Results 81 - 100 of 386
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: Country Girl Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
81 | favor and grace | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 123980 | ||
One of the best scriptures I can think of would be Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth--in Him. 11In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. I think it might help to remember just how undeserving we really are by reading Is 64:4 For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. 5You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned-- In these ways we continue; And we need to be saved. 6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. 7And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities. You see, you and I are used to thinking like humans. Generally, when we go to a court of law, we start thinking of all the reasons why we deserve some form of mercy. But in God's World of absolutely Perfect Justice, we don't deserve ANYTHING but death and eternal damnation. So now, you might begin to appreciate the extreme contrast between man's image of grace and God's Perfect Image of Grace. Thus, it's an ABSOLUTE FACT the ONLY way any of us will get to Heaven is by the Grace of God. Does this help? If not, let me know and I'll try again. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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82 | sunday as the sabath | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 124215 | ||
Mark 16:2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. Mark 16:9 Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. Luke 24:1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. Can you think of a better reason to give Christ the preiminence He deserves since His Father gave it to Him? Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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83 | Adultery by both parties. Divorce? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 124378 | ||
Matt 19:3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?" Matt 19:4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, Matt 19:5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? Matt 19:6 "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." Matt 19:7 They *said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?" Matt 19:8 He *said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. From the beginning in the Garden of Eden to the present, God has ALWAYS preferred a couple to stay a couple after marriage. When both spouses in a marriage are guilty of adultery, this presents a problem. I think overall, the Bible stresses the importance of forgiveness whenever possible and it seems to me that both of you HAD FORGIVEN the other of these offenses in the past. A person could strongly argue that sins once forgiven are supposed to be forgotten and not brought up again. I'm not saying that you don't reap the consequences as we all do that but the blame for the sin and to rehash it again for yet another rouond of punishment is strictly against God's Word. BUT with all that said, as it has been mentioned many times on this Forum, this IS NOT the ideal place to get this kind of counseling. You and your husband really need to be counseled by another christian counselor, face to face. Hopefully, he will submit to such a wise course, if he truly cares about you and/or those kids. I'm a firm believer in the fact that it's our kids who suffer the most across America for the flippant attitude so many have about God's only other perfect insitution, that is marriage. It's the very foundation for successful living for this planet. I'll be praying for both of you, hoping that you can work it out and live a long together. My spouse and I have been married now for 28 years, first time marriage for both of us. We've had our struggles but we're determined to go to our graves together. Blessings to you. Country Girl PS: Just in case either of you is interested, you'll both probably live longer if you stay married. |
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84 | woman and Jesus in Matthew 15 | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 124502 | ||
Matt 15:22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." Matt 15:23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us." Matt 15:24 But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Matt 15:25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" Matt 15:26 And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." Matt 15:27 But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Matt 15:28 Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once. I can only assume you're contrasting this rather interesting attitude from Jesus when most of the time, he was far more compassionate and merciful, especially to His fellow Jews. I can only say that Jesus knew the hearts of all people and He knew exactly what they needed most. In this case, apparently the woman needed to know her place in the world and she acknowledged that AND got what she was looking for. In contrast to this story is the rich young ruler who came to Jesus boasting of his devotion to God and following His guidance all his life. But when Jesus said "sell your possessions, come and follow me," once again Jesus knew exactly what this man needed but in this case, he didn't get what he was looking for...AND he was a Jew. What do you think of this interesting and rather challenging attitude of Jesus? Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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85 | What did Christ teach Peter? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 124538 | ||
This subject was covered in the past pretty thoroughly starting with Post No 114616, which is inserted into the Quick Search. Read the whole thread and see what you think? Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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86 | Because he betrayed Jesus? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 127767 | ||
Throughout the Gospel accounts, Peter seems to be the most brash and impulsive. He is the one that the Lord singles out to first the Good Confession of Christ as Lord, Son of God. He was part of the inner group, Peter, James and John, at the Transfiguration and so much more. He was the Gospel preacher on that fateful day in Jerusalem establishing the first day of the day? No, if it had been someone else to get out of that boat, we'd all be asking why was it not Peter? Apparently, he was living up to his reputation, much like chopping off an ear from a soldier only to watch your Mentor and Master restore it and tell you to put your sword away a few chapters later. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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87 | Because he betrayed Jesus? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 127769 | ||
I like to emphasize to people with whom I'm studying to convert or strengthen their new life as a christian is the tremendous contrast between Peter and Judas. All of us are human and are guarenteed of not coming anywhere close to meeting God's standard for Perfection, like His Son did. The important thing for us to remember, both these men and all the other disciples failed Jesus miserably, just like we all do. The main difference between the two is: Peter recognized his faults, "brushed himself off" and got back up on that journey with his Lord whereas poor Judas just couldn't handle what he'd done in spite of his Lord's willingness to forgive him. Yes, good question. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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88 | Because he betrayed Jesus? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 127834 | ||
I have to agree with your statement. You do a good job of covering all the major point as I see them. Blessings to you. Country Girl | ||||||
89 | What are the duties of a pastor? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 128352 | ||
If you'll insert the following words (or variations thereof) into the Search function at the right of your screen, you'll come up with all the pertinent verses on the subject. In the NT, the office of pastor is the same as bishop, overseer, elder or shepard. Thus our Lord Jesus is the Chief Bishop (High Priest), Overseer, Elder and Shepard. Further the next tier in the organization of the Lord's church in this modern age, since we have no Apostles, is the deacons which means servants. They are to serve the church by following the leadership of the elders above. Both of these two offices in the church are listed in 1 Tim and in Titus, with qualifications for each. I hope this helps and blessings to you. Country Girl |
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90 | What are the duties of a pastor? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 128356 | ||
I'm confused. You said Pastor means the same as shepherd. Elder means the same as bishop. Elders are overseers and shepherds. Pastors are not mentioned as being elders. There are always multiple elders in a church. My response: 1) Pastor equals shepherd 2) Elders equals overseers and shepherds but 3) Pastors cannot equal elders I seem to recall in algebra, trigonometry or one of those mathematical courses so long ago in school that if 1 and 2 above are true, then the end product of both are equal to each other. I don't want to be a dumb blonde about this but it seems that God's Word is fairly clear on this, His Apostles were talking about the same office when any of these words were mentioned or derivatives therefrom. The one thing I agree with you most emphatically is that of multiple elders per congregation. The Lord NEVER meant for a single man to run, lead or govern a congregation of the Lord's church. Elders are always spoken in the plural in a congregational setting throughout the Bible. Most organizations using Pastor in some other office or title are referring to the one that does the preaching, proclaiming God's Word from a pulpit in Sunday morning worship assemblies. This function sounds like the NT word for preacher or prophet which throughout most of the Bible means "mouthpiece of God." There are separate passages/verses describing duties and ideal qualifications for this office. I also agree this is a good topic for discussion thus good "food for thought." I do appreciate your response and blessings to you. Country Girl |
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91 | What are the duties of a pastor? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 128372 | ||
I'm thinking maybe you're a little confused as Paul's guidance here to the Ephesians was given for all christians throughout all time, yes I agree. Eph 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, Eph 4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; Eph 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. But since we don't have anyone who can meet the qualifications of an Apostle as cited in Acts 1, we don't have any potential Apostles. All the other positions are certainly valid in today's world. Of course, like I mentioned the word prophet in Bible language meant "mouthpiece of God" as in the case of a preacher, minister from the pulpit or TV either one. He could also be a evangelist like our missionaries we send to other parts of the country or across the ocean. Notice that Paul left out deacons and those with miraculous abilities to heal. Apparently, Paul didn't cover the whole entire subject, listing all the different positions, titles or their qualifications as he did with Timothy and Titus. But I still must emphasize my previous point about the synonyms for the office of elder or pastor. They're both referring to the same person or function within the local church at the congregational level. At least this is what I've experienced all my life and the Lord's pattern works just fine when it's done in accordance with God's Word. This is further endorsed since like you mentioned pastors CANNOT be seen properly to run the Lord's Chruch by themselves. We all know what abuse that leads to, as shown by the Catholic organization over the centuries. Hope this is clear and blessings to you. Thanks for your response. Country Girl |
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92 | The New Birth - A Survey | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 128860 | ||
I'm afraid the Lord doesn't portray salvation as being quite that simple as you depict for as Paul says 1 Cor 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 1 Cor 3:7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 1 Cor 3:8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 1 Cor 3:9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. 1 Cor 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 1 Cor 3:11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 3:12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 1 Cor 3:13 each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. 1 Cor 3:14 If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 1 Cor 3:15 If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 1 Cor 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Cor 3:17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. Correspondingly, we too as recipients of God's Gift of Salvation have our part to play. We must repent, confess and be baptized. Yes, definitely that is our active participation in this process but God's action is the most powerful and long lasting as He's the one who actually saves us and adds us to His Son's Body. Mankind would love to sum up this process in just a few words or maybe even one word but that's impossible as it wouldn't do justice to the amazing sacrifice and selfless love as exhibited by our Lord in going to the cross. I hope this is clear, at least as clear as presented by God's Word. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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93 | The New Birth - A Survey | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 128940 | ||
Since you've now re-qualified your question and left out the word "regeneraion," I would have to repeat that yes, very definitely I repented of my sins, confessed my Lord and Savior and was baptized as a teen-ager many years ago. I did all this in a very passive and submissive frame of mind so put me down as passive. Hopefully, you're going to give us the results of your survey with some numbers and/or percentages? I'm looking forward to your results...should be very interesting. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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94 | The New Birth - A Survey | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 128957 | ||
Since repentance is an action of reversing our attitude and lifestyle so that we determine to live a life patterned after our Lord, that would have to be an active role on our part. Of course I believe that we have to repent of our sins on a daily basis, at least those days we're above ground. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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95 | 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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96 | 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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97 | 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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98 | who is called to maturity with believers | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 129518 | ||
The whole Chapter of Matt 5 is really applicable, indeed the whole Sermon on the Mount. Matt 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' Matt 5:44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matt 5:45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matt 5:46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Matt 5:47 "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Matt 5:48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. But the most applicable verse to your question is the last, verse 48. Here the Greek word for perfect really meant mature or complete, and remember Christ was speaking to a very huge crowd of people. He wasn't just speaking to the leaders or the older members of the audience. Thus He and His Father both want all His children to grow up spiritually in Them. Of course that means different things to different people. To a smoker, it might mean giving up tobacco. To a drinker or a drug abuser, it means giving up those addictions. To anyone who has anything standing in between he/she and their Lord and Master, that thing must be discarded or at the very least take "second chair" as in a spouse. To someone who's shy and and not particularly fond of speaking in public, it would show great maturity for that person to aspire to be a teacher. For others who have a big mouth and say too much like me, it's a great thing for us to learn to keep our mouths shut and just learn from someone like that new teacher just mentioned. My spouse and I have learned something a little unusual in our travels. We've learned NOT to particpate in every facet of the congregation, even those areas that you may have a talent, IF that particular ministry is already being filled by someone else who's doing a fine job. It took a long time for me to learn this but we must ocassionally let someone else's talents shine especially when they need to perform that service or ministry for their Lord. So again, I say we must allow folks to mature at their own rate in accordance with the talents and motivation that the Lord provides. We should see ourselves as the Lord's assistant but at His bidding AND at His timing. The real test of growth in this refining process by our Lord is for us to "get out of our comfort zones." That's the only way to experience real and substantial growth in our christian walk of faith. Lastly, the ultimate sign of maturity in the Lord is to show Agape type love (like God's love) and to show that love without conditions and to show much tolerance and patience to our fellow human beings. We've all got defects, bumps and bruises we've picked up along the way and only the Lord can make us truly perfect when go Home with Him in the life hereafter. I hope this helps. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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99 | Deacon/Pastor divorced before saved | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 129747 | ||
I'm not a Baptist but we just call ourselves christians. As I mentioned, the congregations of which we've been part have various opinions about this subject. As I'm sure you know it's being debated so much, there's even some folks who go ahead in direct opposition to God's Word and install women as deacons or some as elders. But again, I must emphasize all of us must obey God's Word if we're going to please Him and go to Heaven. Only those who obey His commands will be comfortable in Heaven anyway. Those who insist on having their own way would be very uncomfortable praising and worshipping Gof for eternity. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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100 | How old was Paul when he got converted? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 130200 | ||
I'm afraid the NT doesn't reveal that much information about Paul but we can be assured he was at least 30 since he was a good, faithful Jew and would have waited til this age to start a life-long obsession of persecuting christians. From the amount power and persuasiveness of his personality, we could guess he was probably at least 5 to 10 years old than that at the time of his coversion, but that's strictly a guess. Anyone else? Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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