A better choice of words.

So was it the blog itself what was deemed offensive or was it the comments?

Ah Mr Bell, in your drunken days you probably chased a little action yourself.

Oh Boy! The Rapture is coming next. I am looking forward to read what your investigation about the Rapture has uncovered from the Word of God.

When God flooded the earth with water there was no talk about anyone being raptured up then. Only 8 people survived the flood out of Millions or Billions of people? There just wasn't anyone left alive worth saving except the family of 8 people.

When God let down the wall around Job so Satan could torment and destroy him, God didn't Rapture Job up. God didn't even talk to Job until Satan could see that Job wouldn't curse God.

Job even prayer to God to take his life. Job begged for mercy that God would let him die instead of suffering in pain, but God didn't Rapture Job up.

But now all the churches teach that God will Rapture up all the Christian people before the tribulations begin. How is that going to test the people for their loyalty to God?

Mr. Bell, I don't always agree with everything you say, but I'll always respect and defend your right to say it.

God Bless

Mr. Bell,

I seen no need for an apology for your blog article on Tiger Woods where you simply stated some very known facts using a phrase as old as Methusalem.

I would imagine that the truth you presented stung some readers who realized they met the meaning of the phrase you used and could not accept it and choose to complain to have it removed so they would not be reminded that they are serving or have served as an example of the phrase to someone or perhaps many in life.

The truth does sting. People react differently to the sting of truth.

Some accept it and repent, others stay in denial and hide from it.

Blessed Assurance, I missed that post of his but going on many of his last post I will tend to believe that it was pulled for reasons to do with an agenda in it to promote hate or posting information that was simple not true. Mr. Bell has in the past INTENTIONALLY posted out right lies, he has neither retracted those lies nor even tried to back them with reliable sources to show they were in any way creditable. HE will not verify his words. For this paper to withdraw his blog it must have been a doozie since I have seen the ones they let stay on here. And as for the sting of truth I say Mr. Bell still needs to feel that sting for the maunure he tried to pass to us in his blog on Christmas. DO you think he will ever man up and produce the facts that were requested to back his accusations there? I laugh when I ask that because we know he will wimp out and avoid it because there are no facts to back them. This self proclaimed minister needs to look into what scripture says about telling truth and passing malicious rumors. When we have seen his disregard for truth and his willingness to promote untruths to serve his agenda how can we possible trust anything he says. Are we not known by the fruit we produce, look at the rotten fruit he tried to feed up in the previous posts.

Oh and Mr. Bell I will keep watching to see if you man up with any references to back what you said back there, until then your words speak for you.

Merry Christmas to all ( even you Mr. Bell) may the new year be filled with the glory of God.

well, I am not going if I cannot take my animals with me. Not interested in the "rapture."

I have no idea who you are referring to, but..... if the shoe fits let them wear it.

Then if the shoe doesn't fit, don't sweat it. As I told you earlier I have no idea who David's aunt is. I have no idea who "David" is either. My opinion remains the same though whether you, someone named David, or this David's aunt likes it or not.

If the truth be known, you are the one insinuating that my comment was referring to someone you call "David's aunt". You are tying or linking her to my comments, not me tying or linking my comments to her. Think about it. It's not that difficult to see.

Why do you think of someone named "David's aunt" when you read my comments.

Midnight Rider

Michael Bell wrote a previous blog about Tiger Woods and his girlfriends. He used words that a commenter (David Melson's aunt) took offence to and the blog was removed. Blessed Assurance has the audacity to get on here and say the reason the commenter would be offended was because she acts in the same manner (adultery) as Tiger's girlfriends.

I seen no need for an apology for your blog article on Tiger Woods where you simply stated some very known facts using a phrase as old as Methusalem.

I would imagine that the truth you presented stung some readers who realized they met the meaning of the phrase you used and could not accept it and choose to complain to have it removed so they would not be reminded that they are serving or have served as an example of the phrase to someone or perhaps many in life.

The truth does sting. People react differently to the sting of truth.

Some accept it and repent, others stay in denial and hide from it.

-- Posted by Blessed Assurance on Fri, Dec 25, 2009, at 9:08 AM

The truth is good clean talking people take offence to the words Michael Bell used. Blessed Assurance must like that kind of language to take up for him and then insinuating people that don't must comment adultery too, and to top it off she calls herself a Christian.

I gotta agree with gottago!

Believe it or not, in a time not so long ago people didn't talk like that in public especially in front of women. Matter of fact if I spoke like that in front of my mother she would probably slap me. You are supposed to have more respect for yourself and your elders. My problem is that you are people that want to talk about the moral decay of today and quote Bible scriptures at everyone else. Trashy talk doesn't speak much of your character. You also call yourself conservatives. Maybe you need to be conservative with your mouth.

reap what u sow,

I still believe Mr. Bell accurately and truthfully described Tiger Woods abuse of the many women, his wife and children, and Tiger himself to the tee and it required the use of the phrase to accomplish it.

Tiger Woods disregarded their feelings, heart and soul for a few moments of short "self" pleasure.

Any less descriptive phrase by Mr. Bell would not have been as truthful and factual.

Why sugar coat reality?

I think young growing women need to know the actual phrases they might be regarded as if they freely and openly give away their selves.

To do anything less is deceptive and quite possibly damaging to these young growing women.

All the Born Again Christians I have talked to on these blogs have confessed to sinning everyday. So if anyone doesn't I take my hat off to them and say they will go the the New Heaven in the sky when it is created.

However, while here on earth they must continue to hear and see the things of the world.

Our children should be taught good manners but as long as they have to go to school with all walks of life they will learn things not taught in the home and church that will offend many people now and in the future.

I raised 6 children in a loving home environment but when we sent them to school, they learned all the things we never taught them, that is, except reading, writing and arithmetic.

The schools don't even teach the kids common sense. They learn where to go on the internet to look at porn, join My Space, Twitter and others. They are allowed to take cellphones to school, so they text instead of sitting there and learning. They use their phones to take indecent photos of others and send the photos to their friends, and send hate messages etc.

If you have children today, I would advise you not to let them watch Cartoons on TV. Between Beavis and Buthead, the Family Guy and the Simpsons, I'm not sure which one is the vulgarest.

They show and say things in those cartoons that even Howard Stern wasn't allowed to show or say on his TV show.

Even some of the family shows say and show things worst than the Howard Stern show. We just have to learn to live with the vulgarity of the world and keep waiting.

When I was a young father, I would wash my kid's mouth out with soap when they talked dirty. Today I think you would go to jail for correcting your children that way or for even spanking them.

Oh well, it's almost over.

Mr. Bell,

Here is a scripture for you...

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

Now, I'm pretty sure you've sinned before and you'll sin again, so why don't you listen to Jesus and silence the arrogant bull that seems to spew from your mouth. And before you try to hurl some scriptures at me, remember that you are the one who wants to become a preacher, not me.

So there is your lesson for today, preacher man: full of wisdom, free of charge, and straight from the bible.

P.S. I'm pretty sure Jesus taught people to be humble, too. You might need to work on that.

Ah quantumcat, now all we have to do is convince the world, lol...... "wonder" how we ever wandered so far from the simplicity that comes with honesty, truth and self-respect. Guess the saying "give them an inch and they'll take a mile" can be applied in many ways. Sadly we have inch by inch drifted out in to the deadly waters that are now the norm. The thrills of yesterday are the boredom of today , the ever challenging goal of something bigger and better, more exciting or shocking than the last is driving us further and further away from truly makes people content and secure. We need to get back to life as simple as when we used to fly kites, or when a wild rose was more valued than a dozen expensive ones from the florist. When the simple truth was respected over embellishment. Well that is easier said than done, we even have to question and doubt some of those who claim to represent the church and have lost sight of the importance of honor, trust and respect. True it was fore told these days would come to us, but that is of little comfort. I feel sorry for those who have no memory of what it was like as we grew up being able to trust those around us, being able to believe what we read in our papers and saw on the nightly news. When we could leave a door open and unlocked not only when we were awake and watching but also while we slept or were away. When our children could play for hours and we did not have to worry until till "the street light came on". When the thought of our clergy using and lying to us to promote their own agendas was unimaginable. There was evil but it was the exception and not the rule. Wrong was stood up to and not embraced...... Sweet memories of good times.

Current events go along with the Bible. That is how we know the end time events are being fulfilled.

Take that terrorist attack on the plane Christmas day. It was prevented by passengers NOT the Homeland Security who was aware of this person for the past two years.

You have to ask yourself... did the government along with Homeland Security, FBI and CIA purposely let this happen without interfering to divert attention from what they are really doing, or to make the people agree to much stricter Security Regulations? You can't raise your voice over the roar of the engines on an airplane without getting accused of being a Security Threat. How many more rights are they going to take away from you?

Doesn't really matter how strict their Security measures are, the people doing the security checks seem to only be harassing Americans and not the real Terrorists, just like Christmas Day.

If the Airport Security Teams can't see, feel or find an explosive device strapped to a Terrorists body, then why are they Strip Searching American Passengers or Arresting a minor Child as a Terrorist for Christ sake?

And how does a man take a child off a school bus when the child is begging the people in authority not to make him go with a man who isn't his father. What is wrong with that picture?

Now the news media won't even discuss it or follow up with the story. Is it because they have vanished off the face of the earth?

A follow up with the mother of the child would even be interesting.

What is the Government up to? Are they fixing to call in the Federal Reserve Notes and issue a one world currency? Current news is something we should be watching.

so his complete blog was taken down because it offended "David's Aunt? "Thats too much power for one man!!

Wow! What's the best way to describe being OFFENDED? How does that work? Really? Are we not responsible for our own emotions? Reminds me of the other social word scrambles...LESS FORTUNATE, translation: lazy, non self starter, blames everyone else on their predicament in life.....

OFFENDED? Lighten up and enjoy your emotional immaturiy.

Mt 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

Mt 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him:

-- Posted by Liveforlight on Wed, Dec 30, 2009, at 5:15 AM

Good to know that all manner of sin shall be forgiven unto man. We all need it. I hope you realize you are a sinner also.

How does God and fighting even fit together wasn't he all about love and peace?

Posted by freakyfriday on Thu, Dec 31, 2009, at 1:38 AM

freakyfriday,

No, He was and is not "all" about love and peace.

Evidently you have read little of God in the Bible.

You must have not read of His roasting the town of Sodom down to the ground along with all the homosexuals in it that the town derived its name from.

God has a Wrath for sin and a love and peace atonement available for the sinner.

God took out Sodom and Gommorrah because of gay people?

How come I never heard of Him scorching the isle of Lesbos?

(Just asking.)

-- Posted by quantumcat on Thu, Dec 31, 2009, at 12:21 PM

Perhaps the Isle of Lesbos is next??

Would you even understand it if it was?

Blessed Assurance,

If you read the story again you will read where Lot's two daughters each had a homosexual man who was pledged to marry them. They were referred to as Lot's sons-in-law, yet Lot's two daughters were virgins. So even these sons-in-law never slept with Lot's two daughters. If Lot would give his daughters to the two homosexual men in marriage, why would Lot hesitate to give his daughters to the rest of the men to protect the angels from the men? The angels were more important than his daughters, yet Lot should have known the angels could protect themselves.

Abraham done the same thing by telling everyone who found Sarah (Abraham's wife and half-sister) beautiful, that Sarah was only his sister, so he wouldn't be killed over his beautiful wife. Abraham got in trouble with a king for doing that to him.

Back then, men thought more of themselves than their women.

As for the Isle of Lesbos. you should know that God doesn't kill people anymore. Not for their sins nor to just take anyone home to be with their father! Satan has the keys to Death. Satan is the one who comes up and takes people when (he) wants them to go. The Book of Job is good proof of this.

Example: I watched 1,000 ways to die last night on TV and a Christian youth was trying to convert people at a wild party. While standing around a swimming pool annoying everyone, a meteorite fell from heaven and pierced the young mans heart killing him instantly. God didn't do that! He WAS killed for his testimony for Christ, so he will be in the first resurrection.

You Posted: I would not want to even be nowhere near there if it gets to that point at the Isle of Lesbos.

I am sure God will "Rapture" you up into the air and not let you be tempted by the Horrible feats of the Lesbos and what they might do to you.

"Example: I watched 1,000 ways to die last night on TV and a Christian youth was trying to convert people at a wild party. While standing around a swimming pool annoying everyone, a meteorite fell from heaven and pierced the young mans heart killing him instantly. God didn't do that!"

no kidding. no god, no devil, no one, or nothing did that, because it did not happen.

Can you even start to imagine something so bad and gross that a man would offer up his own actual daughters in order to thwart the homosexual drive the men of Sodom had outside his home. Now that is just plain wicked and bad.

-- Posted by Blessed Assurance on Thu, Dec 31, 2009, at 5:21 PM

In my opinion, a man offering his own daughters to be raped by a group of men is wicked and bad, but God didn't seem to have a problem with that.

Soon after, Lot gets drunk and impregnates the same daughters, but God doesn't condemn them for that either. Is incest not a sexual perversion, or was God just too busy burning homos?

The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were much more than Homosexuals.

-- Posted by Unique-Lies on Thu, Dec 31, 2009, at 8:49 PM

No doubt. I am sure they were infected with many sins just as we are today.

However, I would have to say homosexuality was the cheif sin it was known for since the town of Sodom is where the word sodomy is linked directly to.

If you read the story again you will read where Lot's two daughters each had a homosexual man who was pledged to marry them.

-- Posted by Unique-Lies on Thu, Dec 31, 2009, at 8:20 PM

How did you concoct that idea?

You didn't start the New Year out on the crackpipe again did you?

I wonder why the sin of homosexuality has such a concentration of attention on it when there are other sins that are much more common and have more negitive effects on a much larger scale than homosexuality. Fornication, murder, gluttony, bearing false witness against others, are just a few off the top of my head. We all are involved each day in sinning behavior, it is our nature. Why do we not zero in on the main stream sins, I would wager a guess that daily more people are effected and are harmed by lies than than those effected and harmed by homosexuals, more people are dieing because of gluttony than same sex unions. More homes are divided and torn apart by jealousy and wandering spouses, yet there are many who just zero in on the homosexuals. I know people who are totally consumed with there quest against homosexuality yet are blind to the sins they consider lesser sins the ones closer to home. Yes they are sinning and yes it is a problem . I think perhaps it is to make the other sinners feel their sins are not "all that bad" in comparison. Many homosexuals do not "chose" that life style but for some reason or another are just in it, they need compassion and help to change not panic and hate. There are those who intentionally lie, cheat and harm others and don't even raise an eyebrow from others as they do so.

Could the answer be that these "lesser" sins are so close to home, something we can in one way or another relate to or have in some ways been involved in, where as we KNOW we won't be involved in homosexuality so it is really safe to attack that and not become hypocrites in doing so? If we go head on against other "common" sins such lies and gluttony, envy or lustful thoughts we may be targeting ourselves and shaking our own trees, cleaning our own skeleton out of the closest? Stepping out of our own little circles of comfort and security? I just wonderwhy it is so popular to attack this one sin when there are so many other to choose from. Would we be so quick to be so attentive to sins committed closer to home, ones we would be more apt to be caught up in?

God didn't create "Adam and Steve" but He had nothing to do with the Mark and Patsy our ancestors became.

That's what cost them Eden.

-- Posted by quantumcat on Fri, Jan 1, 2010, at 11:52 AM

quantumcat,

God chastised Adam and Eve of the Garden.

God annihalated Adam and Steve of Sodom.

Big difference of treatment in the two.

I would be leary of tampering with God's plan of creation.

Blessed Assurance,

However, I would have to say homosexuality was the cheif sin it was known for since the town of Sodom is where the word sodomy is linked directly to.

-- Posted by Blessed Assurance on Fri, Jan 1, 2010, at 8:43 AM

Results of Sodomy (http://dictionary.reference.com)

Sodomy:

1. anal or oral copulation with a member of the opposite sex.

2. copulation with a member of the same sex.

3. bestiality

Homosexuality is just a small part of Sodomy.

In my book, anyone who has not committed some sort of Sodomy in one way or another during their lifetime, according to the above definition, has my consent to talk about the Homosexuals sins. You have a right to talk about their sin if you haven't committed one or more of them yourself.

You posted: I would think that the timing of the rapture is more closely associated with the Wrath of God being poured out than the acts of the Lesbos.

The Wrath of God comes with Christ when he returns. That is long after the Beast and his tribulations that you say you will be raptured out of.

You are correct when you say you will be protected from the Wrath of God but not from the Beast.

No! I don't have to worry about an axe. Besides, I thought you said you LOVED me.

Blessed Assurance,

You posted: If you read the story again you will read where Lot's two daughters each had a homosexual man who was pledged to marry them.

-- Posted by Unique-Lies on Thu, Dec 31, 2009, at 8:20 PM

How did you concoct that idea?

You didn't start the New Year out on the crackpipe again did you?

-> Genesis 19:8 (King James Version)

8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man;...

Here Lot tells us that his two daughters are virgins.

But when we read Genesis 19:14

14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

we read that these two men (sons in law) "married" his daughters... so if these two men did marry Lot's daughters and they were still virgins and have not even known their husbands, I have to say these two men must be GAY!

Now in Genesis 19:8 (New International Version)

8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man....

and in Genesis 19:14 (New International Version)

14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters....

The NIV states "two daughters who have never slept with a man." and "who were pledged to marry his daughters.".

These two sons in law refused to leave the sin city with Lot so they wanted to stay where the action was and didn't love their wives enough to leave with them. Sounds Gay to be.

Now that is how I concocted the truth. It is right there in front of our eyes to read. But you want to say I am on the crack pipe again. What kind of teachings are you teaching when someone is serious about explaining the Word of God to you?

According to the Rabbis, Lot had four daughters, two of whom were married, and two betrothed. The two married daughters and their husbands, along with the two future bridegrooms, remained in Sodom and perished, leaving Lot with only two daughters after the destruction of the city (Gen. Rabbah 50:9; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, ed. Higger chap. 25).

In their depiction of the impregnation of Lot's daughters by their father, the Rabbis draw a distinction between the father and his daughters. The Biblical story presents the daughters as the initiators and the active perpetrators of this act of incest: they ply their father with wine and lie with him, while their intoxicated father does not know when they lay down with him or when they rose. We would expect the Rabbis to condemn the daughters' actions and defend Lot, but the opposite is the case. The Rabbis portray the daughters in a favorable light, while Lot is indicted.

According to the midrash (Tanhuma, Vayera 12), Lot, from the outset, decided to dwell in Sodom because he wanted to engage in the licentious behavior of its inhabitants. His negative behavior comes to the fore when the townspeople mill about his door, demanding that he hand over the angels, and he instead offers his daughters to the mob. The Rabbis observe that a man usually allows himself to be killed in order to save his wife and children, while Lot was willing to allow the townspeople to abuse his daughters. In response to this, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to Lot: By your life, the improper act that you intended to be done to your daughters will indeed be committed, but to you. This midrash sharply focuses the reversal between these two episodes. In the first event, in Sodom, Lot was ready to force his daughters, against their will, to engage in sexual relations with the townspeople. In contrast, in the second episode, which takes place after the upheaval of Sodom, Lot's daughters engage in relations with their unwitting father. Consequently, these acts of incest are Lot's punishment for his unseemly behavior.

Another midrash (Aggadat Bereshit [ed. Buber] 25:1) regards the daughters' act as punishment for their father's own sexual promiscuity. Lot thought that if he were to dwell in Sodom, he could engage in licentious behavior without anyone's knowledge. He accordingly was punished by his daughters engaging in intercourse with him; this episode became common knowledge and is read each year during the public Torah reading of the verse: "Thus the two daughters of Lot came to be with child by their father" (Gen. 19:36). R. Nahman adds: "Whoever is driven by his hunger for transgression will eventually be fed from his own flesh" (Tanhuma, Vayera 12). Lot was eager to engage in promiscuity; in the end, his daughters played the harlot with him.

Another Rabbinic view was that Lot secretly lusted after his daughters. He was intoxicated when the elder sister lay with him, but he was sober when she rose, as is indicated in the Torah by the dot over the word u-ve-komah ("when she rose"). Despite his knowledge of what had transpired, he did not refrain from drinking wine the next night as well, and lying with his younger daughter (Gen. Rabbah 51:8--9).

Lot's daughters, in contrast, are treated sympathetically. The midrash observes that, by strict law, the daughters deserve to be burnt by fire for having lain with their father (Aggadat Bereshit [ed. Buber] 25:1), but the Holy One, blessed be He, who knows man's thoughts, judges them by their thoughts and not their deed. The daughters' true intent was not to lie with their father, on whom they had no sexual designs, but to save the world from total devastation. The daughters thought that the entire world had been laid waste, as had happened during the Flood, since they saw no living souls wherever they went; they did not know that only Sodom had been destroyed. They said: "The Holy One, blessed be He, has rescued us so that the world will exist through us, so that the human race shall continue." The Holy One, blessed be He, knew their honest minds and good thoughts and rewarded them for their actions. Accordingly, when he commanded "no Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted into the congregation of the Lord" (Deut. 23:4), this prohibition against intermarriage applies only to the males, and not to the females (Pesikta Rabbati 42).

The underlying reason for the sympathetic treatment of the daughters of Lot apparently stems from Ruth the Moabite's tracing her lineage to them and the subsequent descent of King David and, eventually, of the Messiah, from Ruth's marriage to Boaz. According to the midrashic account, when Lot was commanded to rescue his two daughters from the destruction the angels already foresaw that Ruth the Moabite and Na'amah the Ammonite would descend from them (Gen. Rabbah 50:10). In addition, when Scripture tells of the incestuous act by the daughters of Lot, who say: "that we may preserve seed from our father" (Gen. 19:34), it uses the word zera ("seed," or "offspring" in a more general sense), and not "son," since the intent of the Holy One, blessed be He, was related to the Messiah (Gen. Rabbah 51:8). Thus, from a historical perspective, this act was essential for the future advent of the Messiah. This also explains the midrash (Gen. Rabbah, loc. cit.) that Lot's daughters had no wine; a miracle was performed for them, and the cave in which they lived became a portent of the World to Come, dripping with wine, as in the depiction of the World to Come: "And in that day, the mountains shall drip with wine" (Joel 4:18). An additional wonder: a virgin does not become pregnant from her first intercourse, while Lot's daughters, who were virgins, did become pregnant from this initial act (Gen. Rabbah 51:9). This midrash reiterates the purity of their intentions, since they lay with their father only a single time, to ensure the continuity of the world. Just as Ruth acted for an ideal when she went down at night to the threshing floor of Boaz, so, too, the daughters of Lot acted altruistically (Gen. Rabbah 51:10

source is from a Jewish Rabbinical study I have.

according to Josephus, the sons were considered sons in law even before marriage, they could have been betrothed , but not yet married.

Lest ye forget, the Bible is a Jewish book!

You had best put away the Bible then, because Paul hated Christ, but then changed, don't forget the Jewish aspect of the Bible.

Further more, I have never been so drunk that I didn't know what I was doing, except for the one time I laid down and went to sleep. And even then as I lay there I knew that I was talking to ants on the ground. I don't see how anyone can be so drunk that they don't know what they are doing and get an erection.

-- Posted by Unique-Lies on Sat, Jan 2, 2010, at 6:05 PM

Unique-Lies,

Did the ants talk back?

Or did all 144,000 of them march back up the hill, back into their hole, away from your silly tale lying there on the ground with an erection?

There seems to be more heat being generated than light.

Perhaps,some of the writings of the past came from people just as flawed as the folks of today with audiences that were just as capable of faulty eisegesis as we are - even when we have correct material to work with.

I'd glean whatever the Holy Spirit allowed from any writing whether it was Holy Writ,secular works or anything in between but I'd take human words and human interpretations with a pillar of salt.

They *might* be as correct about historical events and the mind of God as they are about human biology.

Back in the day,we had a name for some of the people who thought people couldn't make a baby from their first intercourse.

(We called them parents.)

These daughters believed their God could make the walls of their cave seep Mogen David so they could rape their father but didn't think He could preserve humanity on His own through whatever method He chose?

(Sin and impaired reasoning seem to go together.)

Man likes to be impressed with glorious pedigrees.

God seems to delight in showing how His heroes and His dynastys were very flawed and limited people-much like ourselves.

Like us,their significance came as much in spite of their character,abilities and opportunities as because of them.

Without God's support and interventions,our best efforts accomplish little.

With His help,even our worst moments can produce sweet and wholesome fruit.

God has blessed us with the irony that the Messiah's necessary human nature was derived from people who were very,VERY human.

The Son of God was also the son of sinners of every stripe.

He was the descendant of kings,poets,heroes-and peasants and heathens.

He is the Prince of Peace who will lead the greatest army of all time.

God shows us how He has used even the smallest and weakest,broken lamps with the least oil to dispel darkness with His Light.

He has made the world a mirror that is cold,hard and dark when the fire is absent but increases the glow of a tiny spark when the Light is present.

He has revealed how He has used the least worthy things of the past to perform His miracles so we can know that even our humblest,most messed-up selves can be wielded for His glory.

All we have to do is be good stewards of the embers of faith we have.

Maybe,we will keep fueling our bit of warmth until it becomes a flame all can see and feel.

Perhaps,what we have stays tiny but it ignites something within dozens of people who,in turn,create more fires of their own.

We can't get too sold on ourselves or dismiss and revile those around us when it is God that determines whether the energy within us gets released or remains untapped.

The most powerful machine is useless if not linked to a Source of power and turned on.

A pile of wood that is thick and wet can become an inferno if God's will goes to work on it.

It matters little who or what we are.

We were all made by the same Hands.

Whether we are trash or treasure comes from whether we can be recognized as the work of our Creator.

Let us look at the people around us.

Let us look at ourselves.

We were formed of the right kind of material to act on His behalf.

We have been given a free and unlimited Source of power.

We have the directions for our proper use.

All that makes the difference between the masterpiece and the junk is whether we fulfill our purpose and let our beauty be seen.

We can look at something or someone that seems useless or contemptible and reject them -or we can see them as works in progress that will astound us once we are able to recognize them as one of God's original designs.

Before we try to change or erase what we see before us,maybe we need to ask the Artist whether we are seeing a blot on the canvas of Creation or the first brushstroke of His latest,greatest miracle.

Blessed Assurance, (The Holy One)

You posted in response to my onetime comical drunk experience:

Did the ants talk back?

Or did all 144,000 of them march back up the hill, back into their hole, away from your silly tale lying there on the ground with an erection?

--> Now what Christian in her right mind would post (for all the other Christians to read) something as hateful and vulgar as your comment above?

Blessed Assurance, (The Holy One)

You posted in response to my onetime comical drunk experience:

Did the ants talk back?

Or did all 144,000 of them march back up the hill, back into their hole, away from your silly tale lying there on the ground with an erection?

--> Now what Christian in her right mind would post (for all the other Christians to read) something as hateful and vulgar as your comment above?

-- Posted by Unique-Lies on Sun, Jan 3, 2010, at 3:05 PM

Unique-Lies,

I was just repeating your claim of experience.

You were the one that claimed to be drunk on the ground with an erection talking to some ants.

Now, I was just curious if you thought the little ants answered you while you were talking to them.

Unique-Lies,

You still seem to having a hard time understanding something. A man and woman were considered married back then at the time we now today recognize as the engagement period.

The marriage covenant was established 12 months before the actual wedding. A man did not come to "know his wife" until the seven days following the wedding ceremony.

At anytime during the 12 months before the wedding a man found reason to not wed his wife he was to give her a bill of divorcement.

Remember Joseph sought to put his wife Mary away because his virgin wife was pregnant.

Our modern western world also has a difficulty grasping the analogy of Jewish wedding customs to Jesus' promise of returning for His bride, the Church.

As Mr. Bell has stated before, it is hard to completely understand the translated King James Version without a basic understanding of the Jewish people and their customs of the time period the original manuscripts came out of.

The Book of James is nearly impossible to correctly and totally understand without knowing and comprehending that it was written specifically to the 12 Jewish tribes that were scattered abroad. These 12 tribes were deeply rooted in customs and traditions.

Blessed Assurance,

When one of my lamps puts out more heat than Light,I know somethings's wrong with it.

It is not acting as a proper conduit for the Power that has been assigned to it.

It is not fulfilling its purpose of illumination and may even prompt people to fear it and reject it for the danger they think it poses.

On the other hand,if the Light is primary and the heat stays at a healthful level,that lamp not only improves vision and wards off predators,it offers a welcoming warmth.

A little heat will entice the chickens to enter the shelter where they are fed,watered and protected from threats from beasts and bad weather.

Even when they are unable to see the light that generates the heat,they welcome the comfort and security it offers.

On the other hand,even those who can see and desire the light might linger in the dark and all its perils if all they feel from the lamp is pain.

If they suffer from sparks and flames that come from the lamp,they may associate any injury they receive with the power source that enables the lamp to come forth with heat and light.

They may not conclude that the lamp needs mending and a different Light source would be safer or more efficient.

Different lamps are equipped to handle different amounts of power and give off different amounts of light.

Don't despise the lamp that isn't equipped to produce a great deal of lumens.

Don't disparage the lamp that gets burned out trying to perform beyond his capacity.

Just encourage each lamp to do what it can and seek repair if it is at risk of hurting people and adding to their blindness instead of alleviating it.

Blessed Assurance,

The only thing I remember well is the marriage of Jacob to his uncle Laban's daughters.

(Genesis 29:18-27)

Jacob promised to work for seven years to get Rachel. After working 7 years for his promised wife, his uncle tricked him into sleeping with Leah, the oldest daughter. Jacob had to work another 7 years before he could sleep with Rachel.

That pretty well shoots down your holier than thou 12 month period. Let's see now! 7 years would be 84 months. But WAIT! Jacob had to work another 84 months before he could come into his wife Rachel. I do believe that was 168 months he was married to his wife Rachel before he got to come into her.

And again, I know this 12 month Jewish Calendar would be different from our 12 month calendar, but you get the jest of it.

So FORGET of the Jewish customs back then, which didn't exist back at that time because there were no Jews back then. Jacob was the man who became Israel (the Jewish Nation)! Huh!! Go figure!

It was like I told it before. It has a handshake agreement between the daughter's father and the man (Groom) wanting his daughter (Bride). AT the same time, the daughter (bride) had to bring something into the marriage also.

Also like I said, 2,000+ years later, of course, they had Jewish laws and customs when Jesus lived on the earth, but we were talking about Sodom and Gomorrah 2,000 years prior to the time of Christ.

Jacob had 12 sons with two wives and two concubines.

Reuben was the first born son of Jacob. His mother was Leah. After Rachel died, Reuben slept with Rachel's maid, Bil'hah, who was also his father's concubine. When Jacob found out about it, he took the birth rights away from Reuben and gave them to Rachel's first born son, Joseph.

So even at that time there was no Jewish laws or incest laws, so Daddy took his birth rights away. Pretty severe punishment back then.

So in short, Lot's sons in law didn't have to go by any Jewish customs because there weren't any Jews back then. Either they lived by their Love and Fear of God or they did want ever they wanted to. It was lawless back then.

It was Moses's father in law who convinced Moses to establish Judges to handle all the lower cases and Moses sat in like the Supreme Court Justice on harder cases the judges couldn't solve.

So that brings us back to Lot's sons in law. Were they gay or not? I have to say that they were not gay but righteous men, because Lot took them into his family circle and even offered to take them with his family when they fled the city.

What changed my mind was the fact that the Lord told Abraham that he would not destroy the city if there were 5 righteous people there. Lot, his wife and 2 daughters=(4), so there had to be at least one more righteous person in the city.

amalphia,

THANK YOU!

I don't know anything about these Jewish "Books" but I look at them like the lost books. If they are Jewish Books and they contain the truth, why would they be left out of the bible?

I have to look at the Jewish books as a side bar informational book. Not knowing what is true and what is not, they could be a hazard to their readers.

I too have heard the legend that Adam's first wife sinned, so Adam divorced her and got another wife. Never did find out where she supposedly came from. The legend went on to say we had two civilizations going. One with the first Eve and one with the second Eve. One old preacher even invented a second Adam for Lilith. It was also said that she was Cain's wife. That would make everyone feel better about not having Incest to populate the world.

The Bible tells us that Eve was the mother of all, so there couldn't be an Eve and a Lilith populating the earth.

Genesis 3:20 (King James Version)

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

I understand the Jews believe in the Torah, but not the New Testament, yet that is where the truth is that gives us Salvation.

Thank you amalphia, for voicing your knowledge on the subject.

Sodomy came from the name of the city Sodom that was full of every kind of sex under the sun, not just Homosexuality.

-- Posted by Unique-Lies on Mon, Jan 4, 2010, at 2:06 PM

I think you are going to have a hard time seperating homosexuality from sodomy or vice versa.

I can think of a more accurate phrase but for the time being let's just say they go................"hand..... in.... hand".

I do think he has been given over. I rather choose to believe he is under deception.

Remember, some of the greatest workers for Christ came under the influence of deception from time to time. Peter was even rebuked by Jesus for falling for the deceptions of Satan.

Satan tries the hardest on the ones with the biggest hearts after God. Being a Christian does not exempt you from the temptations of deception, rather it increases Satan's efforts.

Some lamps are even like those state of the art LED's that produce wonderful illumination without the costs typically associated with the by-product of heat.

amalphia, I think your question is a very good one. I was hoping it would get a better response from all parties. The concept of the dual torah is one that many Christians are never exposed to. I imagine that same lack of exposure is detrimental to anyone who desires a better understanding of the evolutions of Judaism, especially as it pertains to Christianity. - I still have not read the book you recommended yet, but I will get around to it. It is sitting here looking at me now.

amalphia, I imagine it would depend upon who you asked. Some would claim with certainty that it was given to Moses at Sinai.

If you do not mind just listening, and have the time and curiosity, I have a fairly short series of lectures on CD that explain a lot of it in detail. I could transfer them to MP3 and make you a disc if you like. I may be able to leave it at the T-G for you to pick up, if they would allow it. It is worth the time if you have any interest at all. It was given by Robert Oden, who is about as respected/respectable as they get. I have to admit that I fast forwarded through the Hebrew and Psalms, but you may enjoy that part as well.

Evidently you are not aware of the marriage customs of that time.

It's hard to take someone serious when they do not know what they are talking about.

-- Posted by Blessed Assurance on Sat, Jan 2, 2010, at 7:41 AM

How does it feel to not know what they are talking about?

Blessed Assurance,

Sorry but Your deception of the Rapture doesn't go along with the scriptures. You can take some scriptures out of context and make your Rapture do anything, but it isn't happening like you think it is.

Doesn't matter how many people don't see it the way I do. I know I am right and that is all that matters. When everyone reads the scriptures I have pointed out for themselves, I think they will see I am right.

You said "It's hard to take someone serious when they do not know what they are talking about."

But you did NOT Know that Lot wasn't a Jew nor under any Jewish laws because there were no Jews in the time Lot and his two daughters left Sodom.

Internet Ordained michaelbell offered information from a Jewish Book that said According to the Rabbis, Lot had four daughters, two of whom were married, and two betrothed.

Michaelbell continued with We would expect the Rabbis to condemn the daughters' actions and defend Lot, but the opposite is the case. The Rabbis portray the daughters in a favorable light, while Lot is indicted.

The Jewish Book goes on to say... According to the midrash (Tanhuma, Vayera 12), Lot, from the outset, decided to dwell in Sodom because he wanted to engage in the licentious behavior of its inhabitants. (Not a very nice thing to say about a righteous man).

Michaelbell wrote, This midrash sharply focuses the reversal between these two episodes. In the first event, in Sodom, Lot was ready to force his daughters, against their will, to engage in sexual relations with the townspeople. In contrast, in the second episode, which takes place after the upheaval of Sodom, Lot's daughters engage in relations with their unwitting father. Consequently, these acts of incest are Lot's punishment for his unseemly behavior.

Another midrash (Aggadat Bereshit [ed. Buber] 25:1) regards the daughters' act as punishment for their father's own sexual promiscuity. Lot thought that if he were to dwell in Sodom, he could engage in licentious behavior without anyone's knowledge. He accordingly was punished by his daughters engaging in intercourse with him; this episode became common knowledge and is read each year during the public Torah reading of the verse: "Thus the two daughters of Lot came to be with child by their father" (Gen. 19:36). R. Nahman adds: "Whoever is driven by his hunger for transgression will eventually be fed from his own flesh" (Tanhuma, Vayera 12). Lot was eager to engage in promiscuity; in the end, his daughters played the harlot with him.

Another Rabbinic view was that Lot secretly lusted after his daughters. He was intoxicated when the elder sister lay with him, but he was sober when she rose, as is indicated in the Torah by the dot over the word u-ve-komah ("when she rose"). Despite his knowledge of what had transpired, he did not refrain from drinking wine the next night as well, and lying with his younger daughter (Gen. Rabbah 51:8--9).

The Midrash observed... The Holy One, blessed be He, knew their honest minds and good thoughts and rewarded them for their actions. Accordingly, when he commanded "no Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted into the congregation of the Lord" (Deut. 23:4), this prohibition against intermarriage applies only to the males, and not to the females (Pesikta Rabbati 42).

Then this Jewish Book goes on to say it was okay to the Holy one because he knew their honest minds and good thoughts and rewarded them for their actions.

The Jewish Book evidently didn't know that Lot was a Gentile because the Jews never existed back then. Of course, technically, it is incorrect to refer to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as Jews, because the terms "Jew" and "Judaism" were not used generally to refer to this nation until hundreds of years after their time.

In the Bible, Jews were called Hebrews or Children of Israel; * The terms "Jew" and "Judaism" come from the tribe or kingdom of Judah; * "Jew" now refers to all physical and spiritual descendants of Jacob.

I would think that any Jewish Book worth studying from would know that.

Even Michaelbell knew that, but didn't stop and think before answering my comments.

But the Famous Blessed Assurance could only think to try to humiliate me by posting:

Evidently you are not aware of the marriage customs of that time.

It's hard to take someone serious when they do not know what they are talking about.

Then you posted:

But of coarse in the time of Lot and Jesus we know that man and woman were married up to 12 months before they come to "know each other".

And uniquelies, I will let you in on another little secret. They didn't play "Here comes the Bride" at weddings in those days either.

To Blessed Assurance I can only say:

Evidently you are not aware of the marriage customs of that time.

It's hard to take someone serious when they do not know what they are talking about.

I pray for God to show you understanding, I can do no more than that.

Blessed Assurance,

Sorry but Your deception of the Rapture doesn't go along with the scriptures.

Posted by Unique-Lies on Wed, Jan 6, 2010, at 11:40 PM

Unique-Lies,

You may believe differently and that is your choice.

I believe that we as Christians are not appointed to the Wrath and it is quite clear to me when I read the Scriptures.

My only hope is Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

Who is your "only hope" and of whom is his father?

You seem ashamed to acknowledge your "only hope" and his father.

My only hope has promised me in Scripture that if I am still alive I will be caught up (raptured) to meet Him in the clouds with the ones he brings with Him from heaven that have previously died and already risen to be with Him when absent from their body.

The only thing I have noticed you saying your "only hope" will do for you is chop your head off. Who is the father of this "only hope" of yours?

I have Spoken!

I do not hold back anything. I will discuss anything I know about.

I am not afraid to speak the truth as it is written in the King James Bible, even though the world has been taught Unique Lies by man and not the Holy Spirit.

The bible was written in Hebrew because the people were Hebrew back then, not Jews. The Jews didn't come into existence until after they left Babylon. The Jews married into other pagan religions and lived their lives in paganism. They came up with unwritten laws that the Pharisees and Scribes ruled the Jews by.

The Jews hated Jesus and killed Jesus. Is that what you want from your Religion. A religion that hates God and his son and lives by traditions and not God's commands.

Jesus knew the Jews hated him and they were his chosen people. Jesus gave them plenty chances to accept him and his new way of life (Christianity).

They refused to believe in this new religion and turned from God's Son just as they turned from God years earlier, so God turned to the Gentiles to become his followers.

The Apostles were from the 12 tribes, but they did NOT Teach Judaism, they taught Christianity.

People no longer had to be a Jew, Gentile or Hebrew. It didn't matter if you were free or in bondage, male or female, or nationality or tongue. It made no difference if a man was circumcised or not. God accepts anyone who would come to him.

Jesus taught that we are not under Jewish laws. We are to obey God's 2 commandments, because Christ fulfilled the Jews' Ten Commandments.

Jesus condemned the Jewish traditions over his Commandments.

The Apostles didn't teach us Jewish laws to obey but the freedom from these. Christians didn't have to eat fish on Fridays, or only animals with or without a split hoof, but any thing sold in the meat markets.

The Apostles taught us that we should not marry unless we desired the opposite sex and it was preventing us from concentrating our full attention on God, then it was okay to marry, so we could then get back to worshiping God full time.

The Apostles did Not teach us Jewish Customs in this new Christianity Religious Book called the Bible.

The only thing the Jews taught us in our Christian Bible is that when we turn from God intentionally or deliberately and fall back into the worldly way, God will turn away from us too.

I, Unique-Lies, encourage everyone reading this blog to reveal their knowledge of any Jewish Religion, tradition, custom or beliefs they received from our Christian Bible that can be used in our Religion to worship God!

This should be interesting because some of you read all kinds of things into the scriptures that just isn't there!

Jesus knew the Jews hated him and they were his chosen people. Jesus gave them plenty chances to accept him and his new way of life (Christianity).

The Jews hated Jesus and killed Jesus.

Jesus taught that we are not under Jewish laws. We are to obey God's 2 commandments, because Christ fulfilled the Jews' Ten Commandments.

Jesus condemned the Jewish traditions over his Commandments.

The Apostles didn't teach us Jewish laws to obey but the freedom from these.

Posted by Unique-Lies on Thu, Jan 7, 2010, at 12:18 PM

Unique-Lies,

Glad to see you finally see all the Jewish in the Bible.

I was starting to think you had totally lost it.

amalphia, Great, I will get it there in the morning sometime before noon. I was mistaken about the speaker though. It was not Oden, but someone else. The disc had space left so I did include Oden's series on the Old Testament and a few others that may have some relevance to the general topic. I believe #4 Rabbinic Judaism is the specific one that I was referring to. I am not at all sure about that though. I have not listened to any of these in several years.

If you have a hard time downloading or listening to them on your PC, I could put them on CD for you.

No one has come forth with anything good to say about what the Jews gave us in the Christian Bible.

Posted by Unique-Lies on Fri, Jan 8, 2010, at 12:25 AM

Unique-Lies,

I think one of your comments above showed even you can not help but showing the importance of the Jews in the Bible.

They, their history, customs, practices and actions are woven throughout it.

As I have said before, if you had a good basic understanding of these things, you would not be so easily deceived by Satan who is the father of your professed "only hope" that you seem to be ashamed of.

Jesus kept EVERY JEWISH LAW AND CUSTOM!

He was born a Jew, lived as a Jew and died as a Jew, He will come back as a Jew.

When not If he returns he will not come back as a Gentile preacher in a custom suit, but as the Jewish King of Israel and the World!

All the Jewish customs and festivals and traditions are portrayed in the birth,life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Shalom!

michaelbell,

You Posted: Jesus kept EVERY JEWISH LAW AND CUSTOM!

-> Jesus told the Pharisees the He and God were One.

Jesus told the Pharisees They worshiped traditions and not God's Commandments.

Jesus told the Pharisees they were Hypocrites.

Jesus told the Pharisees He was the Messiah.

Jesus Declared to be the Son of God.

Jesus did things that was prophesied of the Messiah only.

Jesus said I have come not to destroy the law but fulfill it.

Jesus done Miracles on the Sabbath which was forbidden by Jewish law.

Jesus blessed people and told them to sin no more.

Jesus prevented the law from being carried out on the woman about to be stoned.

Jesus rebelled against the Jewish Pharisees and Scribes continually.

Jesus spoke out against the Jewish traditions.

Jesus entered Jerusalem as a king riding on an ass.

Jesus didn't wash his hands before he sat down and eat.

Jesus taught a different religion than what the Jews taught.

You Posted: He was born a Jew, lived as a Jew and died as a Jew, He will come back as a Jew.

Jesus was born as a Hebrew in a Judaean family. Joseph was from the tribe of Judah but Joseph had nothing to do with Jesus' DNA. Mary as far as I can tell came from Judah's tribe also making Jesus a Judaean Hebrew/Jew/Messiah.

Jesus wasn't a full fledged Jew because He came from God not Joseph.

Being raised as a Jew, Jesus taught everything against the traditions, customs and religion of the Jews. Jesus recognized the feasts and celebrations etc. of the Jews but acknowledged that all we need is Christ not all the Jewish traditions along with some things like taking the Holy Communion, abiding in his word and keeping the sabbath holy.

Even though Jesus was born a Judaean Jew, He was given for everyone From God not the Jews. Remember only two tribes out of 12 were Judaean Jews. The other 10 tribes were lost Jews scattered all over which was comprised of the Jews who hated God in the days of Christ.

You posted: When, not If, he returns he will not come back as a Gentile preacher in a custom suit, but as the Jewish King of Israel and the World!

The Lord is waiting for the Jews to return to Israel before he returns. The Bible Scholars and Theologians are thinking that Israel became a state in 1948 so they are coming home to Israel. Not the case!

God is waiting for the Jews to come home to Christ not some country. God is waiting for his 12 Tribes to come back, so He can seal them in their foreheads, with the exception of the tribe of Dan which is replaced by the tribe of Manasseh.

These are the church of Christ which he has promised to return to get.

When Christ returns, he comes as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords not just the king of Jews. He returns as the Judge of all mankind. He returns as the sower of the good and the evil. He returns as the one who defeats the kings of the earth and the one in charge of who is left and who is taken. He returns as the only begotten Son of God, the Ruler of all the kingdoms on earth.

When Christ returns, his ministry is over. He is coming to punish not preach any gossip or religion nor judge us. Christ remains on earth when he returns until after the thousand year reign with those in the first Resurrection. Christ also remains on earth during the next resurrection of the rest of the dead and while Satan is released to deceive the nations again. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

You posted: All the Jewish customs and festivals and traditions are portrayed in the birth,life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

In Jesus' lifetime of course, the customs and festivals and traditions would be portrayed in His birth, life, death and burial, but I think his resurrection was something of a new thing to the Jews, not a tradition, custom, festival or event.

You posted: Shalom.

Shalom is used as a traditional Jewish greeting or farewell, but is actually;

A "Hebrew word" used to mean both "hello" and "good-bye"; literally, it means "peace.

Blessed Assurance,

Great answer to prevent answering anything.

Oh my God!

Not one of you can tell me one thing that the Jews gave to us that we can use in our religion.

All the people who wrote the letters that make up the bible were Hebrews, the children of Israel (Israelites) not Jews.

Exodus 1:1-7

1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.

6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.

7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Exodus 7:4-5

4 "he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.

5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it."

The Truth of the Bible is that God's chosen people have always been the Nation of Israel, also known as the Israelites. Not the same thing as the Jews (Israelites who bred with people of false Gods or other religions).

I must assume that everyone finally agrees with me on something!

So Jesus was an Israelite and not a Jew because Jesus didn't worship his father using the Jewish religion.

Instead Jesus was a Christian althou the word Christians wasn't used until the Disciples started preaching it. The first people to be called Christians were the disciples.

Acts 11:26

26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Jesus was full of Charisma and is the Patriarch of the Charismatic religion we call Christianity. Even though Christ was not called a Christian he brought Charisma into his teachings which his disciples continued to teach. The Disciples were the first to be called Christians, so Christianity followed very close behind Jesus' life on earth through the teachings of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 11:26 It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

So we can see that since the Holy Spirit revealed the same things to the disciples that Jesus taught, then Jesus indeed was teaching a Christian Religion.

Basically the word Christian means a follower of Christ, so it stands to reason that Christ taught Christianity, but was not called a Christian because the religion was not established until after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

michaelbell,

Paul taught us that we should not do anything that would make the believers think we were not doing what God commanded us to do... while in front of them but when they weren't around it was okay to do them or not do them whatever the case may be at the time.

For example: Jews had to eat fish on Friday and not eat meat. Paul said it was perfectly okay to eat meat everyday of the week/ month/ year, however, if you are eating at someones house that didn't get that memo and thought it was a sin to eat meat on Friday, then you didn't eat meat on Friday nor did you serve it at your dinner to guests who thought it was a sin.

However, if your dinner guests or people you were eating supper with, ate meat on Friday, then you should also because there was nothing wrong with it and you wouldn't come on as someone holier than thou by eating the meat.

So... of course, Jesus would observe these Israelite customs and traditions and celebrations because he was born into an Israelite Nation and celebrations were not a sin.

Jesus did however, make the Jews mad and upset with him because of the Jewish traditions, rules and rituals he broke by being the Messiah and fulfilling the prophesies in the old testament (or Torah, including the Talmud in your particular studies of Christianity/Judaism, which in reality are two different and separate religions).

michaelbell,

I also read another Great Article:

http://www.beingjewish.com/unchanged/pla...

"All Jews are Jews, no matter what they believe or do, even if they belong to Reform, Conservative, or Reconstructionist congregations. The only exception is that if a Jew becomes an idolater he loses his connection to the greater Jewish "Family," though he is still required to repent and return to Judaism.

For example, a Jew that becomes a Christian loses his identity as a member of the Jewish Family, even though he is still Jewish, and sins every moment that he is Christian. By Jewish Law, Christianity is permitted to Gentiles, but is considered idolatry for Jews. "

This seems to be saying that if you are a Jew or of a Jewish religion, you are forbidden to be a Christian or worship as a Christian or marry a Christian.

How does that effect you and your Future Crossroads Church?

With all these test to pass, it appears Christ's Sacrafice is annulled, not needed, or at least diminished somewhat if you believe some of the above theories.

Boy, the devil can not be satisfied unless he is using someone to dimish the value of the Shed Blood.

If it isn't "works" he uses to diminish it, he tries to emphasize "tests" now.

As has been stated to you numerous times before....................you are quite naturally entitled to your opinion.

I am also entitled to mine. I believe Jesus was talking to the ones that thought their "own works" earned them salvation when He said He never knew them. Jesus never denied they were workers. Instead he looked at their "works" as iniquities.

Those "workers" would have been much better off acknowledging, relying on, and arguing the "Works of Christ" instead of their "own works"

They never knew and had a relationship with Jesus as Saviour. If they didn't properly know Him, He didn't know them.

You can carry all the "works" with you and present to Him for atonement, along with any "test" scores you might think you have achieved, but for me.....I am relying on His Great Work and Promise to save a sinner like me.

I guess you think you can carry your head on a platter to Him and say "look what I have done" and think He will know you.

You better get your focus on what He has done for you and stop diminishing the value of Him.

Uniquelies,

See if this can soak in tonight.

Romans 4

1What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

2For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

3For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

4Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

6Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

7Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Maybe now you can understand about Righteousness and the Imputation of it.

Blessed Assurance,

Matthew 7:22-23

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

These people are not your everyday run of the mill nonbelievers. These people have been saved at one time or another (born again Christians) or they wouldn't be doing the miracles they do nor prophesying in his name or casting out devils in his name.

These are not things non believers do nor do devils do these things.

Matthew 12:26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

Luke 11:18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub.

No, these are people who think they are True Christians doing God's will, but they are sinners also who are not as holy as they thought they were after the Grace of God saved them. Somewhere along the way they turned from God and slid back into the world with its sins and temptations.

If they were nonbelievers, they would NOT know to do these miracles in Jesus' name and NOT have the Faith to do them.

Mark 9:38-41

38 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."

39 "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me,

40 for whoever is not against us is for us.

41 I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.

As I said before you have your opinion just as I have mine.

Much like you have your "only hope" just as I have mine.

They just happen to differ, both the opinion and "only hope".

Mine produces fruits which include Joy, Peace and Faith.

Yours seem to produce Dread, Unrest and Works.

I personally believe you can know the father of the "only hope" by the fruits that come forth from the tree.

Either way, you have yours and I have mine.

I wasn't hiding your post.

I was just responding to an apparrant Alzheimer's patient again who keeps asking the same questions over and over again after everyone has explained it to them umpteen dozen times.

Poor fellow, seems to be in the final stages of the ravaging disease.

Even dreams a head chopper is after him. And of all things he thinks it is his "only hope".

Dear me,

Dear my,

makes me want,

to just cry.