NEEDED: everyones theories, beliefs, facts on the bible...post here

reply to post by time4chg07


I believe that it means that the Unbeliever of the two will stand a better chance of becoming a believer, and their children will be believers.

1Co 7:13 And the woman which hath a husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
1Co 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
1Co 7:15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
1Co 7:16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?
1Co 7:17 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

I guess I typed justify, but the actual text is Sanctify. That’s what I get for not double checking before I post sometimes.

Originally posted by Vipassana

How about finding the truth and light within yourself?

Well, uhh, Christ, who is truth, which is light, is in the heart, inside of us. So you're repeating what he said.

Who benefits from my Christian faith.. anyone have an answer? I don't give money, because I have no money to give.

Here are a couple of authors you may want to look up.
They both give a very good breakdown and guide by which to continue your reading and research.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Vogels, Emeritus professor of Old Testament at Saint Paul University, Ottawa and visiting professor in universities and institutes worldwide.

Walter Vogels
Our origins. Genesis 1-11
Montreal, Bellarmin, 2000, 224 p.


Jean Louis Ska is a professor of Old Testament at the Pontifical Biblical Institute (Rome)

Ska, Jean Louis. Our Fathers Have Told Us: Introduction to the Analysis of Hebrew Narratives.
(Roma: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1990).

Originally posted by defcon5

If you love God, and repent your sins though you should never have to worry about that, it’s more of a punishment for someone who rejects God/Christ. As to the “Lake of Fire”, I am not sure that it is scripturally supported that it is an eternal punishment. It specifically mentions being burned up in a ‘Righteous Fire”, and other places in the Bible describe that as an all-consuming fire. In other words it is possible that it simply means that those who reject are simply destroyed outright, or cease to exist, not tortured for all eternity.

Or that they are cleansed by the fire which is God... which is what I figure is the most likely to happen... It can mean a whole host of things.

reply to post by shihulud


Let me clue you in on something - Hell is a place without God and without Light and without Hope and without Love! There will be no parties there. You don't know what you are saying.

Thank God that you are still alive with the chance to be redeemed. If you've heard the Gospel and rejected it, there is no telling if and when you'll get another chance to change your mind. You could die today! Think about that! And think about Who you are dealing with: The Creator of the entire Universe!

If you leave here (Earth) without being cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, when you kneel before God and His Great, White Throne, you will be DEEPLY sorry - but to no avail!

depth om, if I may, you are likely the only one who will ultimately benefit from your faith.

You may be experiencing disappointment from seriously believing for something, but no result ever coming from it. If so, I relate well, and today cannot support the business of genie-in-a-bottle faith, that if you believe then life will begin making a b-line uphill for you. But I do believe now that spiritual maturity is not focused on physical needs, no matter how pressing they are. And, yes, physical needs are real, but as you see, worrying and even slightly-nervous praying haven't fixed it.

Faith is a serious part of one's own personal becoming, an evolving understanding of who this unfathomable consciousness called "me" may somehow be revealed to be. The Bible, the Qur'an, the Talmud, the Vedas, whatever reading or teaching you are internally and peacefully drawn to, use it only as a guide to get moving. I urge this because no one book or religion is going to offer the entire package of Truth, no matter how deep it gets. Truth cannot be boxed, and it is far too multi-facted to attempt to control.

I am personally deeply intrigued by the Christ because of the astonishing examples of Love which He demonstrates time and again in the NT... literally a true being of Love. I also strongly recomend that you love yourself (if you're not there already , then increase that state of mind by the day, giving attention to letting go of a bit of the ego's demands each day, as well. For example, there really is no need to hate anyone, even "evil" people, because there is usually nothing you can do to fix those situations, so why spend precious mental energy on a negative focus? If the problem has a fix, great, but even still you should always concentrate on not feeling the negative demands of emotion, and this as much as possible.

Faith is energy. It is belief. It is the texture of hope, even in a situation where you might just blindly make the decision to hope against all hope. And, I hear and have personally seen a time or two, this kind of spiritual tenacity eventually strengthens you to a point greater than that which may have oppressed you to this present point of dissatisfaction.

reply to post by THEGodSend


A radical couldn't have said it better!! You're not a mouthpiece of God... I have to laugh at people who talk as if they know the mind of God. The mind of God is incomprehensible and those who claim to know that mind are drunk on the fluid of their own egos.



[edit on 1-11-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

reply to post by Blueangel7


I can assure you that God has a lot of work to do on me before I can even approach the perfection of His Son - but Thanks for the nice words! Of course, we are surrounded by His Love and many blessings to ease the occasional and necessary pain. It all has to do with the surrender of 'Self' - as Christ demonstrated for us in so many ways.

One of my favorite verses is: "Eye has not seen nor ear heard the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (may not be an exact quote but you get the idea).

And how about: "We shall SEE! His face" (that will be truly awesome). Is there anything you would not give to SEE! God's face? (to really know Him).

Don't let the doubters and blasphemers here discourage you! They have NO IDEA what a most precious jewel we have found in Christ - THE central piece of The Puzzle. Everything after that is just waiting patiently for the most exciting trip of our life!

reply to post by SpeakerofTruth


'He who laughs last, laughs best!'

Wait!

reply to post by THEGodSend



Yes, wait... Most people, at least in my opinion, are going to be quite surprised. So, follow your own advice and wait.

Godsend, let me apologize... I sound arrogant... I'm sorry. You're simply posting what you believe and I am berating you for it... I should be ashamed of myself... I can simply just agree to disagree with you and leave it at that..



[edit on 1-11-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

reply to post by SpeakerofTruth


'Haste makes waste'

"I and the Father are ONE"

"If you have SEEn Me, you have SEEn the Father"

God is knowable - as much as we 'need to know'

"God is not the author of confusion - but of a sound mind"

Apologies accepted. Sometimes I'm like Peter myself (lopped off ears lying around everywhere)

PS 'Waiting' is not just some passive inactivity!

reply to post by defcon5



God is all powerful, supposedly, and somewhere in the Bible is says something like: "He is not willing that any shall perish but that all should come to the truth." If an all powerful God wanted to save everyone He would be able to... and refrain from the "free will" argument, because if an all powerful God can't override freewill then HE IS NOT ALL POWERFUL and if Heaven or Hell is at stake then I am perfectly fine with my freewill being violated...

Also, if God is all knowing then he knew the domino effect that would take place after Lucifer's fall, and could have prevented it, but He didn't... the only alternative is that he can't change certain aspects of the time stream in which case, he would, once again NOT BE ALL POWERFUL... not to mention evil just randomly appearing in Lucifer's heart (an idea more laughable than the theory of evolution)

Why would God spread his truth only through the JEWS?? The real GOD, of the whole universe, could communicate through everything within that universe, not one religion that was over the years used to create fear, guilt, war, suffering, and tyranny...

I believe in picking out wisdom from everything, all religions, I believe that the true God of the universe hates religion, because it has been twisted, the true message disguised, who's doing the disguising? Governments trying to control, perhaps a real version of the entity Satan.. who knows...

And there is no justified war, no such thing as a holy war... our version of justice doesn't apply? If I remember correctly it was God's idea of Justice that said "Thou Shalt not Kill" funny I don't remember a disclaimer saying "But I can, and you can when I tell you to"



[edit on 1-11-2007 by Titen-Sxull]

Originally posted by THEGodSend

Apologies accepted. Sometimes I'm like Peter myself (lopped off ears lying around everywhere)

Well that doesn't describe me, but I'll refrain. As I said, I will just agree to disagree and leave it at that.

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull


God is all powerful, supposedly, and somewhere in the Bible is says something like: "He is not willing that any shall perish but that all should come to the truth." If an all powerful God wanted to save everyone He would be able to... and refrain from the "free will" argument, because if an all powerful God can't override freewill then HE IS NOT ALL POWERFUL and if Heaven or Hell is at stake then I am perfectly fine with my freewill being violated...

Luke 3:6 ALL flesh shall see the salvation of God... It's in black and white. All one needs is an open heart and mind and one sees.

[edit on 1-11-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

[edit on 1-11-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

reply to post by Titen-Sxull


Focus on Christ, the Son of God!

God is THE Sovereign of His Universe - He is not obligated to answer your questions (no matter how desperately you want to know them or think you are entitled to know them). The exercise of our Free Will is a gift from God and intended to let us decide whether or not to return His Love. He could 'make us' do it but then it would have no value. God wants to be loved by Sons and Daughters who love (and willingly obey) Him (like Christ) because He deserves our love - He is the Source of everything that's Good (aside from having given us life in the 1st place). He is also the source of our capacity to love. The path to God starts with the surrender of 'Self' at the Cross of His Son.

The most extreme expression of 'Self' is the Devil (previously the 'Angel of Light') - in rebellion against God's Supreme Authority.

[edit on 1-11-2007 by THEGodSend]

reply to post by SpeakerofTruth


I grew up in the church, it was the opening of my mind that made me question what I blindly believed to be the "truth" ... I used to be essentially forced to attend Church, I used to be paranoid about he end times and the Rapture, hell I still get scared every time I wake up and the house is empty... I know that the true God is a God of peace, hope, and Love, not the god of fire and brimstone these evangelists go on and on about...

Jesus, however, remains one of my favorite philosophers ever, I say philosopher because he never intended to start a new religion... if you ask me we'd be better off if the New Testament was just the Gospels (all of em, including Thomas and Judas) and one last page that just says "LOVE"

Titen, you are on the path to true knowledge. Don't let anyone lead you away from that path, my friend.

Thats what I think.

reply to post by Titen-Sxull


You misunderstand Christ. (God is A LOT more than a great philosopher). Christ is Love, for sure, but what is expressed in Christ is also OBEDIENCE to His Father. He went to the Cross in obedience to His Father (that's the ultimate expression of Self-less Love). He instructed us to "obey the Father' and His commandments. The 4 Gospels would be sufficient for understanding God and the reason for humanity's creation - but the epistles edify us with the spiritual insights of His disciples. They also warn us about the pitfalls into which 'Christianity' has fallen all-too-often!

The failings of 'Christianity' cannot be laid at the feet of Christ but belong at the feet of prideful and 'Self'-oriented men (and women).

You might say that bureaucracy almost killed 'Christianity' and just about drove out the Holy Spirit. There are many spiritual followers of Christ outside the 'system of Christianity'

[edit on 1-11-2007 by THEGodSend]