Results 21 - 40 of 269
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Results from: Notes Author: Country Girl Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
21 | Are miracles for today? | 1 Cor 13:8 | Country Girl | 132873 | ||
Although I'd like to agree with you in that a lost sinner becoming a child of God really is a wonderful thing it would be a tragic misunderstanding of the awesome Power and Majesty of our Lord to label this event as a miracle. In keeping with the spirit of the Forum and calling events from the Bible their true God-given names, we should NOT downgrade the meaning of something as powerful and evidence of Christianity as a miracle. In Bible times, both OT and NT, miracles was truly a wonderous event, one that was absolutely and unquestionably a supernatural event, one that absolutely COULD NOT be done without God's participation. So I'll agree child birth from a woman is a miracle. The very idea of an embryo growing into a fully developed child is truly a supernatural even. I'll agree when a person goes to the hospital and gets the proverbial last speech from his doctor and walks out of that hospital with a few months/years to live and no hope, that's tragic. But then, he walks in for a checkup later on and experiences full and complete remission, that is clearly a miracle. Let's not water down God's Word or insult God Almighty by calling anything less one of His Awesome Displays and Power and Majesty. Sorry, but I just had to throw in my two cents' worth into this discussion. Blessings on you, dear friend. Country Girl |
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22 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132869 | ||
In spite of my name which suggests my origin, I've traveled around the world quite a bit and I've covered most of the USA. In my travels, I've never heard of an actual miracle that actually meets the Biblical standard as I mentioned previously. But if you have, I'd like to hear about it. I'd like to contact that person and arrange to have him cure my son of a very bad and terrible disease. I understand to his dying day, people from around the world were bringing family members to Apostle John on the isle of Patmos for healing. Don't you know...a person with real, genuine, God-given miraculous powers would have a reputation ringing literally throughout the world. I'm really quite anxious to meet this person if you know of someone like this. Please advise and Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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23 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132864 | ||
So, how do you reconcile this baptism of the Holy Spirit with the other watery type baptism as cited throughout the NT and the fact there's only supposed to one baptism as Paul teaches in Eph 4? One can't simply dismiss the importance of watery baptism as it is administered for the remission of sins, Acts 2:38. If the one baptism is that of the Holy Spirit, how come it takes on so many different interpretations and meanings for nearly everybody in the world? In contrast, almost everybody agrees to most of the details of baptism. At least most everyone agrees it means immersion and most serious Bible students know it as part of the Plan of Salvation. I think that's one reason why God chose such a simple act as baptism in something as plentiful as water on this planet. A person really will have a tough task to argue this point on Judgment Day, but looking forward to your response. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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24 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132811 | ||
Quoted for reference: Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:39 "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." and Acts 10:45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. Acts 10:46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, Acts 10:47 "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" I guess it's obvious you're keying in on the use of the same phrase "Gift of the Holy Spirit" but it's not quite that simple. It seems pretty obvious in Acts 2, the Gift was that of salvation. In Acts 10, however, I'll admit it looks like it could be interpreted at least a couple of different ways or more. I would lean toward that of Salvation but you would lean upon the empowerment of miraculous powers except there's no other demonstration anywhere in scripture of miracles being done outside of the parameters as I cited earlier. BUT just in case someone does wish to counter with some kind of discussion or a vague verse with such a claim, it's easy to verify/confirm the acutal supernatural quality of such miraculous powers. Life to a dead body after several days of confirmed death is a great miracle. Restoration of a limb after severance from the body with no modern medical technology would be a pretty effective miracle. Enabling the deaf to hear or the blind to see after a lifetime of such handicaps would be equally as powerful. If you know of such documented cases of miracles, I'd love to hear more about them with ALL the details. Again, the bottom line is that God never did intend for the age of miracles manifested by human beings here on earth to last for very long. Paul predicted their ceasation in 1 Cor 13. We can easily understand why with all the abuse that was going on in the first century church. Again, these "wonders and signs" had as their most important purpose the confirmation of God's Word through those speaking and acting in God's behalf during that initial phase of the Lord's church. I know, I know, you're going to ask for scriptures to back all this up but there is no specific scripture that can be cited to support this specific statement. It has to be concluded based on a thorough study of God's Word and making the necessary inferences. And then the inevitable statement about the level of miraculous manifestation in today's world resulting from our lessor faith as compared to the first century. And again, I would say that miracles being successfully performed were never a result of a lack of faith on the part of the recipient as in the case of the crippled beggar in Acts with Peter and John. Jesus actually chose not to perform miracles in His home town because of His countrymen. So, this too CANNOT be used as an excuse to explain why miracles don't come from modern people of today. There is simply NOT any documented case of an actual supernatural event being performed that meet the same standard as cited in the Bible. Blessings to you, my friend. Country Girl |
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25 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132767 | ||
Like I mentioned ALL the miracles performed by individuals other than the Apostles received that ability to perform those miracles from the Apostles' "laying on of hands." The fact that we don't have miracles in today's world meeting the very same Biblical standard as those in the 1st century is the Scriptural proof. Notice the basic purpose of these "wonders and signs" was to act as an endorsement from God above that everything said and done by these folks was indeed blessed by Him. Hope this helps and Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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26 | The ransom - God or man? | 1 Cor 15:21 | Country Girl | 132743 | ||
Alien/City Boy: I'm sorry, I'm not able to help you. You're on your own as you will be on Judgment Day. Keep studying and praying for that's the only kind of humility that's going to do you any good...from God above. I'll keep praying for you. Country Girl |
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27 | The ransom - God or man? | 1 Cor 15:21 | Country Girl | 132727 | ||
I'm sorry but I gotta say your post borders dangerously close to blasphemy. The scriptures all the way from the curse out of the Garden of Eden to the last few verses of Revelation make it very plain that ONLY Jesus Christ could possibly have fulfilled God's Perfect Sense of Justice, Love and Forgiveness for us, His creation. This was apparently the one single Way that God could show us His Love so completely without any reservation. If you can't accept that on faith, you really do need to find yourself some other forum on which to espouse your message of sorrow and sadness for without Jesus Christ as the One and Only Perfect Sacrifice, you don't have a prayer of finding any happiness. I do hope you'll pray and study on this matter before it's everlastingly too late. I also pray that God blesses you with understanding. But you'll have to meet Him part of the way with faith. Country Girl |
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28 | A New Perspective!??! | Bible general Archive 2 | Country Girl | 132718 | ||
I may be all wet with this thinking but when I first read this article, it made me think of the following verses. Rev 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Rev 21:6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. Rev 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." As long as we God in the very beginning of His Word (our Bibles) and we see Christ Jesus as God at the very end, we should see the Godhead as a whole throughout the entire Bible. AND we should in my mind be able to understand the most important message contained therein; that is God wants us to come home to Him and He's given us the instructions we need to find our way to Him. Is that deep or what? Let me know what you think. Anyone else? Blessings to you all. Country Girl |
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29 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132715 | ||
Amen, dear friend, Amen!! That's my point. The ONLY baptism that we can KNOW for certain that ALL christians can and should take part in is the watery grave of baptism as suggested by Jesus Words to Nicodemus. Thanks for the supportive scripture. Country Girl |
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30 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132697 | ||
You've probably already figured out that I believe only the Apostles, Cornelius and his family actually received the baptism of the Holy Spirit as those (Acts 2 and 10) are the only clear instances where people received such an unusual event. All other manifestations or demonstrations of miraculous powers from people other than the Apostles received those powers from the Apostles by the laying on the Apostles' hands. Consequently I believe the one single baptism that is available to everyone and thus must have been the one discussed by Paul is that of the watery grave of baptism as depicted in Rom 6. Do you have Scripture depicting something else? Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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31 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132692 | ||
Hank: My point of my previous post was that of baptism. It CANNOT be proven that ALL of the Apostles were indeed baptised when it is clear that they were preaching it to be saved. We are left to infer that just like they baptized Cornelius and his family, they themselves must have been baptized so as to be consistent with their preaching. But notice further, this dispensation started the phase of baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost after the resurrection of Jesus. John the Baptist's baptism wasn't good enough as shown later on in Acts. Thus while Christ was alive, He truly WAS the King of the Jews and could bestow ANYTHING He chose on whomever He chose. So the thief didn't need to be baptized to get into Paradise. The Lord "punched his ticket" before both of them died. The Lord's Last Will and Testament had NOT been executed and therefore baptism wasn't authorized until after the Perfect Sacrifice was made. It is a good conclusion that this watery baptism is the one baptism as mentioned in Eph 4 as it's the only one that is common to ALL christians for all time since the start. Blessings to you. Good to hear from you. Country Girl |
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32 | Contrition and Repentance | Luke 3:8 | Country Girl | 132690 | ||
I can only add Ps 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Is 57:15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite." And we all know why King David was a "man after God's own heart" because he so contrite and willing to humble himself to his Lord. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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33 | Grace? | 1 John 1:7 | Country Girl | 132686 | ||
Good solid post! Amen, dear friend. Country Girl | ||||||
34 | A New Perspective!??! | Bible general Archive 2 | Country Girl | 132681 | ||
Phanomenal (sp?) was the word I got. But what I'm really more interested in is the implications as this hidden message might draw from God's Word. Think about it and get back to me. Looking forward to your response. Thanks and blessings to you. Country Girl |
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35 | Overseer Officiating Options | Philem 1:9 | Country Girl | 132673 | ||
I can only respond with more scripture. 1 Pet 2:13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 1 Pet 2:14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 1 Pet 2:15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 1 Pet 2:16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. 1 Pet 2:17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. and 1 Pet 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." 1 Pet 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 1 Pet 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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36 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132672 | ||
One more little tidbit that a lot of people don't seem to notice about this controversy of the Holy Spirit descending on Cornelius and his family is this. We should remember that when the HS fell on the Apostles "with cloven tongues of fire," they too HAD NOT been baptized either. As a matter of fact, it's NOT absolutely clear in scripture that ALL of the Apostles were indeed baptized but I have to believe they were. How could they preach this new Gift of Salvation based on obedience to God if they all had not obeyed God's Terms and Conditions themselves? We do know for a fact that Apostle Paul was baptized to receive salvation so that's good enough for me. Just my two cents' worth. You'll probably want some change back...;-) Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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37 | baptism regenerate? | Titus 3:5 | Country Girl | 132340 | ||
I agree with you, it's always best to gather from the verse under discussion what is the immediate context so for that purpose, I quote: Matt 19:23 And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt 19:24 "Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matt 19:25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?" Matt 19:26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matt 19:27 Then Peter said to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?" Matt 19:28 And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matt 19:29 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. Matt 19:30 "But many who are first will be last; and the last, first." So we see that Christ made this statement immediately after his encounter with the rich young ruler who refused to give up his possessions, take up his cross and follow Jesus. So once again, this regeneration is a transition process. God and His Son want to see us, all of us graduate from this physical world to a spiritual world, come and join Him in Heaven but as I've mentioned before, we MUST allow God to choose the timing. Again, I don't see anything truly different in this scenario. Basically it boils down to us in our present condition without God, after we reach the age of accountability and before we become a christian...we've got no hope. Then we establish a relationship with Him as our Father through His Son and ONLY through Him. Everything else is on God's part to get us there in Heaven through our belief and faith in His Grace and Forgiveness. All we got to do is obey His commands which include "being faithful till death" per Rev 2:10 and being fruitful in our works of faith as per James 2. How could it be any clearer? Now, I must admit we CANNOT boast or think we can earn our way to Heaven. That too is very clear from the scriptures but we do have a job to do: be a vessel for God showing His Light throughout our lives so that others will be influenced to also establish a similar relationship to God. Now, can we agree on all the above? I hope so. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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38 | baptism regenerate? | Titus 3:5 | Country Girl | 132280 | ||
Since there's only two scriptures where this word is used, there's not a whole lot of guidance as to what exactly is meant by its use. Matt 19:28 And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Titus 3:5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, Since, it's clear that we have to "use the Bible as Its best own Commentary," I see nothing wrong with the use of "transforming" as cited in Romans or "refining" as cited in Revelation. It does seem pretty clear from all the Bible that God does want us, His creation to come back to Him in Heaven but sin and our human, fleshly bodies prevent us from being able to do that. Now since, the devil is a spirit and believes in God, it's also clear we must do more than simply attain a spiritual status and believe in God ourselves. So once again, I say it's God's influence in our lives as His children that saves us when we actually act on our faith in Him and obey His commands. We study His Word and pray for His guidance and eventually we should see ourselves coming closer and closer to that which we see and study in God's Word. Notice Paul's words in 2 Cor 3:12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech-- 13unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. And James' words in Ja 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. So we should use God's Word to measure our lives and strive to come closer to that absolute standard of Perfection as Modeled by our Lord. Now of course, each of us is responsible for our own soul's condition and the relationship we establish with God our Father. AND since we are very definitely our brother's/sister's keeper, yes we are to love them enough to do our fruit inspecting and at least ask how they're doing in their walk with God. We SHOULD be willing to confess our faults, our weaknesses to one another, confide and pray for one another as the scriptures encourages us to do. In this way, we gain a closer fellowship with our family members AND a closer relationship with God. The overall net effect is that we're all transformed on a daily basis into better and more mature christians. Hopefully, we'll all be motivated to take as many as possible with us, hand in hand during our journey to Heaven. Do you not agree? I hope so. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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39 | NOR OF HUMAN DECISION...but born of God | John 1:13 | Country Girl | 132272 | ||
I agree with you 100 per cent. There's absolutely NOTHING we can possibly ever hope to do or say to earn our way to Heaven or to receive salvation based on our actions. BUT there are some things that God does expect from us to PROVE we really do belong to Him. James is most clear on this in his letter, Chapter 2. Ja 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble! 20But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. 24You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 25Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Just wanted to complete the picture. You see, it's not the works that saves us, it's our faith in God BUT real, genuine faith will produce these works. If there is no such works, according to James, we should be suspicious about the actual condition of our faith. IF that faith is dead as would be indicated by the lack of works in such a person's life, then it (the faith) is worthless to him, to you and me and most of all, to God. So, what is a person to do under this kind of guidance? We must look around, maybe in the world, maybe in our churches, wherever there is a need for Christianity, we must adopt a ministry of some kind and apply our talents as best we can. Lk 9:23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels. I hope this helps and Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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40 | Denounce militant Islam? | Matt 5:44 | Country Girl | 132025 | ||
Well said, Hank, Well said!! Amen. ALL Americans, every single one of us should vote. Otherwise as far as you are concerned all the ones who died to give us that wonderful blessing did so in vain. To all those NOT voting: I'd hate to think my son who was in the military for four years could have died when he was in Middle East protecting your right to vote and now you're telling me you think you'll NOT vote as a form of protest. Let's be completely honest with each other and just call that what it is. The sophisticated name for it is HOGWASH. I'll let you figure out what the less sophisticated names are. You bet this kind of talk makes me just a little angry. Almost as angry as our Lord must have been when He "cleansed His Father's House." Makes a true American want to do the same thing. God Bless America, land that I love. Country Girl |
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