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2840
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Forums / Main Forum / Re: New Here? Read This First!
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on: January 27, 2011, 01:26:49 PM
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Hello
all! My real name is Susan and I am radically saved! Praise Jesus! I am
looking for a place to hang with other Christians and dig deep into the
word. Sometimes you just have questions, you know? So if you can point
me in the right direction. . . . Who is the resident bible expert?
Hello
Susan... its good to hear that you had an experience in meeting Christ
and having Him as your only Savior... we encourage honest questions and
there is nothing wrong with not having all the questions answered. And
you wont be condemned about what you write here. We will try to direct
you to the rite place. You will find there are disagreements here but we
give each other freedom to disagree. So its laid back here. At the end
of the day we still have great respect for one another.
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2841
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Counseling and how to deal with it.
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on: January 27, 2011, 11:06:27 AM
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mbG:
"Words equal pictures... pictures are images. This is the way our mind
works. We get all of these images and it forms our own image."
K_k: How true. Here's an example. We often show our choice of our image of Him by the words we choose to use to describe Him.
+++++++
Matt
23 27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but
on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean."
Jesus expressing hate.
+++++++
Matt 23 27 "Woe to you,
teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like
whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside
are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean."
Jesus
showing great compassion on the pharisees by telling the truth about
their condition, giving them an opportunity to repent and receive Him --
which some of them later did.
First of all Kk... you
must tell the truth here. The "woe" is a way of cursing. Jesus is not
just saying that they were to slow down but He was pronouncing the woes
of the law upon these particular people. If you look at the ot way of
the prophet he was a man who pronounced blessings and cursing. Look at
the prophets who used Gods word not just as a romantic love ... i
mean...they were not just receiving the stripes from their accusers of
whom they were proclaiming judgment. But they were bringing the word to
bear on this rebellious nation in which every word was pronounced as if
it was the hammer of judgment. And t his is exactly what the apostle was
saying in Romans" all day long i stretch out my hand but you refused
... you stiff necked people with uncircumcised hearts". These words
spoken were the words of judgment. Because in the same context the
apostle says that God always had a remnant who He protected in His
divine providence. Then the apostle says in rom 9 who can resist Gods
will? Not who can resist Gods wills as if God had a will that was
decreeing and a will that was dependent but God hated and loved at the
same time. Can you question God the Spirit when He says in Psalm 11:4-6 4 The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. 5 The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.6 On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. it
is foolish to deny God the rite to protect His people by denying that
man is by nature a murderer. Or that God is only concerned to mans
spiritual needs... who has not ordered His government in the heavens to
complete obedience as the author of all governments. God works through
His heavenly created order in perfect justice and righteousness and will
accept nothing less on this earth. This is why God must judge the world
because men go astray ...and it starts with the hatred for the ways of
God who rules in the heavens. All of these big events in the
world... do you see God in the heavens? He is the great commander and
general of an army that numbers thousands upon thousands and ten
thousand times ten thousand. Here on the earth is this domain of Satan
who has hood winked the kings of the earth and he has brought oppression
on the innocent and the poor in blood. Do you hear the commander
preparing His heavenly forces.He is mounting His chariots getting His
horses ready for battle. Yes this divine protector is doing this great
array of his power for His children. Oh these helpless little spots of
the universe come before the court of heaven and call down this massive
army to intervene in the history of this world to come and save them.
Who can bring any charge against Gods elect? Who can withstand this army
from Heaven? Who will shake their fist in defiance of this great King
who comes in the glorious light to blind the minds of men and change the
course of men on this earth? IT is the Lord of glory! Have you heard
the call to battle? Have you seen the glory in all of His splendor who
fights for His people! Do you look at things invisible who are arrayed
in the heaven lies as the real power who controls all the events in
time? Do you know this commander who has each hair of your head
numbered? Did you know that He fights all of your individual battles!
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2845
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Forums / Current Events / Re: What's Your Deviation?
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on: January 25, 2011, 11:46:31 AM
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Nearly 50 Million Abortions Have Been Performed in U.S. Since Roe v. Wade Decision Legalized Abortion
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
By Dan Joseph
(CNSNews.com)
- Statistics compiled over the past decade show that the number of
abortions in the United States has dropped precipitously since the early
1980s, but the procedure still remains a prevalent form of birth
control in this country and around the world.
According to the
U.S .Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, there were
846,181 abortions in the U.S. in 2006, the latest year for which
government records are available.
The pro-abortion rights Alan
Guttmacher Institute reports that there have been nearly 50 million
abortions performed since 1973, the year the Supreme Court issued the
Roe v. Wade decision ushering in legal abortion nationwide.
In
2008, Guttmacher says, there were 1.2 million "legally terminated
pregnancies" in the United States, based on reports complied from state
and local health agencies -- down from 1.3 million the year previous.
According to Guttmacher, 35 percent of all U.S. women will have had an abortion by age 45.
Guttmacher
also reports that 93 percent of all abortions occur for “social
reasons” such as a mother’s decision that the child is unwanted or
“inconvenient.”
Both Guttmacher and CDC say that black women are
more than four times more likely than non-Hispanic white women to have
an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.7 times as likely.
BlackGenocide.com,
a pro-life campaign to stop abortion in the African American community,
estimates that 13 million abortions have been performed on African
American women since 1973. They also estimate that, on average, 1,876
black pregnancies are terminated in the U.S. each day.
Surprisingly,
Guttmacher estimates that Catholic women account for more than 31
percent of all abortions performed in the United States while 18 percent
of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as
born-again Christians or evangelicals. Both religious groups preach
against terminating pregnancies.
Guttmacher says that there are
1,793 abortion “providers” in the United States and that the average
amount paid for an abortion is $413.
-- Over 60 percent of
abortions are among women who have had one or more children, and 90
percent of abortions occur within the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy.
--
About 20 percent of women having an abortion report using Medicaid to
pay for abortions despite laws that prohibit taxpayer dollars from going
to fund abortions.
-- One significant change that has occurred
over the last decade comes as a result of the development of the drug
RU-486 or the “Morning After Pill.”
-- Guttmacher estimates that
use of the pill has risen significantly since 2005 and now accounts for
17 percent of all abortion procedures.
Worldwide, Guttmacher
estimates that 42 million abortions are performed each year with nearly
half of those being performed by “unskilled” professionals or in nations
where abortion is restricted or prohibited.
According to the
United Nations Human Development Report the nation with the highest per
capita rate of abortion is Russia, in which 19.2 out of every 1000
pregnancies is aborted.
This pales in comparison, however, with
the abortion rate in the state of New York, where, according to
Guttmacher, 37.6 out of every 1000 pregnancies end in abortion.
Rallies
were held in Washington, D.C., on Monday to mark the 38th anniversary
of the Roe v. Wade decision, which guaranteed the right to an abortion.
President Obama marked the anniversary by releasing a statement in which he reiterated his support for abortion rights.
“Today
marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision
that protects women's health and reproductive freedom, and affirms a
fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private
family matters,” said Obama. “I am committed to protecting this
constitutional right.”
Despite the continued legality of the
procedure in the United States, pro-life groups have been bolstered in
their cause thanks to the Republican takeover of the U.S. House and by
recent polls showing support for legal abortion slipping.
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2846
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Lordship Salvation
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on: January 25, 2011, 11:13:40 AM
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mbG:
"But you free will people say that the past is very important in a
persons life. You say that its important for every one to hear the
gospel or its would not be fair!"
K_k: God is perfectly fair
with everyone, and merciful more than fair with as many as possible. He
reaches out to people of all times, even those who have not heard the
Gospel. And if they are able, with His Spirit, to turn toward Him, He
reveals more of Himself to them. But they are also free to reject Him
as long as they can hold out.
mbG: "The question is did the pre
fall account present a God who was weak in controlling the events
outside of the third heavens? So that after the fall He reacted by force
to tame man? And if God let these things on earth transpire without
ordering these events is this a proof of His universal love? Can God
have a universal love and yet chose to passively cause man to fall? Is
this "universal father" the modern day picture of the religious guy who
is holy and cannot have sinners abide in his home? So he kicks them out
and washes his hands. Is God only able if Adam and Eve would have denied
the temptation?"
K_k: Lots of questions deserve lots of
answers. God has never been weak in controlling events outside of
Heaven. He has consistently kept control (pretty easy when One has all
power) of the process of developing kids for His Forever Family. He had
preplanned to send Christ before He created anything, since He knows
all of our choices in advance. His perfect love is what underlies all
of our history, recorded or not.
God proves His perfect love by
letting His kids fall, then picking them up to start again, then lets
them fall again, so He can pick them up to start again, etc. Think of a
loving Dad teaching his toddler to walk, his older child to ride a
bike, an older yet child to make important decisions.
God never
kicks His kids out and washes His hands of them. He cares for, reaches
out to, and yet most usually remains invisible to those who want nothing
to do with Him. And if / when they respond to His love He beings to
shower them with blessings, greatest of which is His presence.
God
never forced Adam and Eve to rebel against Him, but He made it easy to
do so. Recall that part of His Master's Plan is to let us experience
the results of rebellion against His love so that we will appreciate Him
in the End, so much so that we will never want to rebel against Him
ever again.
And He values our freedom of choice which is a key
component of the perfect compassion He has toward us. Only mankind
would want to eliminate our free will, well, no not quite only mankind,
since satan is the most interested in forcing us to obey him with no
freedom allowed.
The bible does not present the Sheep as
falling but being ensnared by tripping over a small hole. The sheep do
not have any power in themselves to keep from tripping. Nor do His sheep
dig their own holes.Kks word picture is not accurate. It is a universal
helpless Shepherd. The bible starts with the way the righteous think
about God as the motif of how they walk down this narrow path. Because
the christian way of discipline is not paradoxical. There is no equality
of power in how a christian experiences the effects of the teaching.
This is why even tho a christian may fall into a sin or may give into
temptation it is never pictured as digging into the earth. The true
picture is in a covenant love language that proves itself in the effects
of the teaching on the basis that our loving Father takes us out of the
implanted seed of sin and puts us in His own hands. So the bottom is
His hand under our lowest point. So who does the digging? The fools
in our lives. The bible says that a fool digs a pit for the righteous
but ends up falling into it himself. This is the chaff motif of Psalms.
It comes from a direct conflict the fool has in his thoughts with the
thoughts of God. His pathway is self taught. In other words a believer
is taught by God so that the teaching itself is the wish or protection
against falling into sins pit. When we say falling into sin for a in the
new testament sense we are saying that it has His smile behind the
trouble. Or its picture as being in the family of God in attributing
body parts in order to put boundaries on the teaching. Doctrine is the
boundaries of the path way and it is the ability along the way. The
opposition is not God but the wicked. So the pit is equal to the desire
of the wicked and the sin remedy is equal to the longing to the end
reception of reward for the righteous. The righteous longing is
fulfilled while the wicked longings come to nothing .. they are like
weightless chaff. This is eternal security as we Calvinist believe.
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2849
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Forums / Current Events / Re: What's Your Deviation?
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on: January 25, 2011, 08:32:24 AM
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MTV's teen wasteland Step away from the sofa. It isn't safe. "Skins,"
the hit teeny bopper drama that fea tures a cast of stoned and
vacant-eyed sexually crazed waifs, debuted last week on MTV. And while
the giddy network insists the show is aimed at adults, "Skins" employs
genuine teenagers -- the youngest is 15 -- to populate its nihilistic
vision of childhood. The clone of a British series, "Skins' "
characters exhibit staunch amorality and a sexual hunger unknown to any
human not addled by male-enhancement products. Still, MTV spokeswoman
Jeannie Kedas insists the show "addresses real-world issues confronting
teens in a frank way." MTV see more videos If that's true, many of us attended the wrong high schools. And
now, "Skins" has its own phony controversy that cynics, like me,
believe is a ginned-up ploy for publicity: Could "Skins" producers be
purveying kiddie porn? I wish that were enough to shut down the show. In
"Skins," newbie actors go from fictional dysfunctional homes, headed by
redneck dads and red-hot mamas, to churches and mosques -- yes, there's
even a practicing Muslim character who openly yearns for "girl-on-girl"
action, then notes that his angry imam wants to "stone me to death."
That should play well at Ground Zero. The crew ends up at a
debauched high-school party (why graduate?), where taking unmarked pills
and getting naked is not just the goal. It's the point of living. Yet,
girl power is unknown. "Skins" thrives on rigid female exploitation. A
girl who's dating the fey-but-somehow-alpha-male character Tony agrees
to help his pal Stanley lose his virginity before he turns 17 and risks
"embarrassing" Tony. Another girl, Cadie, steps in to perform the deed,
but only in exchange for "really great narcotics." Brass from
MTV's parent company, Viacom, supposedly huddled last week to discuss
toning down Episode 3, airing Jan. 31, which features character Chris'
bare butt and constant talk about his Viagra-aided erection. Mysterious
network honchos are said to fear they've strayed into illegal, underage
smut, as Jesse Carere, who plays Chris, is 17. Taco Bell pulled its ads! Well,
what kid in America -- and ratings show this "grown-up" program is hot
among the middle-school set -- would miss a show like that? The
Parents Television Council, a TV watchdog group, dutifully urged the
Department of Justice to investigate what it calls "the most dangerous
television show for children." "The show has the potential to
change standards for what's acceptable for television and for teenage
actors," said council spokeswoman Melissa Henson. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/mtv_teen_wasteland_SL2webe8K4ELaWi1fWCpFK#ixzz1C3DHNbT6 |
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2850
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Is social lying ok?
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on: January 25, 2011, 08:23:59 AM
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All lying is a sin. Lying should not be our
consistent behavior. But there are good reasons to avoid situations as a
prevention for greater damage to relationships. I believe that
relationships should be focused on healing rather than focusing on the
outward appearance. The world is a place where there is total depravity.
So everyone to a certain extent believes something that is not true.
Most people embrace lies out of weakness rather than trying to harm
someone out of spite. So as we get older and we gain more insight into
the kinds of baggage people are carrying around we begin to understand
the web of deceit that has been woven in as the precursor for living in a
lie in relation to embracing half truths. This is why we should develop
insight into deeper problems than appears on the surface.
So as
believers we are to focus on the things that are good and rite but also
study the evil so that we know and understand the world in relation to
the truth in order to apply the right remedy. When society is turned
upside down the whole culture is like a web of deceit. In other words
its like living in a cesspool and trying to keep clean enough to be able
to discern when it is the rite time to say the rite words that will
heal and yet understand that all of this deceit is not going away in one
day or in one generation.
Everyone has an image of what the
real person is in relation to how they receive the truth. This image is
corrupted. So the problem is that we believe things about ourselves in
light of our blindness to our own weaknesses and our desire to judge the
other person. Did you know this is a lie? I mean there are lies that we
are not intentionally harboring and the intentional ones. This is a
form of self hatred and anti social behavior. If we are not comfortable
in our own skin and seeing our own corruption then at some point we are
embracing a false image. This is what the bible calls idol worship.
Calvin
says we are little idol makers. I think he understood we reduce
embracing the truth to the captivity of every thought. And yet we must
embrace Gods absolute sovereignty in every situation and let God
determine the mode of individual growth.
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