Latest activity

Hoping2 · 2025-08-07T22:10:48-0500

stevevw said:
Yes and this was the same rock Paul and all the disciples stood on. That is why Paul could claim he was telling the truth anbd not lying to the churches he was setting up.

As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:20
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Our conversation...conduct, should also manifest that we are standing on that "rock".

Nithavela · 2025-08-07T22:04:25-0500

GoldenBoy89 said:
Do you think the democrats may do a little better if they had a character as outlandish as Trump in their camp directing all attention unto themselves?

It would be hard to do worse than they are doing now.

Spiritual Jew · 2025-08-07T22:00:34-0500

Garrett.theo said:
Thanks for you're comment. I just want to clarify that this post only covers the connection between the trumpets and the bowls of Revelation. Although, I will say there is some overlap with the seals of Revelation. While I also plan on making a post explaining those, if you're interested your can read my other article, What Are the Seven Seals of Revelation?, where I go over their correlation to Jesus' words about the end-times.

Additionally, if you'd like to know exactly how the seals, trumpets and bowls line up with each other as they relate to the end-times, here is the timeline:

Thanks for your opinion on that, but you seem to have the impression that you're stating facts here and thinking that you're my teacher about these things. No. I am fully convinced that not just the trumpets and vials are parallel, but the seals, also. For example, it fits with my Amillennial view that it talks about a little season of time being left after the fifth seal is opened because I believe Satan's little season begins at that point. I see the description of the fifth trumpet with the bottomless pit being opened at that point, which lines up with Satan being loosed from the bottomless pit, in my opinion. So, again, thanks for sharing your opinions, but I don't really care for how you are talking as if I'm your student and you're my teacher.

stevevw · 2025-08-07T22:00:30-0500

Hoping2 said:
The "rock" the church was built on, was the fact that Jesus was the Son of God.
Just as it is written..."And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matt 16:16)

Yes and this was the same rock Paul and all the disciples stood on. That is why Paul could claim he was telling the truth anbd not lying to the churches he was setting up.

As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:20
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Hoping2 · 2025-08-07T21:58:03-0500

...udder nonsense.

rambot · 2025-08-07T21:56:29-0500

Clare73 said:
I'm thinkin' when it comes to physically injuring people, we should all be united against it.

Well. I would have thought showing compassion to someone diagnosed with cancer would have been a benchmark.
But apparently not.

I would have thought that not mocking a physically handicapped person would have been a benchmark.
But apparently not.

I Could have thought it was when a presidential candidate suggested/implied he wanted violence directed at a citizen.

But apparently not.

So I'm not sure where your benchmark fits in the rubric.

Spiritual Jew · 2025-08-07T21:55:50-0500

Brightfame52 said:
In case you didn't know the elect are naturally sinners, Jesus came to call them to repentance.

Where did He say He only calls the elect to repentance? Nowhere. The context of that passage from Mark 2 is that Jesus was dining with a bunch of tax collectors and sinners in Levi's house. The Pharisees questioned why He was doing that, thinking that they were not worth His time and attention. But, it was because He wanted them to repent and be saved. But, you deny that.

Hoping2 · 2025-08-07T21:54:56-0500

essentialsaltes said:
A former Lancaster County Bible study leader will spend five to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a girl in 2011 and a woman in 2016.

Michael T. Hess, 50, of East Drumore Township, on July 28 pleaded guilty to four felony offenses and four misdemeanors. His prison sentence will be followed by 10 years of probation.

The first victim, who was around 7 years old when the abuse began, said Hess sexually assaulted her dozens of times in a classroom of a Providence Township church in 2011.

In two separate cases, Hess was charged with two counts of aggravated indecent assault, three counts of indecent assault without consent and one count each of unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and indecent assault of a person less than 13.

Just one more reason to teach our kids at home, instead of shipping them off to others for...indoctrination.

Spiritual Jew · 2025-08-07T21:53:13-0500

A New Dawn said:
I used to be one of those free agency believers, I don’t have to imagine for the sake of argument. I spent my days in despair because, while I had had a salvation experience, it was not something my church taught so I couldn’t admit it or claim it, and I was in so much fear that I could lose my salvation on a daily basis because I could never do enough to stay saved.

This has absolutely nothing to do with what I believe, so you're addressing a strawman here. I don't claim that people have to do enough to be saved, whatever that even means. I claim that you need to keep being careful not to lose your faith and to keep trusting in Jesus, just as the following warns to do:

Hebrews 3:12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,

A New Dawn said:
The person who finally threw me a life preserver introduced me to the proper way to read the scriptures to know that salvation was God’s to give and nobodies to take away from me because He keeps me safe. So, I still say NO! Free will is a work of Satan, and only makes you live in fear. When I finally broke free from that cursed theology, I finally felt free and was free.

You are deceived by Calvinism. It leads to a false sense of security. You went from one false extreme (thinking you had to do a bunch of things to stay saved) to another (thinking you have to do nothing to stay saved).

Calvinism makes warnings that are given to believers like we see in Hebrews 3:12-14 into a joke that can be ignored. But, it's not. You don't have to do enough to be saved as if salvation is by works, but you do need to beware of developing "an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God" and you do need to "hold the beginnning of" your "confidence steadfast to the end". You can't just ignore scripture like Hebrews 3:12-14. That can lead to complacency and thinking that you have no responsibility when the reality is that you do have responsibility. Not to earn your own salvation, but to keep trusting in Christ for your salvation and being careful not to allow yourself to be deceived.

Hoping2 · 2025-08-07T21:51:33-0500

Ignatius the Kiwi said:
To be more specific, How should have Christians historically addressed Islam within a Christian moral framework?

I have often been surprised at the historic illiteracy of many who I've discussed this question with here on these forums who seem utterly unaware or hopelessly naive about the problem Islam posed to Christianity. Islam being a violently expansionist religion which imposed harsh restrictions on it's Dhimmi populations.

Often the assumption seems to be it is the fault of Christians living at the time who failed to evangelise properly within Islamic realms that caused Islam to spread. That the wars fought by Christians (crusades for example), were entirely un Christlike and represent a failure of medieval Christianity which we have to repent of.

So if we are to reject the medieval reaction to Islam in favour of a modern liberal acceptance and tolerance of Islam, do we then condemn Christians in the past in their response to Islam? That modern society is better in it's response to Islam? That Islam should become have had a presence in the Christian world sooner? Were Christians in the past wrong to keep Islam out of their realms?

As Christian are known by their fruit, it would be our duty to pray for any perceived invaders...and trust in God for our deliverance.
Like Hezekiah did in 2 Kings 19.

Hoping2 · 2025-08-07T21:43:37-0500

Lukaris said:
I guess all we can do is disprove their “prophet” by the words of the Lord ( whom they consider a prophet) in that John the Baptist was the final prophet ( Matthew 11:1-15). They have no ability to disprove this as some manipulation which is probably their tactic to undermine our scriptures. These words were spoken and recorded centuries before their “prophet” was born.

How can you consider John the Baptist THE final prophet, when the gift of prophesy is still available to the faithful ? (Rom 12:6, 1 Cor 14:1)

FaithT · 2025-08-07T21:35:52-0500

Michie said:
De Nile is not just a river in Egypt.

I meant no one here.

RandyPNW · 2025-08-07T21:29:49-0500

Dale said:
For over 1500 years, Christians read Thessalonians and a “rapture” separate from the Second Coming never occurred to anyone. Take the famous traditional commentator, Matthew Henry.

For those who have not heard of Matthew Henry, he was a Welsh Calvinist minister who lived from 1662 to 1714. His commentaries on the Bible are among the most highly respected, widely read and frequently quoted commentaries ever written.

On the last part of I Thessalonians 4, Henry does not see this event as being secret in any sense.

Quote
He will descend from heaven into this our air, v. 17. The appearance will be with pomp and power, with a shout, the shout of a king, and the power and authority of a mighty king and conqueror, with the voice of the archangel; an innumerable company of angels will attend him. Perhaps one, as general of those hosts of the Lord, will give notice of his approach, and the glorious appearance of this great Redeemer and Judge will be proclaimed and ushered in by the trump of God.
End Quote

Henry sees the Rapture as identical to the Second Coming and followed very closely by the Final Judgment. Jesus descends “with pomp and power.” The trumpet in Thessalonians is a sign of Christ arrving as Judge.

Quote
And those who are raised, and thus changed, shall meet together in the clouds, and there meet with their Lord, to congratulate him on his coming, to receive the crown of glory he will then bestow upon them, and to be assessors with him in judgment, approving and applauding the sentence he will then pass upon the prince of the power of the air, and all the wicked, who shall be doomed to destruction with the devil and his angels.
End Quote

Henry sees Christians meeting Jesus “in the clouds” but only at the time of the Final Judgment. This includes the Judgment and destruction of the Devil, associated demons, and the wicked who follow him.

Yes, I've been annoyed by the Pretrib Rapture of Dispensationalism for a long time. I found your post interesting in mentioning that early on 1 Thes 4 was not the basis of its proof. Today, you hear Dispensationalists claim it's "obvious" in 1 Thes 4 that it is proving a Pretrib Rapture???

There are incidences in history where belief in the 2nd Coming is somewhat separate from the "Rapture of the Church." But it is not separated in the way that Dispensationalists do it. It is more of a Pre-Wrath perspective, arguing that Christians are delivered 1st, and then relatively soon after come back with Christ from heaven. It isn't my view, but it explains how some have separated the Rapture from the 2nd Coming.

The idea, however, that the Rapture and the 2nd Coming are separated by 7 years, and that the Rapture can take place "on any day, at any time" is different, and far from the sense in which Jesus said his Kingdom was "near." In saying it was "near" Jesus was warning that judgment could come at any time, and that we have an immediate need to prepare ourselves for the Kingdom.

It wasn't that the Kingdom could come at any time, but that divine judgment could happen to us at any time. We always need to be ready. Thank you for your posts on this!

Hoping2 · 2025-08-07T21:27:47-0500

Maria Billingsley said:
While using the phrase "seed of the serpent" is biblically accurate, it can be misleading and potentially irresponsible without immediate and clear theological context, given its harmful historical use by fringe groups. Genesis 3:15, is a highly spiritual and symbolic verse where theologians overwhelmingly interpret the "seed ( offspring) of the serpent" as a reference to a spiritual lineage of rebellion.
Blessings

...or just figurative speech.

BPPLEE · 2025-08-07T21:27:15-0500

ozso said:
If the DOJ had been weaponized against him, him appointing his lawyer as head of DOJ is hilarious.

The 2016 Lynch and Clinton meeting attracted significant criticism from both Republicans and Democrats

And he wasn’t president so it wasn’t his DOJ

stevevw · 2025-08-07T21:25:49-0500

boughtwithaprice said:
I see what you are saying. I have been in Protestant assemblies and in Catholic associations where modern thought has taken hold. Many understand that modernism is the synthesis of all heresies, because it is a type of generational arrogance. You seem to grasp this.
If you are in a Protestant assembly, I can see the difficult position you are in. A soul yearning for revival while surrounded by those that say everything is fine, yeah sin is bad, but it is too hard to be holy and besides, “you can’t lose your salvation”. It is hard to engage when those in the denomination do not share the concern and paint
the call to repentance as judgmental and unloving, yet all that is desired is to obey God.
It’s hard to argue with those people. They exist in Catholic Churches also, but I take comfort that they Church will not waver on faith and morals. Some claimed that Pope Francis did waver and called him a heretic, but when his writings are analyzed, he was not guilty of what others accused him. We saw the same rush to judgement of Jesus by the Pharisees. He was accused of being a law breaker that ate and drank with sinners. He said the well need not a physician but the sick . Those are the two heresies we face, modernism and Phariseeism. The same that Jesus faced, as Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun.

God bless you as you recognize the need for repentance and revival of holiness

No worries and thankyou. I was brought up Catholic and I guess you could say I floated around Protestant churches when younger. But in recent years due to researching the history of the church I have been drawn back to the more traditional ways of worship.

There is something deep and spiritual about the Mass and though I use to think it boring I now see the significance. Most of all I see the importance of tradition because I believe in the same plain teachings the early church followed. They seemed not to worry about conventions and stayed true no matter what.

Which strangly enough seems to be what is happening now. There seems to be a spirit of getting back to the simple basics and truths due to the excesses of recent generations.

I think its also shown that due to all this relativity in postmodern society on what is the truth for Christs church I think this itself shows that the whole idea of pluralism and compromise is unhealthy and is decieving people. Therefore staying true is more important now more than ever.

GoldenBoy89 · 2025-08-07T21:18:48-0500

Always in His Presence said:
Occupations - yes job sectors - no

Here are the fastest-growing job sectors in the U.S. in 2025, based on recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources:

Top Growing Job Sectors

Sector Net Jobs Added (Feb–Apr 2025) Key Drivers
Health Care & Social Assistance 192,800 Aging population, telemedicine boom
Transportation & Warehousing 50,000 E-commerce, supply chain expansion
Professional & Business Services 35,000 Consulting, tech, remote work
Financial Activities 35,000 Fintech, investment growth
️ Construction 30,000 Infrastructure projects, housing
️ Leisure & Hospitality 28,000 Post-pandemic recovery
️ Government 20,000 Public services, education
Private Education 16,200 Online learning, teacher demand
️ Retail Trade 16,100 Consumer spending rebound
️ Other Services 16,000 Personal care, repair services

As of 2023, there were approximately 11,400 wind turbine service technicians employed in the United States. This number is expected to grow rapidly, with a projected 60% increase in employment from 2023 to 2033

That means in 10 years - they will have added a whopping 6,840 jobs nationwide. Whoopie Doodles

I’ll keep this post in mind next time the 18,000 lost fast food jobs in CA get brought up.

RandyPNW · 2025-08-07T21:16:34-0500

Dan Perez said:
And Revelation 20:4 says that they lived and reigned with Christ a 1000 years .

dan p

Yes, one should seriously consider if the prophecy is to be taken literally, before assigning it to "allegory." While it's true you don't see the number "1000" given for a future Kingdom, you do see a lot of references to a final state of Israel in God's good standing. The number "1000" may be less significant than the fact God said He would restore Israel "never more to be oppressed," along with the many nations promised to Abraham. I believe the Scriptures indicate that this will take place when Jesus returns. And the fact he is said to be returning to Israel indicates that Israel will be restored.

GoldenBoy89 · 2025-08-07T21:14:32-0500

Always in His Presence said:
How are windmills any better in Earthquake prone area's?

There’s more than one.

They’re also cheaper to build, repair and maintain.

I’m also a proponent for nuclear power but I don’t understand the obsession on the right with pooh pooing wind power. We need a comprehensive system that draws from multiple different sources at different times to meet our needs.

GoldenBoy89 · 2025-08-07T21:07:26-0500

Jipsah said:
It's the fact that a Commie swept the primary that shows just how screwed up the Democratic Party is.

Who was the alternative again, the sexual abuser?

And what happened… is Muslim not scary enough anymore? You gotta bring back the red scare to stump for Cuomo?

GoldenBoy89 · 2025-08-07T21:04:41-0500

Aldebaran said:
Its removal certainly accomplished that goal.

Yes and now bringing it back accomplished much the same while also reopening old wounds.

GoldenBoy89 · 2025-08-07T21:03:08-0500

Always in His Presence said:
They were our brothers and sisters.

Maybe your brothers and sisters. Not mine.

Always in His Presence said:
Yes they were at war with the North,

They were at war with and wanted to secede from the United States.

Always in His Presence said:
but read the history and why the President of the United States and Congress at the time felt it was important and right.

Then another president felt it was important and right to bring the statue down and now another president thinks it’s important and right for it to come back up.

Maybe these decisions should be left to someone other than the current president?

Dale · 2025-08-07T21:02:09-0500

For over 1500 years, Christians read Thessalonians and a “rapture” separate from the Second Coming never occurred to anyone. Take the famous traditional commentator, Matthew Henry.

For those who have not heard of Matthew Henry, he was a Welsh Calvinist minister who lived from 1662 to 1714. His commentaries on the Bible are among the most highly respected, widely read and frequently quoted commentaries ever written.

On the last part of I Thessalonians 4, Henry does not see this event as being secret in any sense.

Quote
He will descend from heaven into this our air, v. 17. The appearance will be with pomp and power, with a shout, the shout of a king, and the power and authority of a mighty king and conqueror, with the voice of the archangel; an innumerable company of angels will attend him. Perhaps one, as general of those hosts of the Lord, will give notice of his approach, and the glorious appearance of this great Redeemer and Judge will be proclaimed and ushered in by the trump of God.
End Quote

Henry sees the Rapture as identical to the Second Coming and followed very closely by the Final Judgment. Jesus descends “with pomp and power.” The trumpet in Thessalonians is a sign of Christ arrving as Judge.

Quote
And those who are raised, and thus changed, shall meet together in the clouds, and there meet with their Lord, to congratulate him on his coming, to receive the crown of glory he will then bestow upon them, and to be assessors with him in judgment, approving and applauding the sentence he will then pass upon the prince of the power of the air, and all the wicked, who shall be doomed to destruction with the devil and his angels.
End Quote

Henry sees Christians meeting Jesus “in the clouds” but only at the time of the Final Judgment. This includes the Judgment and destruction of the Devil, associated demons, and the wicked who follow him.

BPPLEE · 2025-08-07T21:01:31-0500

wing2000 said:
Name one investigation based on vengence.

I can name one that wasn’t prosecuted due to the race of the offenders

Sector	Net Jobs Added (Feb–Apr 2025)	Key Drivers
Health Care & Social Assistance	192,800	Aging population, telemedicine boom
Transportation & Warehousing	50,000	E-commerce, supply chain expansion
Professional & Business Services	35,000	Consulting, tech, remote work
Financial Activities	35,000	Fintech, investment growth
️ Construction	30,000	Infrastructure projects, housing
️ Leisure & Hospitality	28,000	Post-pandemic recovery
️ Government	20,000	Public services, education
Private Education	16,200	Online learning, teacher demand
️ Retail Trade	16,100	Consumer spending rebound
️ Other Services	16,000	Personal care, repair services

Latest activity

Latest activity

Filter

Forum statistics

Share this page