tony1, Sir Loone, and anyone else that wants to chime in.

"And yes, this had better be darn tootin' good."

Or what?

"When has he ever actually been accountable? He evades, denies, and outright lies."

So if someone denies murdering his wife despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, he's not accountable?

"He's never "done time" for his BS routine in any fashion."

Define "doing time." Your book length rants I think are punishment enough. My problem with that is that the same rant is posted over and over and over for no apparent reason other than you don't have enough new grievences to work with. I don't know if it's possible (I've certainly been trying. I don't think I've blown up in at least a month now) but could you possibly move past the personal evaluations and stick to issues? Every topic Tony takes part in eventually just ends up being an ad hominem fest on all sides. I don't care why but it doesn't seem to me that anyone is doing anything to stop it.

"Tell me, KalvinB, just how has he "repaid his debt" to this online society?"

He hasn't. He's got snide comments in pretty much every post and you're no less guilty with such as the following:

"Who has acquitted him? You? His "partner in crime"?"

You just wait for him to start and then fall down and play victim.

Ben

 

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Now just as Kalvin suggested earlier, lets present a few factual arguments on these issues
Lets start with the "desert wastelands" assertion:

1)Nationality: noun: Briton(s), British (collective plural)
Religions: Anglican 27 million, Roman Catholic 9 million, Muslim 1 million, Presbyterian 800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 400,000, Hindu 350,000, Jewish 300,000 (1991 est.)

2)France:
The French Republic is a secular state where all religious faiths and denominations are represented:

Catholics: 47,000,000, 81.4% of the population

Moslems: 4,000,000, 6.89% of the population

Protestants: 950,000, 1.64% of the population

Jews: 50,000, 1.29% of the population

Buddhists: 400,000, 0.68% of the population

Orthodox: 200,000, 0.34% of the population

Other: 4,700,000, 8.12% of the population

3)Japan:
Religions do not play a big role in the everyday lives of most Japanese people nowadays. The average Japanese just follows the religious rituals at a few ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals.
Japan's two most important religions are Buddhism and Shinto
A survey conducted by Asahi Shimbun in 1995 asked national voters in which religion they believe. The results were similar to ours with non-believers in the majority (63%), followed by Buddhists (26%), Shintoists (2%) and Christians (1%). On the other hand, the official number of believers published by the Agency of Cultural Affairs in 1997 show the Japanese nation to consist of 49% Shintoists, 44% Buddhists and 2% Christians

4)China:
Religious Composition
Confucian, Tao, and Buddhist philosophy 96%
Muslim 3%
Christian 1%


5)Germany:
Religions: Protestant 38%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 1.7%, unaffiliated or other 26.3%


6)Russia:
Religious Composition
Russian Orthodox
Muslim
Jewish
Buddhist
Catholic
Protestant
other

7)Spain:
Religions: Roman Catholic 99%, other 1%

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8)Italy:
Religions: predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community


9)Canada:
36.8% Roman Catholic

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10)United States:
Religions: Protestant 56%, Roman Catholic 28%, Jewish 2%, other 4%, none 10%

Now forsaking the fact that Tony said Catholics were not Christians..they seem to own more Desert Wasteland than we Christians do. Either way the Pagans have more than Christians and Catholics combined.
Hows that for thourough Kalvin?

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Lets talk now about the Indians who killed "themselves", not in any way affiliated with the injustice of Christian settlement of the US:


They lived semi-peacefully, not slaughtering each other:

During the period of European colonization, Native American societies within the present continental United States varied markedly. Despite this diversity, however, almost all the tribes were integrated through interconnecting political, economic, social, and religious obligations provided by extended families or kinship groups. During the next three centuries some of these societies were forced to alter many of their original structures, but others were able to preserve some of their traditional forms. All, however, retained considerable kinship ties, and within both the traditional and the acculturated modern societies, the extended family structures still form the basis for tribal cohesion.
To Iroquois warriors, war was individual combat. They did not concentrate their forces on command, as the Europeans had since the days of the Romans. Nor did any of the tribes maintain a standing army as European nations did. Service as a warrior was voluntary, and although there were long-standing enmities between certain tribes, protracted wars were almost unknown.


By the early nineteenth century most of these northeastern tribes had been forced to sell their lands, and during the 1830s and 1840s they were moved to new territory west of the Mississippi.During the 1830s and 1840s, however, the southern tribes were forced to relinquish their lands and remove to Oklahoma.

Tragically, by the last quarter of the nineteenth century, most of these Plains Indians were confined to reservations and subjected to forced acculturation programs by the federal government. Encouraged to abandon their traditional way of life and to become yeoman farmers in a region that would not sustain agriculture, most of the Plains tribes, like other Indian peoples of this period, suffered from disease and a declining birthrate.

During the early colonial period California held a larger Indian population than any other region, with the population concentrated along the coast and in the great interior valleys. Characterized by relatively small tribes or political units, the native peoples spoke many tongues and manifested a variety of cultural patterns. Most, however, were hunters, fishers, and gatherers, who often relied heavily upon the seasonal catches of salmon or the gathering of acorns. In the eighteenth century the tribes along the southern coast were forced into the Spanish mission system, and during the latter half of the nineteenth century the interior tribes were almost annihilated by the influx of Anglo-American settlers.

Only the Iroquois League, a highly advanced combination of tribes in New York State, was able to withstand, for almost two centuries, the efforts of Europeans to seize their living space. The Mohawks, Cayugas, Oneidas, Onondagas, and Senecas - and later the Tuscaroras - were agricultural peoples, living on land rich in crops, venison, and furs. Long before the coming of Europeans, they had put together a federation (similar to the confederation that created the United States). After the outbreak of the revolutionary war, the Iroquois split into factions. Neutrality failed, and many allied with the British. Their lands became battlegrounds; fields and granaries were destroyed. After the war, those who had not fled to Canada or westward were confined to reservations.


Suspicion and hostility, stemming from technological and cultural differences as well as mutual feelings of superiority, have permeated relations between Indians and non-Indians in North America. The resulting white-Indian conflicts often took a particularly brutal turn and ultimately resulted in the near-de-struction of the indigenous peoples.

In New England, Puritan forces annihilated the Pequots in 1636-1637, a campaign whose intensity seemed to foreshadow the future. Subsequent attacks inspired by Metacom (King Philip) against English settlements sparked a concerted response from the New England Confederation. Employing Indian auxiliaries and a scorched-earth policy, the colonists nearly exterminated the
Narragansetts, Wampanoags, and Nipmucks in 1675-1676.

Western Pennsylvania and New York became savage battlegrounds as the conflict spread to the Wyoming and Cherry valleys. Strong American forces finally penetrated the heart of Iroquois territory, leaving a wide swath of destruction in their wake.

In the United States, the removal policy met only sporadic armed resistance as whites pushed into the Mississippi River valley during the 1830s and 1840s. The Sac and Fox Indians were crushed in Black Hawk''s War (1831-1832), and tribes throughout the region seemed powerless in the face of the growing numbers of forts and military roads the whites were constructing. The acquisition of Texas and the Southwest during the 1840s, however, sparked a new series of Indian-white conflicts. In Texas, where such warfare had marred the independent republic''s brief history, the situation was especially volatile.


I think thats enough.

 

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The marijuana issue with tiassa:

Lindesmith Center:
In 1972, after reviewing the scientific evidence, the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse concluded that while marijuana was not entirely safe, its dangers had been grossly overstated. Since then, researchers have conducted thousands of studies of humans, animals, and cell cultures. None reveal any findings dramatically different from those described by the National Commission in 1972. In 1995, based on thirty years of scientific research, editors of the British medical journal Lancet concluded that 'the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health.'

Most people who smoke marijuana smoke it only occasionally. A small minority of Americans - less than 1 percent - smoke marijuana on a daily or near daily basis. An even smaller minority develop dependence on marijuana. Some people who smoke marijuana heavily and frequently stop without difficulty. Others seek help from drug treatment professionals. Marijuana does not cause physical dependence. If people experience withdrawal symptoms at all, they are remarkably mild.

Marijuana does not cause people to use hard drugs. What the gateway theory presents as a causal explanation is a statistical association between common and uncommon drugs, an association that changes over time as different drugs increase and decrease in prevalence. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United States today. Therefore, people who have used less popular drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, are likely to have also used marijuana. Most marijuana users never use any other illegal drug. Indeed, for the large majority of people, marijuana is a terminus rather than a gateway drug.



John Hopkins:
Summer 1999

Long-term use of marijuana does not lead to a decline in mental function, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore. Individuals who confessed to having smoked marijuana, even heavily, have no more signs of impaired mental function than people who have never used cannabis (Constantine G. Lyketsos, et al., "Cannabis Use and Cognitive Decline in Persons Under 65 Years of Age," American Journal of Epidemiology, May 1999, vol. 149, p. 794-800; "Long-term Use Doesn't Hurt Mind, Study Says," Detroit Free Press, May 7, 1999; "The Straight Dope," Science News (US), May 22, 1999). Scientists at JHU tracked the mental functioning of 1,318 Baltimore residents aged 18 to 64 over the course of 11 ½ years. After analyzing data gathered by the Mini-Mental State Examination, or MMSE, researchers concluded that there is no cognitive decline associated with marijuana use. The researchers said that cognitive decline is related to aging and starts in individuals younger than 30 years old. The decline is said to increase exponentially with each decade that passes, but attaining a higher level of education may reduce the severity of cognitive decline.

The Surgeon General:

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Number of American deaths per year that result directly or primarily from the following selected causes nationwide, according to World Almanacs, Life Insurance Actuarial (death) rates, and the last 20 years of U.S. Surgeaon Generals' reports. (figures are for 1988 from the federal government's Bureau of Mortality Statistics and the National Institute on Drug Abuse....

Tobacco 340,000 to 425,000

Alcohol (not including 50% of all highway deaths
and 65% of all murders) 150,000

Aspirin (Including deliberate overdose) 180 to 1,000+

Caffeine (from stress, ulcers and triggering
irregular heartbeats, etc) 1,000 to 10,000

'Legal' Drug overdose (Deliberate or accidental)
from legal prescribed or patent medicines
or from mixing with alcohol (eg. Valium with
Alcohol) 14,000 to 27,000

Illicit Drug Overdose (deliberate or accidental)
from all illegal drugs 3,800 to 5,200

Theopoline (Pharmaceutical Drug legally prescribed
for asthma) 50
Theopoline is also responsible for 6,500
hospital admissions and 1,000 cases of
permanent brain damage per year.

Marijuana 0 (ZERO)

Marijuana users also have the same or lower incidence of murders and highway deaths and accidents than the general non-marijuana- using population as a whole. Crancer Study, UCLA: U.S. funded ($6 million) First and Second Jamaican studies, 1968 to 1974; Costa Rican Studies, 1980 to 1982; et al.

OTA:
According to the congressional Office of Technology Assessment, research over the last 10 years has proved that marijuana has no effect on dopamine-related brain systems - unless you are an inbred Lewis rat (see below), in which case abstention is recommended. The discovery of a previously unknown system of cannabinoid neural transmitters is profound. While century-old questions, such as why marijuana is nontoxic, are finally being answered, new, fascinating questions are emerging - as in the case of all great discoveries. In the words of Israeli researcher Raphael Mechoulam, the man who first isolated the structure of THC, "Why do we have cannabinoid receptors?" Mechoulam's theory will resonate well with marijuana smokers in the United States. He observes that "Cannabis is used by man not for its actions on memory of movement or movement coordination, but for its actions on memory and emotions," and asks, "Is it possible that the main task of cannabinoid receptors . . . (is) to modify our emotions, to serve as the links which transmit or transform or translate objective or subjective events into perceptions and emotions?" At a 1990 conference on cannabinoid research in Crete, Mechoulam concluded his remarks by saying, "Let us hope, however, that through better understanding of cannabis chemistry in the brain, we may also approach the chemistry of emotions."

National Highway Safety Commision:
Studies conducted under the auspices of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) suggests that fatal accidents resulting solely from cannabis consumption occur rarely, if ever. One study of 1,882 drivers killed in crashes in 1990-91 found alcohol in more than half of the cases, but cannabis traces in just 6.7 percent - the majority of whom also had intoxicating levels of alcohol in their systems at the time of the crash.

When the data were analyzed, cannabis consumers actually showed a lower likelihood of being involved in a fatal crash than that of a drug-free control group, though the difference was not judged to be statistically significant. A related NHTSA-sponsored study of driving performance under the influence of marijuana, conducted in the Netherlands, found that "that alcohol encourages risky driving whereas THC (marijuana's active ingredient) encourages greater caution, at least in experiments. Another way THC seems to differ qualitatively from many other drugs is that users seem better able to compensate for its adverse effects while driving under the influence."

Now as for the Bible...
Marijuana is not mentioned, however drinking, far more hazardouse is mentioned and NOT condemned unless done in excess to the point of loseing self control. Paul makes clear in his writtings that
1)nothing God made is unclean.
2) Nothing God created is forbidden to us
3) such things as consumptions are on a conviction basis..i.e. it is only a sin if you are not thouroughly convinced it isn't
4) Paul illustrates that rules about not being able to consume things shows a "weakness" in faith.


Good enough?

 

It's good to know you know your secular stuff.

Ben

 

The issue of Blind Faith, or Questioning God or a Christians true spirit:

A.W. Tozer once said "It is no sin to doubt some things but it may be fatal to believe everything."

I Jn. 4:1-3: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world."

The way to test a false prophet was by doctrine, not by what they would actually say, because in Deut. 13 God says it can actually come to pass, but that he is testing you whether you love the Lord.

Ezek. 13:2-3: "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, 'Hear the word of the LORD!'" Thus says the Lord GOD: "Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!" God says one can actually say they are hearing from the Lord, but it really is their own spirit.

l Thess. 5:19-22 V.19: "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies.2l Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." We are to be open to what God may have to say but not naive'. The word "prove" (Gr. doldmazo) means to discern or examine in order to prove whether or not a thing is acceptable. There is spiritual evil as well as a worldly evil. To Test all things means to test miracles as well as prophecy and teaching.


Mt. 7:1-2: "Do not judge lest you be judged. "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. " Those who do not want to be tested in their teachings use this verse as immunization for any scrutiny of their faulty theology. Notice he says not to judge by our standard. Why? Because we all have different standards. But, there is a greater, more ultimate standard for all - God's word. Vs.2 clarifies what Jesus is saying: if we make judgments on others, then we are to submit to be judged by the same standards. In other words if we judge another's teaching by the word of God, then our teachings must also coincide with the truth of Gods word. How can we help another if we don't receive correction or truth in our own life?

Matt.7:16-24 vs.15: "Beware of false prophets that come to you in sheep’s clothing. "False prophets were the enemy of the people in the O.T (Jer5:23) by listening to them they were brought them into bondage. They look like everyone else on the outside, the only way to tell is by the word, because inside "they are ravenous wolves". They eat sheep

Mt.7:16-17: "You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree brings forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree brings forth bad fruit... "therefore by their fruits you shall know them." So he is actually saying by the way someone lives, acts and says things, you can know him or her. What someone believes will be shown on the outside, we cannot judge the persons heart, but we can determine their teachings and practices.

Gal. 5:22: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." James says: 3:17 "But this wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits. without partiality and without hypocrisy."


Jn. 7:24: "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment." Here, Jesus tells us to judge. In the same chapter, he previously said the only way one can have a righteous judgment is to have it based on the word- not according to their own prejudices or feelings nor looking to the outward. We don't judge the heart or motives, or even the style, but their teaching (content) and actions." Jesus certainly did, and was quite strong against those who knew better, who claimed to be teachers of the law, and lead others astray.

Acts 17:11 tells us that when Paul came to the Berean's, they reacted to his teachings by searching the Word of God to see if Paul was preaching the truth. Paul called them more noble than the Thessalonians because they were concerned with discerning Truth, using Scripture as the standard. Paul did not discourage them from questioning his teaching even though he was an apostle. He approved of it. Only those who know they are off-course will cry, “Don't discern or judge!”


A full examination of what is being said is the safest course for every believer in Christ. All supernatural events must be tested before they can be embraced as truth. Don't be intimidated by big names saying not too. It's your spiritual right, even your obligation, for your own protection.

The spiritual man can discern all things. This shows maturity as Heb.5:13-14 says. II Jn 9 speaks to us about deceivers and tells us the only way to know is by doctrine: “Whoever transgresses (goes beyond the boundaries set forth and already established) and does not abide (live in, trust, stay in remain in) the doctrine of Christ does not have God.”

Heb. 5:11-14 says that we are to discern the good from the evil in a person's life and behavior. This applies to teachings inside the body of Christ and outside.

The word “judge” used in 1 Cor. 2:14-15 means that one is to use discernment to see a thing's true value or to examine something (Gr. Anakrino). In Mt. 7:1, the word “judge” means to determine or call into question (Greek Krino).

Rom.16:17-18: “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.

If we put our minds at rest or in neutral, we become sponges and soak up whatever is given to us including the dirt. God has communicated to man via our intellect not our feelings or our spirit only.

The mind is our protection and is not to be put aside and belittled as we hear so many teaching today. We are hearing that one can't understand the things of the Spirit with it, but the truth is that we can't understand spiritual things without it. Hosea 4:6 says-"My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge because they have rejected knowledge." This requires thinking not feeling. God communicates with mankind via the intellect and senses such as sight and hearing and not being exclusive to feelings, knowledge is received through the mind.
Jesus engaged the whole person especially the mind. He answered the questions of the people giving them answers not avoided them.

 

Demons 101:

Practicing Sin still creates bondage and can open one up to having little control over certain aspects in their lives.. This is called oppression and it certainly is different than possession. The word used in the gospels is demonized (Greek Diamonizomai) meaning to be controlled by a demon. The common expression is "to have a demon" Mt.11:18 which expresses residency. By this it means this entity can have direct control of a person from the inside. With this comes a certain degree of derangement in the mind or physical upset in the body. (Mk.5:1-20 Mt.12:43-45.) It best that one should distinguish control from harassment.

Yielding to the desires of the flesh can bring one into bondage but this certainly cannot be put in the same category as demonization. While it makes one do the will of Satan instead of God it should not be confused with occupation. In Gal. 5:19-22, much of what is blamed on demons is really man's fallen nature, expressing itself through his flesh. Demons can entice and exaggerate our fleshly weaknesses but the blame lies in ourselves .

While demonic power can affect the outside of our body and our emotions and minds they can never come into the innermost man, one needs to distinguish between oppression and possession .Satan has a limit in dealing with a believer otherwise we are no better off then one who is a non believer. If every time they sin it is blamed on demonic activity than what would be the difference when we sin. Then Christ cannot protect His people.

"The real potential for problems in the Christian life is blaming things on the demonic and neglecting normal Christian growth and maturity. It is this kind of lack of maturity in the lives of many believers, because they are looking for the quick fix of a Neil Anderson deliverance, that will prove the greater damage. I am concerned that believers wake up to the false ways ." (Biblical Perspectives Vol.V, no.3 1992)

The consequences of believing one is possessed can certainly be even more devastating than actually being inhabited. The focus than shifts from actually dealing with the problem and taking responsibility for one actions to blaming it on a unseen enemy a demon which is not even there. The lie of having the demon can be just as bad and what one really needs deliverance from is the lie of being inhabited with so called possession.

 

"The way to test a false prophet was by doctrine, not by what they would actually say, because in Deut. 13 God says it can actually come to pass, but that he is testing you whether you love the Lord."

Deuteronomy 18:20-22
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Ben

 

It's interesting that in 18 if it doesn't come to pass you just ignore the prophet. But in 13, if a prophet tries to get you to follow false gods, it spends a good portion of the chapter explaining that prophet should be put to death no matter who it is, even if you're related. This fits with the last words of Revelation which is often used to say there should be no more Bible.

Proverbs 30:5-6
5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

makes it clear what it's actually talking about. Deuteronomy 13 is a secular punishment (typical of the OT) while Revelation makes it clear it's still wrong but God will take care of them.

Deuteronomy 13:1-11
1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

Ben

 

God of Love or Condemnation: Biblical numerics

The word love is mentioned 505 times in the Bible!

HE SEES (Proverbs 15:3)
HE CARES (1 Peter 5:7)
HE COMFORTS (Psalm 86:17)
HE HEALS (Psalm 147:3)
HE PROMISES JUSTICE (Psalm 103:6)

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." JOHN 3:16

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. GOD IS LOVE. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him." 1 JOHN 4:16

"We love because he first loved us." 1 JOHN 4:19

"But God demonstrates his own live for us in this: While we were yet sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US." ROMANS 5:8

Read Psalm 23 and Romans 8:38-39

"I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right" ACTS 10:34-35

Jesus himself put up with intolerance. You can change.

How God dealt with the issue of religious prejudice in Acts 11:1-18 Some other verses are Ephesians 2:11-12, and Galatians 2:11-14

1. Our heavenly Father is merciful (MICAH 7:8)

2. We are to be like him "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children" EPHESIANS 5:1

3. So we should be merciful to others "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" LUKE 6:36

JESUS IS YOUR....

SAVIOUR "And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 19:10

LORD "And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6:46

LOVE "I love them that love me; and those that seek my early shall find me." Proverbs 8:17

PEACE "The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace." Psalm 29:11

FORGIVENESS "Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah." Psalm 85:2

RIGHTEOUSNESS "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30

DELIVERER "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, the is liberty." 2 Corinthians 3:17

FELLOWSHIP "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:9

EXAMPLE "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." 1 John 2:6

COMPANION "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." Psalm 27:10

BROTHER "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:26

GUARDIAN "But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head." Psalm 3:3

SECURITY "Who hath sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." 2 Corinthians 1:22

SUFFICIENCY "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

FULFILLMENT "For he satisfied the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." Psalm 107:9

EVERYTHING "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." MATTHEW 21:22

THE BIBLE IS YOUR....

INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY "Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." Psalm 119:89

DEED OF INHERITANCE "And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:29

GUIDE FOR LIFE "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105

STABILITY "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

STRENGTH "My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word." Psalm 119:28

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU FEEL....

DISCOURAGED "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." John 14:1

WORRIED "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7

LONELY "I will not leave you comforless: I will come to you." John 14:18

DEPRESSED "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." Psalm 147:3

DISSATISFIED "For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." Psalm 107:9

CONDEMNED "Blessed is he whose trangression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." Psalm 32:1

CONFUSED "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." 1 Corinthians 14:33

TEMPTED "Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee." Psalm 119:11

ANGRY "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath." Ephesians 4:26

REBELLIOUS "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Ephesians 5:21

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE....

EXPERIENCING FEAR "In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me." Psalm 56:11

MENTALLY DISTURBED "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." Psalm 119:165

IN NEED OF COURAGE "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord." Psalm 118:17

IN NEED OF PATIENCE "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1

IN NEED OF PEACE "Lord thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us." Isaiah 26:12

LUKEWARM SPIRITUALLY "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast thy first love." Revelation 2:4

IN GRIEF "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4

IN DOUBT ABOUT GOD "And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform." Romans 4:20, 21

WHAT TO DO WHEN....

YOU NEED CONFIDENCE "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Romans 8:37

TROUBLES HIT YOUR LIFE "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." John 14:1

YOU HAVE A PHYSICAL SICKNESS "Who forgiveth all thine iniquites; who healeth all thy diseases" Psalm 103:3

YOU ARE IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." Psalm 23:1

WHEN YOU ARE HAVING MARITAL PROBLEMS "Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins." Proverbs 10:12

YOU ARE DESERTED BY LOVED ONES "When my mother and father forsake my, then the Lord will take my up." Psalm 27:10

YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND GOD'S WAYS "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised

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" Hebrews 10:23

WAITING ON GOD "Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield." Psalm 33:20

WHAT THE BIBLE HAS TO SAY ABOUT....

FAITH "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

LOVE "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

ETERNITY "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." 1 John 5:11

SERVING GOD "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Matthew 4:10

OBEDIENCE "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29

THE CARNAL MIND "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 14:12

THE GRACE OF GOD "Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour." Proverbs 14:9

THE HOLY SPIRIT "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18

THE CHURCH "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for bethren to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133:1

STEWARDSHIP "If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures." Job 36:11

SATAN "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7

THE RETURN OF CHRIST "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13

THE UNSAVED "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

TRUTH FROM THE BIBLE ABOUT....

FORGIVING OTHERS "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21

CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP "We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company." Psalm 55:14

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

SPEAKING GOD'S WORD "There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wist is health." Proverbs 12:18

FINDING THE WILL OF GOD "For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death." Psalm 48:14

ANSWERED PRAYER "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask inprayer, believing, ye shall receive." Matthew 21:22

UNSAVED LOVED ONES "Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." Acts 11:14

MARRIAGE "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord." Proverbs 18:22

DIVORCE "Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery." Luke 16:18

YOUR FAMILY "Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers." Proverbs 17:6

WIVES "Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord." Colossians 3:18

WIDOWS "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me." Jeremiah 49:11

SINGLES "I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I." 1 Corinthians 7:8

THE ELDERLY "They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing." Psalm 92:14

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO....

GROW SPIRITUALLY "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection." Hebrews 6:1a

CHANGE THE WORLD "Ye are the salt of the earth." Matthew 5:13a



I could go on...and on....and on... But I think the point is made: The Bible is not a book made to be used to condemn others and justify our arrogance..it is a LOVE story, a manual of humanity and help and HOPE!

 

True, Kalvin, that difference is interesting.
It also backs up the idea that what does or doesn't come to pass nor the name of God being invoked by a man doesn't prove or disprove his actuall integrity..one must then call the other criterias for testing the spirit in to the equation.

 

That was ridiculous, KalvinB

Or I'll laugh and tell you with how little integrity you stand.

You tell me, please. It's what I gather of your approach. Tony1 is not accountable for his spitefulness because he denies it by virtue of his mandate from God to be belligerent and priggish.

Like I said, your sense of metaphor sucked with the "doing time" idea. It's your term. I was hoping to figure out how you think he's "done time". I didn't think the idea was that difficult, or are you just trying to evade the issue?

Again you go complaining that people don't write what you like. Everyone's a critic ...

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Your online persona is a pretty crappy Christian compared to the expressed ideal. Tony1 found a way around that: invent a new Christianity that makes spite and idiocy proper Christianity. It's not that new, though, except for the bit about not pretending it's worth anything good. However, you're ... well, what do you expect? As I noted, you don't feel the need to consider other people as you've expressed.

Aren't you the one who was working with the judicial metaphor? Aren't you the one who said I was harping on issues he's been acquitted of? So what's snide about asking if his A-#1 lap-dog is the acquitting body?

You'll have to explain this sentence, for it makes no real sense. I'm sure you meant something important by it.

You're a Christian, KalvinB. Please understand this: in pursuit of the best potential of the human nature, I will beg, borrow, harangue, or steal some integrity out of one of you Christians in my life. One of the primary assumptions upon which my worldviews rest is the assumption of human potential. I do not believe we are born to sin, or born evil, or anything stupid like that.

Do you have any idea how influential a body as large as "Christianity" can be in society? Truly? How fundamental some Christian ideas are in Western culture? There's a specific reason I need integrity from the Christian faction: you're a huge group, and if you're wielding something as dangerous as Biblical faith in a social arena, you need to do so honestly.

Anyway, I'll leave you to your own metaphors for now.

There's a reason you don't care why: it's up to Tony1 to stop dragging down the threads.

--Tiassa

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~~~

Excellent point, tiassa, and a colossal topic unto itself. Actually, I'd expand it a bit: the need to wield anything--that has the power to affect the lives of others--with honesty and integrity.

"Do unto others as you'd have others do unto you." ???

At best the faithful can only answer the questions posed in these forums with accounts of personal experiences, and/or exhortations urging the faithless to seek out their our own "connection" with a higher non-human power.

They can only ever offer assertions of faith. And the root of what they believe in is anti-man. It's really pretty simple, folks.

You can't have your cake... and eat it, too.

~~~

Counterbalance

 

"You'll have to explain this sentence, for it makes no real sense. I'm sure you meant something important by it. "

You insult Tony and much as Tony insults you but then you go write a book to try to look like the victim.

You can't even keep snideness out of this conversation even in your last post.

Ben

 

Poor you ... poor Tony1

How petty would you like to take this, KalvinB? Did you want to get down to a post-by-post analysis? Would you like to compare my varying rates of gradual disapproval against Tony1's condemnations out of the gate? Do you remember our own posting relationship? It was never great, but things really did break down after you started laying into people and I lit into you for it.

Anyway, get back to me when you're ready to present your post-by-post. In the meantime, as you stand for Tony1 in this debate, ask yourself who God's redemption is for, and why Tony1 thinks it's his obligation to drive people away from God and thus cause them to forfeit their redemption.

Do some documentation ... it'll be cool to see what you find.

--Tiassa

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"but things really did break down after you started laying into people and I lit into you for it."

Talk about integrity. Don't suppose you'll ever "lit into" your fellow aithiest posters for doing the same thing. This is part of the "playing victim" package. Poor me, poor tony? Who dedicates topics to pointing out how you and other aithiests have been hurt by the mean ol' Christians?

"and why Tony1 thinks it's his obligation to drive people away from God and thus cause them to forfeit their redemption"

Poor aithiests. If only Tony hadn't been an asshole you'd all be heading for heaven right now.

And you say I whine. That kind of excuse is right up there with "the devil made me do it."

Ben

 

Next tantrum, make it relevant, KalvinB

I'll take that to indicate that you have no real point to argue?

Is there a reason all you can do is deflect the question? Is there any reason that deflection has nothing to do whatsoever with the point you're responding to?

--Tiassa

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America need's GOD Almighty!

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We need GOD back in our society! And there is an revival coming! Thank GOD Almighty!

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Christians PRAY for our nation the United States of America! One nation under GOD, with liberty and Justus for alll! Spiritual 'terrorist' beware! JESUS is soon to return! And He will Judge the Earth! Science is wonderful, but JESUS and His Holy Word is 'superior'!

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"I'll take that to indicate that you have no real point to argue?"

Besides the fact you ignore half my post:

Course you would. You didn't even understand what I meant by you falling down and playing victim. I didn't deflect the question. You blame Tony for your own rebellion. That's right up there with saying the Devil made you do it. At least Cris has the integrity to say his rejection of Christianity is of his own choosing.

Calling my post a tantrum is as valid as evolutionists calling every scientific argument people have against evolution religious so they don't have to face up to the fact that maybe there's a problem on their end.

I'm not throwing a tantrum. I'm telling it like I see it. Much the same thing you do with Tony except I don't write books and consistantly dedicate days at a time to make certain that others think you are indeed a mean person and that no one forgets it.

Ben

 

To GOD be the Glory!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And repent and pray for the USA!!

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