The instructions do not change. Perfection does not change. When you fall short.....that changes. Actually you have no idea that our climate is changing now faster than it ever did. In fact, your science believes either due to a meteor collision, volcanic activity or something cataclysmic, the sun was blocked out for a period of time ushering in the last ice age. You are going to be all over the map trying to explain your assertion! God loves you anyway Nwolfe!
YES!!!!! AN outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will be far, far, far beyond Acts chapter two is beginning..... this is going to be astonishing as it increases and increases and increases! https://kevinzadai.com/videos/ The specific decisions that we make during these next ten years will be off the scale important...... churches will again become places where it will be dangerous to lie like Ananias and Sapphire did!
And I admit it..... I cannot make the statement that I have ZERO GREED in the fact that I just finished course number 101 by near death experiencer Kevin Zadai Th. D...... I admit it..... I actually expect to earn more over the coming decade from my Theology Degree that I am getting close to completing, [seventeen more courses by Dr. Zadai and I will have a full fledged Degree in Theology, and I earned my Associate Degree in Theology once I completed the first sixty courses]. I admit it.... I rather expect to be able to resign from the highly physical job that I am doing at this time...... as I begin to work more and more with a church that agrees with my idea that near death experience accounts are a massive open door to the "unsaved." Now I personally feel a burden to do a massive amount of VOLUNTEERISM.... [mostly as a writer], but..... I have gotten into some topics that are so huge that I expect that I will soon find a group that may want me to go and speak in other nations, [or at least in other provinces], in order to explain some ideas that I think are life and death both spiritually..... as well as literally and physically. I plead guilty to having all of the same problems and issues in my mind and heart that Pastor Rick Joyner admitted to.... as he went through something similar to the Life Review of a near death experience! The following account of Pastor Rick Joyner admitting to his own sins and flaws that he saw in his own heart and mind and motivations... is just past the half way mark down this page. http://64.71.77.248/fq-protestant/tfq-en.html Rest assured... those of us who use Theology simply to make money...... we will eventually pay dearly for doing that...... because these sixty or seventy or even eighty or so years that we get on earth...... are comparable to a few seconds when compared with infinite time in the future.... If we mess up terribly....then the only story that we can tell from the point of view of the Outer Darkness of Heaven..... will be how foolish or greedy or lustful or proud or insecure that we had been while human!!!!! Once our lives are over..... our testimony is what it is...... and it cannot be changed after we die!!!!
Don't ever let anyone dissuade you from the path you're on. If you're on a path that is which is doubtful.
You're right, I should have qualified that. Absent any catastrophic event (asteroid impacting the earth for example) climate has never changed this fast in the history of the world.
The purpose of punishment, for the most part, is to change behavior. If someone is speeding we punish them with a fine in an attempt to change their behavior. If someone steals we might actually incarcerate them and, in a perfect world, we would not only be hoping to change their behavior but also give them the tools to change their behavior in the form of education and coping mechanisms to deal with civilized society. It is only for the most reprehensible crimes do we invoke "forever" punishments. So what is the purpose of eternal punishment after we die? According to you we can't change our behavior so the only possible reason for eternal punishment is that our crimes are considered so heinous and reprehensible that a "forever" punishment must be invoked. What crime is that? Not believing a God exists? Hell, according to your own religion those that have committed something for which we have issued a "forever" punishment (murder, child abuse, rape, etc) can STILL be forgiven in the after life. But the mere act of thinking for yourself cannot be forgiven. That is the most immoral system of justice/punishment that I can conceive of.
You could look at it a different way Nwolfe..... we get the eternal promise of heaven, (something we cannot begin to imagine with our finite mind) and a final end to injustice that has caused so much pain for all. The truth is, humankind wants to defend his/her imperfections at every turn. To imagine anything greater than oneself is an affront to one's pride. Until one's pride can be set aside, there is little hope for embracing justice. Let me lay one precept on you. It could be a new beginning. "God resists the proud, but gives Grace to the humble." Let me add another thought here..... Forgiveness for the (murder, child abuse, rape etc. that you mentioned) is in one sense as hard for me to comprehend as it is for you. On the other hand, is it my pride that would deny forgiveness for those if by some miracle of God they overcame their own pride repented and sincerely asked forgiveness for their own shortcomings? Afterall, could that be the purpose of this life? I believe it is.
So the crime we deserve eternal punishment for is pride? You are not exactly making the case that this is a good thing. Eternal punishment for pride would still constitute the most immoral punishment system ever devised.
If you're dead, where is the punishment? It's only in life that you can think of what lies ahead of you. If being forever dead doesn't frighten you what's the big deal?
So it's refusal to repent that deserves eternal punishment? Again, a highly immoral system of punishment. If someone jaywalks if they refuse to "repent" then we should hold them in jail forever?
Really, so all the talk about eternal torment in a lake of fire isn't what Christians believe happens to someone like me after death?
Point made....pride has made you see yourself as "Supreme Judge". Have you ever seen yourself fail in anything? Be honest, because it you have, you are not deserving of that title. If you can't, you could possibly be beyond redemption. That is up to the Lord however. True Justice cannot exist where mistakes are rampant. Even the smallest of mistakes. The Grace of God covers those mistakes made by a "humble heart". Everyone makes mistakes. Those mistakes are less than perfection, called sin. You do not get to judge what sin is because you make mistakes, as I do. Those mistakes need to be done away with for perfect Justice.
I don't see myself as a "supreme judge" What I do see myself as is someone who understands that eternal punishment for ANYTHING is immoral, but especially immoral if the crime is "Pride" or "Not believing in God" What absolutely baffles me is how people like you are willing to throw out your morality and any empathy you might have in order to agree with a God you can't even prove exists.
Another way to look at it.....many live in that lake of fire here on this earth today. They wouldn't have it any other way. Hell is something they mistakenly desire. (enter the song "Highway to Hell"). Perhaps it is a "Lake of fire" in contrast to the blessings of "Heaven". I never spend too much time contemplating hell. C.S. Lewis, in his own words describes Hell as a place where you get EVERYTHING you desire only it never fulfills, thus the "unquenchable thirst". I have higher hopes for that "someone like you". It might happen you see the promises of heaven and head in that direction. Jesus made it so easy. Neither I nor anyone else has answers for you. It just takes a change in direction. A change of heart. It might come about with a little serching on your own.
......and it baffles me you throw at me your own morality and any empathy you might have for me to agree with something you have concluded from between your own ears. Do you realize everyone has the same space between their own two ears yet they all have different ideas? The reason they are different is due to the pride they have that stands against the idea they are ever wrong. Part of my personal testimony would be this...... When I stand in the presence of those who humbly approach the Throne of God, their is an uncanny sense of Love and unity. We are not united for any other reason. We are of different occupations, different backgrounds and nationalities, races etc. Something far greater than ourselves unites us and that is clarified in the Word of God. Jesus is the Word. There is my evidence and it produces something far greater than anything science will ever produce.
Some believe that, but I'm not one of them. If you think about it logically that doctrine makes absolutely no sense.
NONE if it makes any sense but at least recognizing that the concept of eternal torment doesn't is a start.
You have heard of John the Baptist, right? He came ahead of Christ and told everyone about the Messiah soon to come. John of course, baptized Jesus.
So? Baptism Did not Originate with Christianity Baptism is not a uniquely Christian rite. Early Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Eastern religions practiced various forms of baptism. A form of baptism is also a central religious rite in Hinduism, various Indigenous American religions, and of course, in Judaism. Other types of washings and purifications by water are practiced in nearly every other religion in the world, including Islam, Buddhism, and Shintoism. In nearly every case, the washing with water represents purification and a movement toward holiness so that the individual worshipper may approach God to offer sacrifices or pray.
For Matt84 who suggested Baptism is a Pagan ritual.....I would respond, so is breathing. Baptism into Christ has a New meaning. John's was a baptism of repentance foreshadowing the baptism of being born again in Christ Jesus.
If you are addressing me.....you got me wrong. I have a relative right now, addicted to meth and after about 8 years, going to prison today, who is suffering torment right now. 8 years ago I talked with him and he justified his use. Justified his behavior. Pride. He is in torment now and if he doesn't let down his pride.... he will endure eternal torment. His choice.
No, I don't know that. You'll have to provide evidence. Other religious communities before John the Baptist practised initiation rites but none I know of included baptism.
No he won't. Even if he remains addicted until his dying day, he will not suffer eternal torment. Even when we sentence someone to life without parole it is not an eternal punishment. The worst sentence we can possibly inflict on someone pales in comparison to the idea of ETERNAL torment Even the person in prison for life with no possibility of parole dies. The person being tortured dies. ETERNAL torment, no matter the crime, is absolutely immoral.
