Previous 1
Topic: The hope of Heaven...is it ridiculous to hope?
no photo
Sun 10/19/08 06:22 PM

Paul wrote: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Rom. 8:18). The glory to come will be immeasurably greater than the depth of any sorrow we may know today!

(2 Cor. 4:17). The very qualities and virtues that will fit us for Heaven are today being woven into our soul through the many afflictions of our present life . . . freeing us from the bonds of self-indulgence, creating in us a heart of compassion for others, and prodding us to draw ever closer to the One whose presence we shall enjoy for eternity to come

On every side we hear the message that the "good life" consists in the accumulation of material possessions, the acquisition of power, or the enjoyment of sensual pleasure. Scripture does encourage us to enjoy the many good things of life with which we may be blessed (1 Tim. 6:17); but the hope of Heaven should remind us that this world and all that is in it is passing away, that its glory is for only a season (1 John 2:15 17), that we truly are "strangers and aliens" in this world (1 Pet. 2:11).

Finally, the hope of Heaven transforms our perspective on death. The Scriptures nowhere
teach that as believers we are immune from or should deny the reality of the sorrow that death can bring. But in Christ, we share in His victory over death! We grieve, but we grieve not as those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13), rather as those who are certain of our reunion with loved ones who have gone before, of receiving a glorious body that will never weaken or decay, of entering a wonderful new life beyond our fondest dreams, and of forever being with the Lord!

May777's photo
Sun 10/19/08 06:28 PM
I think THIS was heaven,.. bigsmile
or HELL pitchfork

it`s our choice

no photo
Mon 10/20/08 12:10 AM
FREE WILL - RIGHT OF CHOICE - REWARDS OF THIS LIFE OR REWARDS OF ETERNAL LIFE!

John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.


1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain [it]. 25 And everyone who competes [for] [the] [prize] is temperate in all things. Now they [do] [it] to obtain a perishable crown, but we [for] an imperishable [crown].

1 John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.

no photo
Mon 10/20/08 03:26 AM
John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.




"Ask and it is given."

"The law of attraction."

"Think and grow rich."

"Creative Visualization"

"The Power of Intention."

"The Magic of Believing."

"The Secret."

"The Science of Getting Rich."

"The Richest Man in Babylon."

"The Nature of Personal Reality."

"The Power of Will"







no photo
Mon 10/20/08 06:51 AM
CERTAINLY THERE MUST BE AT LEAST 1 OR 2 FALSE PROPHETS IN ONE OF THOSE TEACHINGS?.......HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM? SO IF ONE PERSON FOLLOWS THE ONE THEN THE OTHERS ARE FALSE? OR IF ONE FOLLOWS THE OTHER THEN THOSE TWO ARE TRUE AND THE REST ARE FALSE? HHHMMMM! THEY ARE ALL TRUE AND GOOD, THEN ALL IS TOLERATED AND ALL IS HAPPY AND JOYFUL CAUSE EACH PERSON CAN THEN FOLLOW THIER OWN UNDERSTANDING AND BELIEF SYSTEM AND TRY NOT TO HURT ANYONE ELSE AS THEY Practice their life values or morals or ethics or motive of operation! OKAY SO BE IT.

no photo
Mon 10/20/08 08:52 AM
There are prophets living today who are not false prophets. The Bible never states that there will be no more prophets, is merely condemns "false" prophets.

The problem with this is that some will claim that if a prophet is not of their religious doctrine then they are a "false prophet." They cannot know this because they themselves are not prophets.

The books listed about are books about the law of attraction and how it works. They totally agree with what is written in the Bible about the same subject. It is a universal law. Once you know the law of attraction and how it works you can use it to your advantage. This is not being a prophet. It is simply the technology of the creative technique.


no photo
Mon 10/20/08 09:34 PM
Edited by dewdrew on Mon 10/20/08 09:36 PM
...here's one of the hottest ones of lately, sadly....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_dUjQiOJsY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-bIMklXliA

Abracadabra's photo
Mon 10/20/08 10:36 PM
I'm on dial-up so I can't watch videos.

But just to the topic of heaven, and more specifically to the topic of "obeying commands".

Even back in the days when I was a Christian I quite confused when I read the teachings of Jesus as 'commandments'.

Why was I confused?

Because everything he taught was just plain common sense to me.

What kind of people need to be told to do these things?

What kind of people wouldn't automatically want to be nice to other people?

All the moral values that Jesus taught were already moral values that I held as my own. It's pretty hard to follow someone who believe just like you do.

Who's following whom?

And more importantly, who are all these people who would instinctively prefer to do bad things?

Is that what heaven will be full of? People who actually desire to do bad things but who merely refrain from acting on their evil desires because they believe they will be rewarded if they restrain themselves?

What will happen after those people actually get into heaven? huh

How long will they be able to restrain their natural desire to do bad things? Eternity is a long time to restrain oneself. Will they eventually become frustrated and rebel?

Will it just be a repeat of what happened with Satan? The angels in heaven finally rising up to rebel against God?

I think it's a real pity that so many people feel a need to restrain themselves from doing bad things just in the hope of earning a gift of eternal life.

However, if it works then I guess that's good. It will keep them off the streets.

Jesus said that he did not come for the righteous, he only came for the sinners.

So I suppose Christianity if for sinners, and that's why it makes no sense to me. It was never intended for me in the first place.

Good luck with earning your parole.

If you had been naturally good from the get go you wouldn't need to be facing judgment in the first place.

Blessed Be! flowerforyou



no photo
Mon 10/20/08 10:49 PM
Edited by dewdrew on Mon 10/20/08 10:51 PM
"If you had been naturally good..."
man is made from the sin-ful nature of ADAM = DNA OVERRIDES good.

all men are sinful
all men are condemned
all men need the gift


if one desires life in heaven, life from hells bondage, after physical death, for all eternity. its the message and purpose.....

Abracadabra's photo
Mon 10/20/08 11:39 PM
Edited by Abracadabra on Mon 10/20/08 11:41 PM

"If you had been naturally good..."
man is made from the sin-ful nature of ADAM = DNA OVERRIDES good.

all men are sinful
all men are condemned
all men need the gift


if one desires life in heaven, life from hells bondage, after physical death, for all eternity. its the message and purpose.....


Going around shoving the Bible in everyone's face is just downright ignorant. It presupposes that they have no clue. It's actually an insult to people. It implies that you think they can't read or make up their own minds.

Moreover, if you want to OBEY Jesus try this one on for size,...

Matt. 10
[5] These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

[6] But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Therefore if you are preaching to anyone who is not of the house of Israel you are being disobedient to your God!

You better watch who you preach to! huh

You could get yourself condemned to hell for not paying attention to your Master!

If you're going to preach the Bible at least get it right! huh

no photo
Tue 10/21/08 03:49 AM
These twelve Jesus sent forth,.....

he sure did speak and tell them and they obeyed, YOUR RIGHT ON WITH THAT ONE...

Luke 24:36-49
And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem;

(Matt 22:14)Many are called, but few will be chosen

Luke 24:36-49
After the resurrection; Finally he (CHRIST)appeared to his eleven disciples while they were eating. “As you go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to everyone".

John 20:19-23
Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

Acts 1:6-8
“The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 13:
While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away., being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to [their] minister. And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet..



NOT SURE WHAT THE "threat is for thou"


May777's photo
Tue 10/21/08 06:48 AM
and this is how wars are started,. :cry:

no photo
Tue 10/21/08 07:11 AM
Edited by Spidercmb on Tue 10/21/08 07:12 AM

and this is how wars are started,. :cry:


No, wars are always started over possessions. Land, livestock, etc

Religion is often used as an excuse, but the actual goal is the possession of wealth.

no photo
Tue 10/21/08 07:16 AM
Edited by Jeanniebean on Tue 10/21/08 07:20 AM

"If you had been naturally good..."
man is made from the sin-ful nature of ADAM = DNA OVERRIDES good.

all men are sinful
all men are condemned
all men need the gift


if one desires life in heaven, life from hells bondage, after physical death, for all eternity. its the message and purpose.....



I don't desire life in your heaven, I have better things to do. Heaven is boring. Hell is irritating. I'm not going to either place.

The term "sin" and "sinful" means to be disobedient to your lord and master who claims to be the Almighty God.

The God of the Bible is not the Prime Source of creation but a lessor creator God who demands obedience and worship. He has made the law that "The wages of sin (disobedience to him) is death," and he claims that all have sinned and all are condemned. This is by his own law, not by anything they are responsible for.

The term "sin" is a word that is confined only to this religious doctrine and it is owned by this religious doctrine. It is not used by anyone else other than in this context, therefore logically is has no meaning except to those who follow and adhere to and believe in this religious dogma that you preach.

If I told you that you have "sinned" by giving candy to children according to my religious doctrine you would not accept that because I would be using the term "sin" which is owned by your religious doctrine.

In my religious doctrine to preach your untruths would be a "sin" because my doctrine is truth and honesty and what you preach is a lie.

Your lessor creator God is based on myth. The story of Jesus is pure fiction. You have been fooled and so has the world for over 2000 years. Any lessor god who claims authority over you and battles another lessor god for your soul is not the Prime Source. These lessor gods have no power over you unless you give your power over to them.

I am sorry for your obvious state of bondage to a lessor god. I hope that you will free yourself from the burden of this mindset of slavery and servitude to a lessor god who is a tyrant.

Soul is free and the Will is free as Prime Source is free. Take responsibility for your own life and your own crimes. Save yourself. Your master is not going to save you. He will only place you further into bondage.

Jeanniebean
Rev High Priestess of the Universal Life Church of Brutal Truth and Honesty.

Freedom is paramount.




Abracadabra's photo
Tue 10/21/08 08:50 AM

These twelve Jesus sent forth,.....

he sure did speak and tell them and they obeyed, YOUR RIGHT ON WITH THAT ONE...

Luke 24:36-49
And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem;

(Matt 22:14)Many are called, but few will be chosen

Luke 24:36-49
After the resurrection; Finally he (CHRIST)appeared to his eleven disciples while they were eating. “As you go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to everyone".

John 20:19-23
Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

Acts 1:6-8
“The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 13:
While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away., being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to [their] minister. And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet..



NOT SURE WHAT THE "threat is for thou"


All you've shown here is that the Bible is completely inconsistent and contradictory.

At one point it has Jesus specifically saying not to preach to the Gentiles and Sumaritans, and on the next page it claims that the whole world should be taught the message.

Clearly the book can't possible be the word of any supreme being since it can't even get it's message consistent.

The men who made it up are caught red-handed once again.

Thank you for demnostrating this so vividly. flowerforyou

Abracadabra's photo
Tue 10/21/08 08:57 AM

"If you had been naturally good..."
man is made from the sin-ful nature of ADAM = DNA OVERRIDES good.

all men are sinful
all men are condemned
all men need the gift


if one desires life in heaven, life from hells bondage, after physical death, for all eternity. its the message and purpose.....


Here's another flaw in your supposedly righteous God.

You claim that all men are sinful because it is in their DNA. And you attribute the faulty DNA to Adam.

Well Duh!

If God created Adam with faulty DNA who's fault is that?

The whole human race is nothing but a sham created by a faulty God who gave us faulty DNA and then tries to pin the blame on us.

Once again you've exposed the mythology to be far inferior to what any genuine Supreme being could possibly be like.

Such a creator would be a klutz and totally responsible for having created beings with inferior DNA.

You're just proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Biblical picture of God can't possible be from any truly supreme creator. It is so flawed that it could have only come from the minds of men.

You're attempts to support the Bible as the word of God are actually an insult to any supreme creator that we might actually have.

The Bible is an insult to God.

And you believe it on pure faith.

Shame on you. ohwell

no photo
Tue 10/21/08 01:18 PM
BAD COMPUTER PROGRAM? BAD OPERATOR? GOOD PROGRAM, WRONG INSTRUCTIONAL INTERPRETATION? free will - thats waht it was....now I get it! lol

Abracadabra's photo
Tue 10/21/08 08:33 PM

BAD COMPUTER PROGRAM? BAD OPERATOR? GOOD PROGRAM, WRONG INSTRUCTIONAL INTERPRETATION? free will - thats waht it was....now I get it! lol


Even if you remove the possibility that it was a bad programmer for Adam and that maybe his own processing was at fault, you're still implying by the DNA implication that all his descendents merely inherited there faults.

So even if you put the blame on Adam instead of God, you're still stuck with implying that we aren't responsible for our own sinful nature.

Each individual necessarily must be responsible for their own choices and moral nature in a religion where God is going to be Judging the behavior of souls.

This is why it makes no sense for a judgmental God to proclaim prematurely that all men are sinners.

Yet the Bible (the supposed word of God) does precisely this.

Therefore it can't be true.

The men who made up this story were clearly lying. They were not inspired by any God to write these things because these ideals are not Holy.

They shot themselves in the foot on this one. flowerforyou

I have absolutely nothing againt a believe in a creator of this universe. On the contrary, I fully support such a belief.

However, I cannot support the Bible as being the word of God because it's clearly not. It can't be. The principles, the concepts, and the proclamations it makes simply can't be from an all-wise, all-loving, all-knowing, all-compassionate, God.

They just aren't compatible with those traits. The Bible all too often contradicts the very essence of what it claims that God is like.

You can't have man being responsible for his choices, and simultaneously rape him of his choices by proclaiming that he's a sinner whether he choses to be one or not.

Guilty without trial! huh

This a mob-mentality. Not a God mentality.

The authors of the Bible got a bit too overzealous in places trying to force a guilt trip on everyone without exception.

Shame on them!

They are caught red-handed!

Clearly, at the very least, some parts of the Bible must necessarily be the lies of men.

Personally I think the whole thing is the ramblings of superstitious, if not outright controlling, men.

The God of the Bible is far too human like. Even Albert Einstein once said that the biblical God has too many human frailties, jealous, angry, and even revenge!

Not to mention that he lusts to be the king of kings and lord of lord over his own universe.

If he's all-powerful then why didn't he just build the universe that way the first time? Why is an all-powerful God even playing war games with a fallen angel?

Clearly this picture had flaws galore.

I just believe that the real creator of this universe is far superior to this picture. The Bible is a very negative picture of both God and mankind. There's nothing pretty about it at all actually.




no photo
Thu 10/23/08 01:20 PM
''''Even if you remove the possibility that it was a bad programmer for Adam and that maybe his own processing was at fault, you're still implying by the DNA implication that all his descendents merely inherited there faults. '''''
..........................................................

wHERE DO YOU GET THIS STUFF FROM. aND IN THE END TIMES LIES WILL BECOME TRUTHS AND THE WORD WILL BE TWISTED FOR EVILS SAKE.

no photo
Thu 10/23/08 01:25 PM
//I just believe that the real creator of this universe is far superior to this picture. The Bible is a very negative picture of both God and mankind. There's nothing pretty about it at all actually.//

...........................................................................................................................



tHE REALITY IS THE WORLD IS A FAINT NEGATIVE OF THE heaven WE COME FROM, so it is familiar and not so shocking. sO INVESTING SO MUCH TIME ON ANYTHING EARTHLY when preparing for the next life eternal with CHRIST and GOD is far more productive for the soul for the body just returns to dust...






Previous 1