Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.
I lived in Egypt for four years and everyone there knew it was unwise to spend anytime in de Nile.
Dear sir, I have studied semantics most all of my life, particularly dealing with propaganda, sophistry, and psychological manipulation. I believe you need to understand that my sincere concern is that Satan is able to deceive people in this world into thinking that they are right, when in fact they are wrong. Moreover, I believe that through psychological manipulation the devil can convince these deceived people, that those who disagree with them, are actually the ones deceived by the devil. This is where conflicts and divisions arise and escalate into gross acts of injustice, and even all out war perpetrated upon one another, simply because of a lie in our minds that we believed, but was never even true. We saw this in Charlottesville when someone felt compelled to drive his car into a crowd of people he hated, yet never even knew.
In such a situation where deception creates an alternate reality, the question of who is the truly deceived must be explored by each individual without their personal pride getting in the way so as to prevent that individual from finding out that they are in fact the one who is deceived. Therefore we should not be so foolish in our pride so that we would resist being healed of our blindness, since through a wholesome humility we will no longer be deceived. Hence Satan rules over the children of pride, born of the same vanity which Satan serves in defiance of acknowledging God as the Eternal power. And this is why I study semantics, propaganda, sophistry and psychological manipulation. I do not want to be ruled by lies and filled with darkness and wickedness.
For this reason we all must agree that treating others as we would want to be treated, is the right thing to do, and that every lie serves the purpose of undermining these two great Truths: Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and your neighbor as yourself. Whoever is not in keeping with that Truth, is somehow being deceived, and is deceiving others as well.
I'm here taking the time to show people why Donald Trump is deceived and deceiving, and that he is currently too proud to accept any correction from anyone. So much so that any person or persons who disagrees with him, is deemed as hating Trump, America, and are enemies of the country and it's people.
He is stoking division and escalating hatred in our country through words and thought designed to do exactly that. His words and sentiments are all indicative of vanity at the center of his reasoning. And all those who blindly believe him when he says lies about others who disagree with him, and without any valid proof whatsoever, have enjoined with him to lift him up in lieu of God.
whatever, I don't careDear sir, I have studied semantics most all of my life, particularly dealing with propaganda, sophistry, and psychological manipulation. I believe you need to understand that my sincere concern is that Satan is able to deceive people in this world into thinking that they are right, when in fact they are wrong. Moreover, I believe that through psychological manipulation the devil can convince these deceived people, that those who disagree with them, are actually the ones deceived by the devil. This is where conflicts and divisions arise and escalate into gross acts of injustice, and even all out war perpetrated upon one another, simply because of a lie in our minds that we believed, but was never even true. We saw this in Charlottesville when someone felt compelled to drive his car into a crowd of people he hated, yet never even knew.
In such a situation where deception creates an alternate reality, the question of who is the truly deceived must be explored by each individual without their personal pride getting in the way so as to prevent that individual from finding out that they are in fact the one who is deceived. Therefore we should not be so foolish in our pride so that we would resist being healed of our blindness, since through a wholesome humility we will no longer be deceived. Hence Satan rules over the children of pride, born of the same vanity which Satan serves in defiance of acknowledging God as the Eternal power. And this is why I study semantics, propaganda, sophistry and psychological manipulation. I do not want to be ruled by lies and filled with darkness and wickedness.
For this reason we all must agree that treating others as we would want to be treated, is the right thing to do, and that every lie serves the purpose of undermining these two great Truths: Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and your neighbor as yourself. Whoever is not in keeping with that Truth, is somehow being deceived, and is deceiving others as well.
I'm here taking the time to show people why Donald Trump is deceived and deceiving, and that he is currently too proud to accept any correction from anyone. So much so that any person or persons who disagrees with him, is deemed as hating Trump, America, and are enemies of the country and it's people.
He is stoking division and escalating hatred in our country through words and thought designed to do exactly that. His words and sentiments are all indicative of vanity at the center of his reasoning. And all those who blindly believe him when he says lies about others who disagree with him, and without any valid proof whatsoever, have enjoined with him to lift him up in lieu of God.
If the devil can convince people on each side of an issue, that the other side is the side being led by the devil, then obviously he has also convinced each side that they are the side that is serving God. We know that Paul, when he was Saul, thought he was serving God when he had Stephen stoned to death for preaching the very Gospel that Paul ended up serving.I agree with what you said. I would only add that IMMHO no sect of Christianity is immune from being taken over by Satan. For Christians, again IMMHO, the very first place that should be inspected for compliance with the Two Great Commandments is the church itself.
If one's church is not in compliance with the Two Great Commandments, it is one of the False Prophets that Jesus warned His followers to avoid in Matthew 7. Satan can and does use Christianity as a vehicle to deliver his teachings of evil.
Respectfully, I don't think that simply using the adjective 'true' helps at all. I've been around long enough to know that is a loophole which gives everyone the opportunity to claim truth for themselves and false to others.If the devil can convince people on each side of an issue, that the other side is the side being led by the devil, then obviously he has also convinced each side that they are the side that is serving God. We know that Paul, when he was Saul, thought he was serving God when he had Stephen stoned to death for preaching the very Gospel that Paul ended up serving.
This is why I study semantics. What you say is true depending upon how you are defining the term Church and Christianity. Respectfully, I do not believe Satan can overcome the True church because I define the True church as those who are in unity through the Holy Spirit. But some people define the church as a place where people congregate. And in that respect, I believe it's possible for a congregation to conform to this world as if their candle was extinguished.
Since the devil uses semantics to obscure in one's mind who is serving the true God from who is serving the god of this world, I believe it is prudent to qualify the terms church and Christianity, with the adjectives of true or false as pertains to identifying which one I'm referring to when discussing this subject.
You are wrong. As you see from the definition provided, it does not include mistaking a citizen for an immigrant. If you disagree, provide a definition that supports your claimWhen you are sure enough of it to open your mouth about it, the answer is usually yes.
Thank you for your courteous response, however I think you misunderstood my intent.Respectfully, I don't think that simply using the adjective 'true' helps at all. I've been around long enough to know that is a loophole which gives everyone the opportunity to claim truth for themselves and false to others.
I still hold that the teachings of Jesus are the only source which matters. Any teaching which is different than those teachings are false.
I am an ethnic minority, my family is an ethnic minority, most of my friends are ethnic minorities and I have never seen a case when an ethnic minority who was born in this country was told to go back to the country they came from.Well, for one thing, it saves 13 keystrokes.
And by ethnic minorities in the US, I mean non-Caucasians. The people who are most often told to 'go back where they came from'.
Nothing is ever equal, it all depends on where you look. I know some neighborhoods where the worse that could happen to me is getting harassed by the cops, where as if I were white I would probably be killed just for being white. It is unrealistic to assume it is always good for one group, and bad for the other.True, but irrelevant, unless you believe that all groups suffer equal amounts of discrimination. Which is obviously untrue.
Our debate is not about if the statement was acceptable or not, it is about if it is racist or not.How does adding that part somehow make it an acceptable statement? Obviously he did not believe it was realistic for them to literally do that.
Hispanic is a culture, not a race. There are white, as well as black and brown Hispanics.Irish. A separate racial group. 'Race', as commonly defined, has no genetic reality behind it, so people can make any distinctions they want. In 100 years, Hispanic people may be considered white, for all we know.
Let’s be real; if there were ever such a country that could be described as “broken-down, crime infested” Somalia would be that country; do you agree?Making assumptions about someone based on their race, like that they come from 'broken-down, crime infested countries' and are not American, doesn't count?
From your link:You are wrong. As you see from the definition provided, it does not include mistaking a citizen for an immigrant. If you disagree, provide a definition that supports your claim
Definition of RACISM
I am an ethnic minority, my family is an ethnic minority, most of my friends are ethnic minorities and I have never seen a case when an ethnic minority who was born in this country was told to go back to the country they came from.
Nothing is ever equal, it all depends on where you look. I know some neighborhoods where the worse that could happen to me is getting harassed by the cops, where as if I were white I would probably be killed just for being white. It is unrealistic to assume it is always good for one group, and bad for the other.
Our debate is not about if the statement was acceptable or not, it is about if it is racist or not.
Hispanic is a culture, not a race. There are white, as well as black and brown Hispanics.
Let’s be real; if there were ever such a country that could be described as “broken-down, crime infested” Somalia would be that country; do you agree?
No; MISTAKING someone for a foreigner is not prejudice. BTW I said nothing about telling someone to go back to that country.It's prejudice, especially when telling the person to go back to that country.
Thank you for your courteous response, however I think you misunderstood my intent.
Do you believe there can exist a false Christianity, or a false Gospel, or false Christians? To rephrase: Do you believe that there are views of Christianity that are inaccurate as to what Christianity actually is, or distort what Christianity is? Do you believe it possible that fake versions of the Gospel could ever be or might have ever been presented as the true Gospel? Do you believe there are some people who profess that they are Christians or think they are, but they are not?
This is why I defined the true church as those who are in unity through the Holy Spirit. The Church is the body, and the head of the body is Christ. My intention is better articulation and I am not saying that adding the descriptive words true or false actually makes something true or false.
It's an ad hominem attack at the credibility of the person based on their country of origin's problems. It therefore discriminates according to one's country of origin. It's the same prejudice on display when Trump reportedly asked why we have to let so many immigrants into this country who come from s#*&hole nations.telling someone to fix their nation first is racist how?
Thank you for the beautiful sentiment of the precious comforter as the gift from Jesus. I agree with all of these sentiments including a false holy spirit. But it seems more accurate to me to just say the devil. I study semantics, so false in front of holy is the same as unholy. When you allude to one's fruits/actions in obedience to Christ as the only valid test, I happen to count the fruit of the lips as part of that validation.Yes to all the questions in the first paragraph. But I notice you did not ask me if I believe there could be a false Holy Spirit. I very much believe there could be...and actually is...false Holy Spirits.
Let's look at what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit in John 14:
John 14:25-27 The Message I'm using The Message here because it is more clear. Other versions say the same thing)
25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.
If you look closely, you will see that Jesus provides a test to identify 'The Friend'. It is the same test I have said should be used...He will remind you of all the things I have told you."
I am convinced that Satan is perfectly capable of imitating the Holy Spirit. We have people all the time claiming they 'have the Holy Spirit' who clearly do not behave in the manner Jesus taught.
I don't know how Jesus could have been more plain than in that passage. It is HIS teachings which define His followers. Not Paul's teachings, not Peter's teachings, not some human being who claims special connections, and not even some unidentifiable 'spirit'.
The only way to avoid false teachings is by only following teachings which match the teachings of Jesus. In the same John 14, just above the part I quoted above, Jesus said, “If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you."
There really isn't any other valid test.