Results 121 - 140 of 386
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: Country Girl Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
121 | Deacon/Pastor divorced before saved | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 129490 | ||
There is a wide spectrum of interpretations on this issue. I can only tell you what I've experienced in my christian walk. Most of the congregations with whom we've worshiped hold that the qualification as given by Paul to Timothy and Titus was given in the "progressive" sense. Thus when the husband is no longer married, he's no longer qualified. Some groups even interpret this guidance this way when and if the wife dies. I have mixed feelings about that as it seems a little ultra-conservative. But I must admit when a man goes through a divorce, it does seem to give one reason to suspect the quality of his judgments which is a factor when he's making important and vital decisions for the church. Again, I would emphasize our Lord knows us best and that means He knows what's the best pattern to adopt for wide-scale use for the whole church throughout the world. What is your interpretation? How does your congregation/church handle this situation? Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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122 | follow-up question. | Is 9:6 | Country Girl | 129424 | ||
I'll take a shot at your question. I've posted about this subject in a vague sort of way in the past. We need to understand the world back then was far more addicted to this physical world than we are in this current age. They wanted their Messiah to come back and deliver them from the Romans. We see that most clearly in Acts 1:4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; 5for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Here we see the resurrected Christ with His disciples just moments before His ascension to His Father. He has been to cross, died for all mankind, and He's been raised from the dead. The most fantastic miracle ever performed in the whole history of this planet. And His disciples ask if He is now ready to take Israel back to its proper prominence in the world when He's already predicted its doom in just a few years. They, His disciples apparently were ready at that very moment to take up the sword against the Roman army and deliver Israel from bondage. No, if the disciples couldn't possibly understand God's plan for us as His children, the rest of the Israelite nation couldn't be expected to as they hadn't spent 3 and one half years with the Lord as these gentlemen had. It took the special empowerment and God given knowledge of the Holy Spirit a few days later for the Apostles to know and then spread the Word to the rest of the world. We must remember "God's Ways are simply NOT man's ways." We are and our thoughts to Him are much like the ants are to us, only farther and far more in contrast. Now, don't get me wrong. We in this dispensation don't do any better. Just look at the history of this planet since the advent of Christianity. We continue in wars, constant world-wide conflict and we can't even agree on what God says in His very own Book. The Book written by men who gave their very lives believing to their dying breath every Word therein. No, we don't have a single thing to brag about. We're all prone to think of ourselves when we're in a crisis. Absolutely none of us could hold a candle to what Christ did or even the Apostles did; mainly because they had the Spirit of God to assist them. We humans have only one thing to look forward to if any of us are looking for the "good life" and that's after Judgment Day. Praise the Lord till that day comes and blessings to you. Country Girl |
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123 | Do deacons and pastors need be married? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 129421 | ||
It's true about the more strict qualifications for an elder (aka pastor, shepard, overseer or bishop) in comparison to a deacon. But one of the strict qualifications they both share is to be the husband of one wife. I'm glad we're in agreement. We should all aspire to follow the pattern of the NT church as much as possible. Blessings to you, dear friend. Country Girl |
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124 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129418 | ||
Although this guidance is from the OT, I still think it's instructive to our age since it deals with something as old as sin and God's relationship with His us, his children. As you've alluded there's no scripture in the NT that I can find with such a clear statement as this. Ezek 18:19 "Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity?' When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live. Ezek 18:20 "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. Ezek 18:21 "But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Ezek 18:22 "All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. Ezek 18:23 "Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord GOD, "rather than that he should turn from his ways and live? Ezek 18:24 "But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die. Ezek 18:25 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? Ezek 18:26 "When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. Ezek 18:27 "Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. It certainly seems clear from God's Word that if we really are sincere about spending eternity with God our Father, we've got to get serious about getting sin out of the picture on Judgment Day. The only way to be certain of doing that is to get "clothed with Christ" by being baptized in accordance with His directives to His disciples. In answer to your second question, we hear the voice of Jesus knocking on our hearts when we read His Words. The knocking and His voice, of course gets stronger and stronger with each successive time we read His Words. Yes, I suppose a person could call it imagery or imagination but I think it's applicable to everyone who knows and studies God's Word. Let me know what you think. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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125 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129417 | ||
I'm glad to clarify to at least try. Yes, very definitely, I'm in full support of the idea that our Lord and Master is indeed part of the Godhead and as such participated in the creation of this whole universe as cited in John 1. However, in spite of all that awesome power, He and His Father do not want to overpower anyone into submission to Their Will. The actions we take to accept the Gift of Salvation have to be completely and 100 percent voluntary on our part. Also, I'm convinced through the scriptures I've cited earlier that we also have the complete freedom to turn our backs to the Lord AFTER receiving this Gift of Salvation. We have all the options, all the freedom all the way through our very last second in this life and then it's over and we face Judgment Day where we'll be held accountable for our sins, where we'll reap what we've sown in this life. As I've also mentioned, this CANNOT be interpreted to mean we can earn our way to Heaven. This relationship can be compared to the man that is saved from drowning at sea by a kind gentleman and then the saved man feels indebted to his "saviour" for the rest of his life. He asks his new mentor and saviour what could he possibly do to pay him back and the man says "Go and do likewise for as many people as you possibly can." In this scenario, the saved man cannot possibly earn enough to truly pay back the man that saved him but he feels indebted. Similar to the parable of Jesus about forgiving debtors, for we must also be prone to forgive as we've been forgiven our sins. Hope this helps. Blessings to you in your continued study of God's Word. Country Girl |
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126 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129380 | ||
I appreciate your speaking up. Sometimes, it gets lonely defending the truth. Preach on, dear friend, preach on. Gal 3:24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. Gal 3:25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Gal 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Seems pretty clear to almost anyone. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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127 | Do deacons and pastors need be married? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 129379 | ||
I'm afraid I have to respectively disagree with you, dear friend. If we start making exceptions to God's Word, that just leads to trouble. 1 Tim 3 and Titus 1 are quite clear on this matter. In both cases, elders (aka pastors) and deacons are to be the husbands of one wife each. Obviously, God's Wisdom is far above ours and He knows married men are better qualified to provide complete and Godly leadership in the Lord's church. It's always better to trust God's pattern in such matters. As in all things, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound (or more) of cure." I speak from experience as I've been a part of congregations in the past where we appointed men with questionable qualifications and we ended up regretting that decision. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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128 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129378 | ||
I can only encourage you to keep studying dear friend. As I mentioned before when some of God's Word gives us reason to reconcile contrasting verses such as these, it seems prudent to take the more conservative view or the safer position so as to be certain like John talks about. I'm thinking we're all in agreement that we'll be judged by all the Words we see in the NT as Jesus said. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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129 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129361 | ||
I think I can agree with the bottom line of your assessment of the OSAS, or rather than take a chance on misinterpreting let me summarize. I also believe very strongly that ALL christians can reach the point of spiritual maturity that we can KNOW for an absolute fact that we are saved and that we ARE going to Heaven as reflected in 1 John 5:10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. If we've obeyed God's commands to the best of our ability, we can meet God at Judgment Day with full confidence that our Lord Jesus, our Advocate will be there to cover us with his Pure Blood. That and God's Grace is all that we'll need to go to Heaven forever and ever. Blessings to you, dear friend. Country Girl |
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130 | biblcal reference to lessons | Bible general Archive 2 | Country Girl | 129359 | ||
I can't think of a specific verse that speaks to this subject. But I do think the Bible in general, particularly the OT goes over the same story about the Israelites losing and regaining the favor of God shows us that basic principle. Remember, the basic purpose of the Bible is to introduce God, His Thoughts, His Ways to us, His creation AND to assure us that He loves us enough to have sent His Son and reserve a place for us in Heaven. Hope this helps. I'll be watching, hoping someone, knowing God's Word a little better will come up with a verse in support of this principle. Blessings to you, Country Girl. |
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131 | The Making of the King James Bible | Gen 1:1 | Country Girl | 129312 | ||
I'd like to think we'll all be very interested in your digest and recommendation concerning the book. Please feel free to share. Thanks for the head's up. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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132 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129311 | ||
So I'm assuming you and Hank are preparing your responses to my other post with scriptures from 1 Timothy and 2 Peter, correct? I await your responses. Thanks. But back to Ananias and Sapphira. I still don't see how anyone could draw any other conclusion about these two. They lied to the Apostles, and to their Lord and didn't repent of these sins before their obvious and very deliberate deaths at the very behest of the Holy Spirit. At the very least, we should draw a conclusion of extreme caution when it comes to sinning and going on with our lives with no intent of repenting. This is exactly what Paul was talking about in the following: Heb 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people." 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. However, I'm still interested in your response. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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133 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129252 | ||
I also remembered the other example of christians with a weakness for "the darker side" of sin as shown in the following verses from Paul. 1 Tim 1:18 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, 1 Tim 1:19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. 1 Tim 1:20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. And then of course, there's the words from Peter 2 Pet 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 2 Pet 2:21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. 2 Pet 2:22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire." If a person reads God's Word as much as possible in the same spirit as He intended it, we'll see His Messages to us as being very straight forward and simple. Here it seems very clear that God knows that we humans have and will exercise our freewill. That's one of the aspects of humanity that distingusihes us from the rest of creation. If we had no such option to "change" our minds and go back to a life of sin AFTER becoming a christian, it wouldn't be near as glorious as one of His children actually choosing to remain faithful till death as cited in Rev 2:10. Then our Father beams His glory all over the place and He gets the praise. Because remember, there's nothing in this process that can possibly be glorious for you and me. He gets it all. I hope this is helpful in your understanding. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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134 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129250 | ||
I'm sorry but I have to respectfully disagree. It proves the point against OSAS at least as much as all of the verses that have been cited in its support. As I mentioned, there's several million christians who hold to this interpretation just as I do. As you know, there's going to be quite a bit of controversy about this subject as shown throughout the Forum. Nevertheless, I pray God's blessings on you and your continued study. Country Girl |
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135 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129189 | ||
I'm not sure how you could have possibly misunderstood my statement but I'm of the opinion like most christians that Ananias and Sapphira died in their sins. Acts 5 seems pretty clear on that point. I'll have to check later on this thread. I simply must leave you all now and do some homework. Blessings on you all. Country Girl |
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136 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129186 | ||
Since we know the Bible to be absolutely complete and true, we have to think of ways that these kinds of passages compliment one another. In my mind, without a whole lot time to study the matter, I think back to the verses on God's Grace. You see, as long as we're giving God our very best then His Grace covers us, just in case we die suddenly we're good to go. I'm convined it's after a significant period of neglect of our precious relationship with God, that we christians jepordize our salvation. We must see ourselves in constant (at least daily) need of prayer and repentance to our Lord for the sins of yesterday and the sins we might commit or the good deeds that we ommit from our lives in the day ahead of us. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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137 | Impatience with the World | Jon 4:11 | Country Girl | 129177 | ||
Yes, I agree with you to think in this area and be impulsive is very dangerous. In our more sober moments when we really take time to think long and hard, it's times like these when we do best and most noble thinking. Sometimes, I think back and try to place myself in the days mentioned in the Bible stories we read. For example in your story of Jonah and Ninevah, if you or I were in that town on that day, would we have done any better? If you or I were in Jonah's shoes, would we have felt the same way? In the story of Noah and the flood, had we been in the shoes of any one of those eight people that survived, would God find us worthy? Or would we have been one of several million people that perished in that story? Oh, but then thanks be to God, we can read God's Word, especially in 1 John 2 and "know for certain, we're in Christ," since we've obeyed His commandments. Yes, what a comfort. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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138 | Do you have to be baptized to be saved? | Rom 6:3 | Country Girl | 129171 | ||
As I mentioned in my post, it seems the verses you've cited at the very least support the idea of questioning the requirement of baptism which I guess you're saying is one of the required acts after being saved. While the verses I've cited give clear and convincing proof that baptism is very important and critically required. So I can only encourage you to study all the scriptures cited throughout the Bible as I mentioned in my previous post, AND encourage you to pray on this matter. We do have very strong assurances that God will judge us in accordance with ALL of His Son's Words. Blessings to you, my friend. Country Girl |
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139 | Human Power? | John 15:5 | Country Girl | 129167 | ||
I guess I didn't make myself clear. I'm talking about Eternal Security, or as most call it "Once saved, always saved." I'd say this concept clearly failed Ananias and Sapphira miserably. Where was their Eternal Security? I'm saying let's see some specific proof of this very focused idea that once you are considered part of God's family of christians, there's absolutely no way you can lose that salvation. Please show me Book, Chapter and verse proving that this is an absolute benefit from God. Of course you understand, I'm talking about God's saving us in spite of what we do after we're in Christ. So for example if a christian goes back to his previous life of sin, mudering, stealing, lying, cheating, etc., God assures him and all of us that He'll just say on Judgment Day, "Come on in, my Son's blood wasn't all that important after all. I really did want all of my children to come home anyway." Or some semblance of that sentiment. I'm hoping this makes my query a little more clear. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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140 | once saved always saved? | 2 Tim 4:18 | Country Girl | 129076 | ||
Hank, please do me a favor and check out my recent post to Karen, number 129074 and see if that helps answer some of your questions. Thanks I've got some homework to get caught up on. Just got started on a couple of tough classes so my posts to the Forum are few and far between. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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