed by extensive in-depth Bible study and philosophical debates. I hope that I know more than you think they did (a reference to something that was said earlier).

BillMcEnaney said:

In Romans chapter 3, Saint Paul seems to describe ancient Jews when he says, "None is righteous, no, not one."

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I don't think that was about only Jews. The first five chapters of Romans is about the desperate condition of all mankind, both Jew and Gentile alike, as sinners before a holy God, which chapters 2 and 3 make especially clear.

If you want to argue that some people are without sin, well, that's a very different discussion. (And please tread carefully.)

---

Footnotes:

[1] I have capitalized the term Universe to indicate that it includes the totality of all that exists, whether that is the observable universe or a larger multiverse.

[2] As I understand it, ontological materialism, physicalism, and naturalism represent a nested hierarchy of views, from the strongest (ontological materialism) to the weakest (ontological naturalism). So, for example, while all physicalists are naturalists, not all naturalists are physicalists. James Ladyman, Philip Kitcher, and Sean Carroll are all examples of non-physicalist naturalists.

The death threat stated, “If our right to abortion in Bellevue is taken away due to the attempt to pass an abortion ban and it gets passed we will shoot up your Newman Center with our new AR14 rifles. Sincerely, Jane’s Revenge.” The letter was addressed to Newman Center director Rev. Dan Andrews.

Someone claiming to be part of the pro-abortion group allegedly also threatened Christ Community Church — just under six miles from the Newman Center — later that Saturday, according to a local report. “The note threatened violence and also mentioned Jane’s Revenge,” the Scottsbluff Star-Herald wrote.

Eric Wahl was emotional when speaking about his brother, a well-respected soccer reporter who had been covering the World Cup.

Eric believed foul play was involved after claiming his brother was receiving death threats over wearing a rainbow shirt in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

“I am the reason he wore the rainbow shirt to the World Cup,” said Eric, who is gay.

“My brother was healthy. He told me he received death threats. I do not believe my brother just died. I believe he was killed and I just beg for any help.”

On November 21, Grant Wahl said he was detained upon entering the stadium for his T-shirt and refused to change out of it.

Can someone help me shed some light on this issue? I have been depressed and sinning for 7 years now, and nothing is helping... I feel as if I am dead on the inside, I have committed innumerable mortal sins. I go to confession every week, but it's not helping. I feel as if God has abandoned me due to my sins. My (material & spiritual) life is a joke. I pray almost every day without any results. Even though I pray prayers of repentance, I never experience the conviction of the Holy Spirit anymore like I did before. I feel as if the Holy Spirit has left me without any chance of him returning. Help me please, what am I supposed to do?

Liberalism *is* mainline Protestant Christianity.

The Protestant Church had its origin in a cohesive, collective, social movement away from the ideology of the Roman Catholicism. The Protestant Church was defined by their unified separation from the religion of Rome.

Today there is not a hint of Protestant Christianity collectivizing in any kind of resistance against the ideology of liberalism or the liberal democratic order that forms the ruling ideology of western nations. Liberalism is not even recognized by the church as a separate ideological or moral system, and this is because both things, Liberalism and the Protestant Church, are the same ideological framework.

Throughout the 18th-20th centuries, Protestant Christianity was basically diffused into secular progressive liberal government. This is why churches have no concept of organized resistance to progressive ideology, because it is their own system. Liberalism now operates as a kind of non-theistic Christianity, where the human liberty offered by the modern democratic order is unconsciously viewed as a kind of eschatological fulfillment. It is as if history has ended. All the necessary reformations and social movements of the past have reached their end goal, and there is nothing left to protest. The Church is now at rest in the kingdom of liberal democracy.

This is why there is such a strange resistance to churches organizing on a political basis, and a general church mandate to "never bring politics into the church"... Since the church order *is* the liberal order, it would be like dividing a house against itself. You do not socially organize against yourself.

Actually the Protestant Church is still allowed to collectively organize politically, but only against elements that are a perceived threat against the kingdom of democracy (e.g. Vladimir Putin and the Russian Government) Protestant Christianity instinctively circles the wagons when the true ideology of Liberalism is perceived to be under threat... but notice these churches are completely unable to organize this way in defense of Biblical theology. (e.g. a collective socio-political movement against abortion or the promotion of homosexuality) ... again, this is because Protestant Christianity *is* Liberalism, and it is a liberal democratic human right to abort children and teach homosexuality to children. We are all allowed to have our individual political beliefs in a liberal order, and this is the governing ideology of the Protestant Church.

This is also why there is such a knee-jerk reaction among mainline churches to the concept of 'Christian Nationalism'.... it is *not* because the church actually has a problem with the combination of church and state. The real reason is because the Church *already* combined with the national and international state of liberal democracy. We are *already* doing Christian Nationalism + Internationalism and this is now called Liberalism. See the Battle Hymn of the Republic, the World Wars, and the Cold war. These were all great theocratic-political wars framed as the divine forces of heaven conquering the forces of tyranny and evil, and what has resulted is the shining city on a hill; liberal democracy. Any new forms of Christian Nationalism are seen as a threat to an already established theocracy: the moral therapeutic state of liberal democracy.




Progressive Christianity
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On this forum, I have come to realize that Protestants don’t just disagree with the Catholic Church, they also disagree with the Protestant Reformers for being too Catholic.

I think it’s clear that 22nd century Protestants will look back on you guys and say, “Those 21st century Protestants meant well, but they were still too Catholic.”

I feel lost. I am currently concluding 6 years of bad relationships with Gomers. 3 Gomers over 6 years. The last Gomer was 3 years on and off. Funny, but the last break up was 3 years to the day of when we first got romantic. Hmm...a lot of 3's...
**Immediately preceding the first "Gomer", God spoke through a spiritual elder who said, "For you to have the relationship that you want to have, some things have to be dealt with. Some things have to be changed." Prior to this, I had healthy romantic partners. It was I who was in need of major work.

Before this last Gomer, I was led to the book of Hosea for the first time in my 36 years. 20-something years spent going to a Pentacostal church inspired (drug along) by my parents. I thought God was saying he was going to do a Hosea and Gomez thing with me and Gomer number 2. Apparently, I was wrong and he must have been referring to Gomer number 3. If only I would have known.

God nudged me towards this woman that did not fit my definition of beauty repeatedly. I even consulted a spiritual elder who said, "I think that by learning to love this young lady, you might end up meeting the woman who is to be your wife." I relented and put it in God's hands and gave it a try.

I learned to love her and then saw her as the most beautiful woman in the world. She had the best combination of good characteristics and qualities that I have ever experienced in a gf EXCEPT for a couple things. She had issues that prevented her from having healthy romantic relationships. She exhibited symptoms of having her power traumatically taken/boundaries disregarded in addition to being the child of an addict mother and an abusive father.

During the 3 years on and off with the 3rd and hopefully final Gomer, there were multiple instances that hinted at her being deceitful. I prayed and asked God for clarity, but received nothing until this 3rd time. I received dreams that speak of me doing a good job with my task; unclean, separation, division & sexual sin associated with her & her feminine body; new beginnings, God's creation/creative ability, completion, finality with her again being associated with 3 different shades of red sinfulness & sexual infidelity. The last couple dreams spoke of a beautiful woman that I've never met and a woman who had similar features to this last Gomer and I meeting while I was working in the field of my calling. Finally, I dreamt of new beginnings and division/separation of a union.

Wow. That's a lot. That also only the past few chapters and not the entire book.

Has anyone here ever been told by God to date someone who turned out to be a Gomer? What happened with your situation? Why would God put me with cheaters for the past 6 years? Punishment for my previous infidelity? But why do it when I finally have the emotional awareness to break away from my family's unhealthy cycles? Also, my Gomer never changed her ways so why would God essentially waste my time/pain/love?

Thank you.

Hey my name is Kenneth and although I've been a member for a while I thought it would be good to make my first post introducing myself and saying hello to everyone.
I hope to engage in some great discussions on our great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as well as other Christian topics.

Video Talk

Luke 12:49-53 ESV


Parallel Scripture Passage:


So, what is this saying? It is saying that when we die with Christ to sin, when we are buried with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, and so now our lives are changed, and we are no longer living in sin, but now we are living for the Lord, we are going to be rejected. Even some of our family members may disapprove of us and fight against us, so some of our strongest opposition may come from the people we live with.

For if we were living in sin and for the flesh, or if we were living worldly Christian lives, but then we repented, and so we turned to follow Jesus in obedience, and so we rejected our worldly lives to follow Jesus fully, those around us may not be okay with that. They may not be comfortable with the changes our Lord has made in our lives. For that may make them feel uncomfortable being around us because we are no longer living like them, but now we are being made into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

And this is not about being “stuck-up.” This has nothing to do with pride, or it shouldn’t. This is just the reality of the situation. Worldly people and those living in sin are just not going to feel comfortable being around us if truly our lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ and if we are no longer living like we did before we were surrendered to Christ. Unless.. our lives and our testimonies for Jesus Christ are what draw them to genuine faith in Jesus Christ, too. And we hope that will also be part of our new reality.

Now Jesus said this so we would know what we are signing up for when we choose to follow him with our lives. But he also wants us to know ahead of time the cost of following him with our lives. For he said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self and take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. But if we choose not to die to sin and live in obedience to our Lord, out of fear of being rejected, then we are not worthy of him and we will not have eternal life in him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

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My Sheep

An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

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Psalms 119:129-131 ESV


I love the Scriptures. Now not all of the Scriptures are to be applied specifically to our lives today. For example, we are not under the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, and dietary laws and restrictions the Jews of the Old Covenant were under. And some instructions in the Scriptures were given to specific people at a particular time in history, and those same exact instructions don’t specifically apply to us, as well as the specific promises given to them may not apply to us, either.


So, what this means is that, even if the Scripture passage does not specifically apply to us today we can still learn a biblical lesson from it. Like for example the story of David and Goliath is a wonderful illustration for us in how to conquer our enemy Satan. We must not fear our enemy or think he has power over us, but we must take up the armor of God and fight off our enemy with the sword of the Spirit offensively, not just defensively. And we must believe that God has won and will win this battle for us.

Yet, we cannot twist the Scriptures to our advantage, either, assuming Scriptures that do apply to us do not apply to us. For I have heard many people cut out the entire books of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John in the New Testament, claiming they don’t apply to us, and just because they don’t like what John taught the believers in Jesus Christ. We can’t just cherry pick the Scriptures we like and ignore the ones that go against the philosophy we are willing to accept. So we need to let the Holy Spirit lead us in this.

One of the big things with interpreting the Scriptures, besides being led of the Holy Spirit and not of our sinful flesh, is to interpret their meaning in their specific context and then in the context of the New Testament Scriptures, as a whole, and in the context of God’s Word in its entirety with regard to who God is, and he has not changed, and with regard to his specific will for humankind, which has not changed. For many false doctrines come from Scriptures taught outside their context and then are twisted.

So, if we are going to be those who keep (who obey) the Scriptures and the commands of our God, then we need to be students of the Scriptures who read them prayerfully and in their context and under the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit. And not only read them in their full context, but then compare them to other similar Scriptures taught in the other books of the Bible in order to give you a more complete picture. For just know that many people teach the Scriptures out of context and some do this intentionally and others not, but the danger is they may be in error.

Psalms 119:132-133 ESV


As humans we still live in flesh bodies, thus we still have the propensity to sin and to be led astray. We still could fall if we do not take necessary precautions and if we do not walk steadily in the ways of the Lord and in his truth and righteousness. So we must guard against ever thinking that we have arrived or that we are above falling. The New Testament says we are to take heed if we think we stand lest we fall (1 Corinthians 10:12), so we should definitely guard our minds and hearts against being overconfident.

And this is why we must also be those who cry out to our Lord to give us strength and help and encouragement to keep us from falling, and to keep us on the right path, and to keep our steps steady so that we remain in Christ and in his word and in walks of holiness and righteousness. For we can’t do this in our flesh, and we definitely can’t do this if we are playing with sin or if we are walking in the ways of this sinful world. For if we are consuming the thinking and philosophies of this world then we can’t have the mind of Christ, too, and we’ll be led in the wrong direction.

Psalms 119:134-136 ESV


Now when we are walking in the ways of the Lord, in truth and in righteousness, and no longer in sin, our enemy Satan is going to come against us, and he has other humans who will do his bidding who will also come against us. And those professing faith in Jesus Christ who are still living in sin and according to the flesh may also oppose and oppress us because they find our walks of faith an offense to them, or because they are uncomfortable being around us because of our love for Jesus Christ.

So, when we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and for the sake of the name of Jesus, and because of our walks of obedience to our Lord, then we should call upon the Lord to deliver us from the weight of that oppression so that we can continue on in our walks of faith unhindered. And we should pray for God’s comfort and encouragement and for our Lord Jesus to lead us in his ways and in his truth despite all opposition against us. And we should absolutely be those who shed tears because people do not obey the Lord.

But no matter what comes our way, nothing can touch us but what God allows it and he allows it for a reason and he is still in control. And our Lord will give us everything we need to endure whatever comes our way, for he will not leave or forsake those who love and obey him and who follow him in truth and in righteousness. So we have no reason to fear our enemies or what they might do to us or when they might decide to attack. We just have to give our lives over to the Lord and follow him and trust him in every way.

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

By Ira F. Stanphill

I don't know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day.
I don't borrow from its sunshine,
For its skies may turn to gray.
I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said,
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.

I don't know about tomorrow,
It may bring me poverty;
But the one who feeds the sparrow,
Is the one who stands by me.
And the path that is my portion,
May be through the flame or flood,
But His presence goes before me,
And I'm covered with His blood.

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I have a good friend who is a Catholic priest. He once told me that he was asked to assist at an exorcism. He said he really freaked out when the possessed person started revealing all of the sins of the priests that were present and they all got sick except for the actual exorcist priest.

That story really freaked me out.

Is this a simple thing to understand, moderate or difficult. I understand that some doctrines from the Bible can be challenging for new Believers such as the book of Revelation. It seems everything needs careful study.

I've been stuck on this doctrine for 4 years and always pondered on it. I am really curious what way does God save others.

First it would help with just.some general perception. Do most Christians believe in predestination?

And what is the percentage. And what broad denominations are more likely to believe in it and I'm talking in general, so Catholism, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant.

And here is a little bit about how I think about this. Predestination can both make me feel at ease and in absolute shock. At ease believing that I am secure, and always was going to be secure as it was my fate. But also in absolute shock that others will have a different fate and there is not anything they could do about it and they never even had a choice.

This makes me incredibly sad. That's why I want to get to the bottom of this.

There is much more details but I don't want to make this post longer than it already is.

The Russians started a war and attacked the Western energy system. Saudi Arabia has refused to cooperate. Someone was able to lead the Western countries in strategies and actions to deal with this Russian threat.

So, the effect of the Russian war on the price of oil has been negligible., instead of the $6 or more a gallon that we feared was the new norm.
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Yes, I understand that there is a different set of facts. I'm sure that many of you are paying much more for gas than a year ago.

A Purple Heart Republican congressman from Florida took to Twitter Thursday to express his anger at how an American flag was treated by Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee who stuck the flag in a garbage can while moving to a new office.


Brian Mast, who lost both legs after stepping on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan, showed an image of the flag in a plastic garbage can and shared his thoughts.