"God uses your past to train you for the future so start expecting God to do great things in your future."
"Trouble is a stepping stone to the next stage. No obstacle can hold you back from God's plan for your life."
"Ezekiel 1. This is my conclusion. The four living creatures are angels who represent the people of God who are men, carry the authority of heaven (lion), do the work of God (ox) and who can see things from God's perspective (eagle). These are the ones who cry Holy, Holy, Holy and worship the Lord. The spirit of the four living beast is in the wheels because the Lord goes with these people wherever they go. Since they are intent on doing the will of God, they never turn from their focus on doing the will of God. Obstacles on earth that come into their path are merely jumped over. The Lord is the Lord no matter where his people are because he goes with them wherever they go. The reason the wings, which represent a heavenly purpose being accomplished on earth, are touching is because the people of God are unified in their purpose which is to do the will of God."
"The doctrine of soul sleep is hard to accept since it
contradicts so much in Scripture. Jesus clearly said, "And as touching the
dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush
God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye
therefore do greatly err." If Jesus
calls it a serious error, I do too!
My first rule is that the Bible was written for all mankind
and not just a select few."
"You become born again when you place your faith in
Jesus... Your spirit is then baptized into the body of Christ by means of the
Holy Spirit."
"I think some don't want to be dominated by love because
they want to stay in control... Heaven is all about God"
"I would encourage everyone to be happy with how you
were made by God. A woman should be thankful to be a woman and a man should be
thankful to be a man. When we look at the opposite sex and say, "I want my
spouse to be just like me?" You really are blaming God for a bad
design."
“I believe the richness of Genesis lies in the fact that God
created, designed, ordered our world for us to enjoy. He made man on the 6th
day which is the number of man and then rested on the 7th to enjoy
the creation which is also the number of perfection."
"Even if a person is cloned, they would still have a
soul. The soul is the form of the body and what remains the same even while the
physical body itself is constantly changing. Have you ever wondered why a
person can maintain the same identity over 100 years? Their bodies have replaced all the cells in
it several times by that age...but they are still the same person.. Our
identity is in the soul and spirit whose life is experienced and unified in a body. The
fact that our souls don't change while the body changes is also what makes them
immortal once they have come into existence."
"In the book of Amos ,
Israel Israel
"There are many men who understand 1 Corinthians 13. Many though get offended when they are told to live a life of sacrifice for their wives...
One guy told me, "When do I get what I want?"... Most people really
don't understand Luke 6, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good
measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into
your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.""
"Most atheists now call themselves ‘agnostic
atheists’. I usually had a little fun
with that because agnostic means that a person has no knowledge which is the
same as saying that they need to get an education..."
"We assign responsibilities to roles in terms of their
function. A husband has a role to play as much as a wife. These roles are
defined in Scripture where a husband is the head and the wife is the helper. If
a wife is attempting to be the head, then she is not fulfilling her role as a
wife and trying to perform her husband's role in the relationship. This leads to social confusion and
conflict."
"Outside of marriage, a person also has a role to play
as a Christian man or woman. I don't think we ever escape a role because to
deny roles is really to deny responsibility and this is not Biblical. People
that deny roles are proposing anarchy."
"Some of the most frustrated people I know are men who
expect their wives to think like men. The same is the case when I meet a woman
who expects her husband to think like a woman."
"The Bible makes marriage easy. If you just follow Scripture, if you are smart
enough to do that, the Scriptures reveal how men and women are to treat one
another."
“A person in a bad marriage is always using "what do I
have to do" thinking.... that is non-Christian type thinking. A Christian
says, "How can I serve my spouse so that they can be all that God has
called them to be?" _--- very different way of thinking"
“When the Bible says that my wife needs to be loved, this
means I take her feelings very seriously!!"
"The picture given in Scripture is that once you see the
Holiness of God, you immediately recognize that you are a sinner - A simple
formula."
“A good way to share Christ with a friend is just to invite
them to church. 1 Cor. 14:24 says,
"But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while
everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and
will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he
will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
"The evidence for the resurrection is also overwhelming
which is another great place to start when talking with an unbeliever.”
"A man is supposed to love His wife as Christ loved the
Church and gave his life for it.... A man has to be willing to give up his
life, desires, and impulses etc to do what is best for his wife to ensure that
she feels loved and knows she is valued. This is the call of God upon a man...
We know we are valued by the Lord because He died for us... We have to be
willing to do the same with our desires as husbands."
"The Christian view is that man is suppose to sacrifice
for his wife and His wife sacrifices by respecting her husband. Each person
is living a life of sacrifice and this bonds them together as one."
Romans 8, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor
life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things
to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." --
Christ does dominate us with his love so that our only desire is for Him.
"When you recognize each other roles, you do see each
other as equals. I see my wife as an equal; however, I realize that she has a
role to play and I have a role to play. We often times show love by helping
each other out in helping the other to fulfill those roles. Since the roles are
defined, my wife and I have very little conflict."
"In order to do what is best for my family, this
involves their input and I have to know each one of them extremely well so that
I can tailor their world for growth as a person. You see this most in terms of
raising kids where you have to create a stable world for your kids to grow
in... I work with my wife to create this world; however, the success or failure
always falls on the man who is the head of the home."
“A person can't deny that man is the head while at the same
time saying that he is only a servant. Christ is both the head and a servant
because Christ has to fulfill His role as Lord of All and Servant of all at the
same time."
"I honestly judge a man's wisdom by looking and talking
with their wives. The inner beauty of a woman's spirit tells me if a man is
really loving His wife as Christ loved the church."
"If a man is really the head, the wife should experience
more freedom, have more influence, become more beautiful and be growing in her
faith all while feeling totally secure. The effect of agape love is wonderful
if a man is using Christ as His example..."
"For example, we all know that God exist...even the
atheist. We talk about God either by affirming him or denying him; however,
this does not affect the reality or truth that He exists. The problem for atheist
is that their moral depravity will not allow them to see the
truth for what it is...."
“When you disbelieve in God you don't really know anything.
Knowledge is premised on the fact that God designed the world to be known and enjoyed.
Without the designer, you really have no idea what you are looking at. That is
the root problem with atheism. Atheism
is really is a form of agnosticism about everything. Of course, an agnostic is one who claims to
have no knowledge about ultimate reality."
“All heresies flow from the fact that a person denies that
Christ is both fully God and fully man. All cults are defined on this
basis."
“Incest was not wrong until the law was given so no one knew
it was wrong until the law was given. The problem though for Darwinians is that
incest is never wrong in their worldview since all of mankind is the result of
incest. Incest would still be allowed
today since the atheist doesn’t recognize the God of the Bible who thousands of
years ago stated it was wrong."
"In the New, the
Spirit takes on the role of love driven action due to the indwelling presence
of the Holy Spirit."
"The role of the man is to create a world for his wife
to operate in. As the head of my home I see this as my primary duty. Christ is
the head who created this world for us to enjoy. Within that world we create,
the wife fills that world with life just like we fill the world with life. My
wife feels very, very free in this world that I have created for her and she
makes tons of decisions all the time. In fact she makes most of the decisions
and I agree with them. However, there are times when her decisions are a threat
to the world I have created for her and advise that her decision could hurt her
or the kids. In those moments, I do expect my wife to submit to my role in the
family."
"A wise man works with and listens to his wife. This is
an act of love. I agree with my wife almost all the time..."
"Praying is a form of worship. We are not called to worship the saints. I
don't pray to anyone on the earth and I don't pray to anyone in heaven besides
Christ who is both God and man being the mediator between God and man."
"I think some find security in history even if the
history has problems. We all want to align with salvation history. I just think
that history is better aligned with Scripture than an institution."
"Don't you think that sacred tradition is really a code
word for the Pope replacing the authority of Christ and His Spirit with His
own?"
"I believe the Scriptures were brought together by the
Holy Spirit."
"How can we be far removed from early Christianity when
we are still using their gospels and letters?"
“I don't see anything like praying to Mary, penance, the
rosary, confession, purgatory in the Scripture."
“The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit given to us in
the New is why Jesus said, "The gates of Hell will not prevail against the
church."
"Circumcision set the Jews apart physically; however, it
also set them apart spiritually. As a result, circumcision of the heart was a
spiritual thing. How was one to be circumcised in their heart, they had to
believe the word of God. The word of God is what set them apart in my opinion
which was the acceptance of the covenant."
"The epistles show that "circumcision of the
heart" in the Old is the equivalent of "being born again" in the
New.”
"The Scriptures says that 'nothing can separate from the
love of God' which I take to mean sin too..."
"The book of life is called the book of life because
only those names found in it at the judgement will be saved."
“God's love (agape) is at work in you to do what is good. Without this love, the apostle John says a person is not even a
Christian. A man has a choice to walk
with God because his Spirit lives within us. Prior to faith, we didn't have the
choice to do good or to love because we were spiritually dead."
"A Christian is one who has be born of God receiving his
Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). Our spirit is baptized into the body of Christ in this
way. The way God lives within us is through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19) and
this Spirit has the ability to fill our soul so that our mind, heart, body and
strength are being used for His glory (Eph 5:18). God’s work is to produce the
fruit of the Spirit being love, joy and peace. The person who commissions the
work is Christ (Matt 28)"
"I think the pre-tribulation position pans out because
the church is expecting to be raptured unexpectantly. If a Christian thought he would see the
anti-Christ first, then we would be looking for the anti-Christ
instead of Christ. I think we can see where the world is heading; however, I
don't think it is possible to know and predict when the rapture will take
place."
“The old covenant is active in Christ but is now obsolete.”
"My faith has to agree with the will of God in order for
anything to happen so it is all grounded in the will of God. My faith won't move a mountain because it is
God's will that moves the mountain."
"The Spirit uses the knowledge we have for his glory in
the same way that the Spirit uses our gifts for His glory. This is why we are
to grow in knowledge and grace. The sermon on the mount is the word of God that
enters our life that the Spirit uses for His glory. I think to argue the other
way really leaves us blind as a church since God's word is what gives us
knowledge of His will, His ways and His being."
"The list of spiritual gifts is not exhaustive here. The
list is never the same in different contexts. Since all our gifts are now used
by the Holy Spirit, they are spiritual gifts."
“I believe everyone is born into the New Covenant as Christ
died for all; however, I also believe that one has to accept the covenant in
order to be saved."
"Was Jesus unable to heal some because of their lack of
faith? It is not that Jesus couldn't do
it; rather, he wouldn't do it. All things are subject to the will of God. If a
person will not accept the will of God, then God does not force them to accept
His grace; however, Jesus could have healed them on command since He was
God"
“The Old Covenant is still active in the person of Christ
which is why all Israel
"Do you think that sin has power over the destiny of a
Christian? Or do you believe it was nailed to the cross? I believe sin was nailed to the cross"
"The point of Christ death and resurrection was to
defeat sin. As a result, I don't think sin has any power over a believer. Once you
receive the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to spiritually die like Adam and Eve
did in the garden again. Sin won in the garden resulting in spiritual death;
however, I don't believe that sin can win now since Christ has rose from the
dead. Since the Spirit is in our life
permanently once we are made alive in Christ, the evidence of a person's faith
before men will be their works so that a person's faith is made perfect by the
works but not a necessary requirement for salvation."
"Human pride wants to always be right. We have to be
humble enough to listen and respond in love. This is always a great reminder.
If we don't respond in love, it can hurt the faith of the person who we are
talking with because non-love doesn't grow a person except for their
pride."
"If God did not have three persons, then God would not
be a social God who made us for relationship. You would have Allah who simply
requires obedience rather than relationship."
“Trinitarian Doctrine: Three persons in one essence is the
doctrine. The best example is to take a circle and divide into three parts and
then make each part of the circle infinite. Since each part is infinite, you
never would be able to distinguish a part; however, there are three persons in
that original circle which are now infinite so that a person can no longer
distinguish one from the other. If a person were to respond that each part could not
take the others space, it is important to note that God is not a spatial
creature. That is why the Trinity goes beyond our understanding because we live
within the mind of God. Only a person outside of God could understand it; however,
since God is infinite, there is nothing outside of God because God has no
beginning or end.”
"If you don't believe that Christ was God and man then
Jesus could not be the mediator between God and man..."
"Let's look at Romans 8:16 which says, "The Spirit
himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Please note
that man has a spirit distinct from the Holy Spirit. Man's spirit comes to know
the life of God through the Holy Spirit; however, man's spirit is still his
own. Without the Holy Spirit, man cannot enjoy fellowship with God with his own
spirit because we are spiritually dead being devoid of the life of God. This is
why I believe in total depravity. The Bible is amazingly consistent on this
issue."
"A holy life is a life filled with the fruit of the
Spirit. Pure love being an aspect of the nature of God is Holy; however, it really is more than love
because the idea of holiness means perfection which sets God apart from the
creation. God is perfect love, joy etc. As believers in Christ we can only share in God's perfections through the presence of the Holy Spirit...."
"It really is crazy isn't it that whether we see Christ
or not does not affect whether we accept or reject him. Our election is
grounded in the sovereignty of God from eternity... It truly is an amazing
thought. The voice that we hear is never seen but we follow that voice if we
are his sheep."
"When a woman is dominated by love, she knows that her
husband is doing what He believes is best for her and she melts in his arms
through the discussion even if they don't agree."
