pattygreen

bjean, I like what you said about the little girls parents forgiving the man for their own sake. ( Releasing the hate and the rage within them.) I think God wants us to forgive others for this very reason. Hate inside of us can release its ugly head within us by bringing on sickness, heart attacks, stress, depression, and so on.

I don't like it when preachers say "all you have to do is accept Jesus and you'll be saved." Without helping people to understand that they are in need of a Savior because their sins are keeping them out of Heaven, they rush to get people to say "Yes, I believe." The need to accept Jesus is important, but confessing your sin is just as important. If a person is truly sincere in asking God to forgive them and to save them in prayer, God will bring about a change in the persons life. The person will desire to know more of what God has to say to them and will begin to read his word, they will desire to be righteous, they will desire to worship Him, they will desire to make friends who also love God and they will enjoy prayer with God. This is why God says, "By their fruits you wll know them." (His true children) Only God knows if this man in prison we are talking about will be saved. Some people who confess to be believers in Christ, may not be. This is what Jesus meant when he said."not everyone who calls "Lord, Lord", will enter into heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in Heaven."

Many christians call it the ABC's. 1. Admit you sin. 2. Believe Jesus died for you. 3. Confess your sins.

Kat, do you want God to erase your slate? No one deserves to get to go to Heaven. The scum of the earth will be there. Every one of us who trusted Jesus to get us there. That man may be doing lip service to others, or maybe not, but God knows his heart. (If he is truly grieved over his wrong doing or not) Can anyone do what he did to a child and not be insane mentally? Her inability to forgive the man isn't keeping her child from God at all. But, it may keep HER from God. We are only responsible for our own sins. And as hard as this may be to take, God says that unforgiveness toward anyone is a sin, and will keep God from forgiving you. That's why she needs to talk to God. He understands what she is going through. Only God can give her the peace she needs and the forgiveness for this man. When I need to forgive someone for anything, I try to remember their humanness, and their sinful nature and when I remember that Jesus has forgiven me, it's easier to do.

Sorry for the long posts, I know it is much reading.

Dear kat, the reason for why man can't enter Heaven is because he is not without sin as God is, he is unclean and God is Holy. When Jesus shed his blood for us, he made us clean. If you believe this, then you can't deny that what he did for man wasn't enough to cleanse us from our sins. Man is soooo lost without God. The unbeliever is so blinded by sin that he doesn't even get it. Jesus said in scripture that if you do not forgive man for their sins, he will not forgive you for yours. I understand your disgust in the man who did this to that child. God was even more grieved by his actions than you were. But, he made a way for everyone to enter Heaven. There will be no sin there and God will not even remember your sin any longer. Jesus' blood washed it away from you. Now do you see why the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for the Whole world was soooo great? It is hard for man to forgive the injustices of others, we can't do it alone. God can help us though. If we pray and ask God to help us to forgive others, he can change our hearts. The power of God's Holy Spirit once we believe is great enough to make us new inside. I have heard of parents who have forgiven criminals for the most vilest things even before the prisoner finds God. They are usually believers in Christ and have come to understand man and his wicked heart and God's mercy. Think about this: When Jesus hang on the cross suffering immensely, he prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." If God the Father could forgive men for the vicious and torturous murder of his own own son, surely he can forgive anyone.

Kat, I can understand how you would feel this way. It's hard to imagine that God could be that merciful. But He is. When Jesus gave his life on the cross, He did it for every man. All sin is wrong. Whether it is murder, rape, or lying. Jesus paid the price for the most vile of criminals. Some feel that what they have done in their lives, God could never forgive. But it's simply not true. The man who murders a child will pay for his crime in prison here on earth, but if he truly repents and asks forgiveness, God will pardon. On the other hand, some live exceptionally good lives and never accept Jesus as their Savior by admitting they are sinners and God says they will not enter into Heaven, because they denied their need for Jesus. (to console you about the child that was never given a chance, I can tell you that the scripture teaches that all children will enter into Heaven.)

Carrie, I agree with you wholeheartedly. There are NO conditions or "works' or 'deeds' that we must do except to believe on the name of Jesus to be able to go to Heaven. This includes going to church and getting baptized. After we accept Jesus as our Savior, he will put a desire within each of us to be obedient to him. We will still never be able to live without sinning, and God knows this. That's why I said once before that it is better to sin as a believer than an unbeliever. There is no difference in the sin, for God hates all sin. The difference is in the way he treats the sin of the believer and the unbeliever.

Bjean, because there can never be a 'perfect' church, we should try to find a church where the people who attend and minister to us follow the teachings of God as laid out for us in the bible. The church I attend is far from perfect, but there are many there who do their best to follow God's written plan for us. If you don't have a 'guidebook' to follow you may get lost. That's why God has given us His laws in his book. All men have broken the laws of God by sinning and because God is Holy, man can not be in his presence with sin upon him. Just as with any law, when it is broken, the law demands justice. (punishment) The punishment for sin is death. Thus why ALL men die one day. God loves us and wants us in his presence in Heaven, so he provided a way to reconcile us back to Him. Imagine you broke some terrible crime and you can't even afford a lawyer.You are heavily fined. The fine is unreachable for you to pay. Then, someone you don't even know steps into the courtroom to pay the fine for you. The demands of the law are fully satisfied by the stranger. You are set free. That's what God did for us when the law utterly condemned us, Jesus paid the fine for us by taking our punishment that we deserved. To answer your questions, man must first acknowledge that he is a sinner and in need of a Savior. (thus why God gave us his laws. For without the law, we would not know that we sin) After a man understands that he is a sinner and can't save himself, he has a decision to make. Jesus gave us this free gift of an eternity in heaven by 'paying the fine for us' you might say. He forces his gift on noone. If you would like the free gift, you must accept it. This is where faith comes in. You must believe in God. You must believe that he died so you could live eternally in Heaven. He paid your fine for all the wrongs you have ever done in your lfe. Past, present and future. You are no longer condemned. Now, if you have this faith in God, you will talk to him and ask Him to be your Savior and forgive you for sinning. What is the first thing we do with our spouse when we want to reconcile our relationship after we have hurt them with our actions? we say I'm sorry and ask for forgiveness. God ALWAYS forgives us. Once God has forgiven you, you are now in right relationship with him and when you die, you will live in Heaven.

Bjean, You are right when you say the bible was written by mere men, but imagine, for illustration, that we take 66 medical books written by 40 different physicians and surgeons during a period of 1600 years of various schools of medicine, as Allopathy,Homeopathey,Hydropathy,Osteopathy, etc., and bind them all together, and then undertake to doctor a man according to that book. What success would we expect to have, and what accord would there be in such a medical book? The bible was written by Holy men of God during 1600 years.(1492BC-100AD) There are 66 seperate books written by 40 different authors. Kings, statesmen, priests, herdsmen, fishermen, tax officials, doctors, etc. Its pages were penned in the wilderness of Sinai, the cliffs of Arabia, palestine, the courts of the temple, the schools of the prophets at Bethel, Rome and on the lonely isle of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea. It is not a jumble of ancient history, myths, legends, religious speculations and superstitions. There is a progress of revelation and doctrine in it. You could not understand the book of Leviticus in the OT without the book of Hebrews in the NT. Or Daniel without Revelation. Yet when all the books are compiled together to make the 1 bible, it forms perfect unity. No mere man could have written it without divine inspiration from God. It would be impossible. Also, with the discovery of the dead sea scrolls, it has been proven that the written word of God has been miraculously preserved over the years without 1 mistake.

Hi! I had 4 cc put in on my 1st fill because the last time my dr attempted to fill me, he couldn't find the port and so I left that appointment discouraged. Then I went and had my 2nd fill and he put 2 more cc in. It has been 5 days and I can only take 1 bite of food every 5 minutes or so after I have chewed it till it's mush. AND I can only fit in about 1/2 c. of food. No breads, as that fills me after 1 bite. I don't know if I am too filled, but I went down 3 lbs. in 5 days. I know that is because you can only have liquids the day of thefill and then purees the 2nd day and musshies the 3rd day, but I love it. I do miss the emotional part of eating that I used to have before lap band. What I mean is I used to eat because I loved eating, not because I was hungry. I need to learn how to use food for energy and not pleasure.

Believers in Christ do not need to affiliate with any church denomination although God does say that we should not forsake assemblying together. One reason for that is so we can encourage one another. (This is how churches began. Christians met in each others homes, and when the group got too big, they moved to a building and put a name on it. Before you knew it, another building needed to be used and there was a divide in the fellowship and on and on it went) There will be many from every denomination who have asked Jesus to be their Savior and have repented of sin who will see God at the time of their death. When God speaks of the 'church' he is refering to the people who believe in Him, not the building. I, personally, attend an Assembly of God church. There is no 'perfect' denomination. You should check out a churches Statement of Faith and compare it to the word of God. I am involved in a local church because I enjoy worshipping God with other believers. Jesus said to allow the wheat to grow with the weeds and in the end he will separate them. This was a parable he used to speak of believers and unbelievers (all those hypocrites some speak of) who dwell in the churches together.

Does space have an end? If it does-- that is, if there is a block wall at the end of space that says "The End", then I want to know what's behind it. By faith, you and I are forced to believe that no matter what direction we set off toward, space will never end. It just goes on and on and on--forever. It has no beginning or ending. It 'hurts' the brain to think about it, but we have no choice but to accept that fact by 'faith'. God also has no beginning and no end. We must accept that fact by 'faith'. But with God we have a little more information. Time is a demension God has created and He has subjected man to its perimeters. We have to wait for time to pass. Because we are in time, logic, reason, and rationalism demand a 'beginning' and an 'end'. God is not subject to the dimension of time. He dwells in eternity. The bible tells us that a day to the Lord is like a thousand years to us. The christian understands by 'faith'. We believe in a creator even though our human eyes can't 'see' Him. The existance of God is an axiom. (a self evident truth, like parallel lines never meet is an axiom.) For things to be 'made' ,logic, reason, intellect and rationalism demand that there be a maker. Your philosophy may be 'seeing is believing'. If that is so, the next time you see Water shimmering on a hot road, stop for a drink. Or the next time you gaze at a blue sky, tell your eyes they are lying to you. The sky has no color, ask any astronaut. We believe in plenty of things we can not see. For example, right behind you, beside you and in front of you are masses of TV waves. Cowboys, newsreaders, soap operas are flashing before your eyes, but you can't see them.. They are invisible. If I denied their existance because I couldn't see them would that alter the reality of their existance? no. This is faith. Now if you believe that God exists, then you must believe that what he says is true. And what He says is "Believe (have faith) in Jesus, and you will be saved."

Brad, It is sad that so much of the world equates what the traditional churches stand for with biblical christianity. Hundreds of millions are deceived into thinking they are one and the same. Religion is mans self righteous effort to reach God. In Christ, God reached down to man. History has shown that the greatest enemy to man is organized religion. (yes, even christian denominations) When Jesus said "not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter into heaven." He was speaking of 'organized religion'. Jesus was murdered by those who professed to love God. (the 'religious' people) Throughout the book of Acts, the established religious leaders opposed the early christians. No doubt such will be the case at the end of this age as well. When I said "those who mistreated your ancestors were not 'true' christians, and that they were in name only, I meant that they were just like all other religious people (religions) out there. Speaking on who will go to Heaven, The second half of what Jesus said is "only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven." What is the will of his Father? Mainly to have faith in his son Jesus to get them from here to there. We can not do it of ourselves. This leads me to conclude that all those who do not have faith in Him will not see Heaven. (I know that seems hard for you to take, but it is biblical, and I believe it.)

Also, pointing out whether something is right or wrong to others is NOT unchristianlike. When you are in a discussion about whether some action (prostitution in this case) should be acceptable or not, there is nothing unchristianlike about telling those who want to discuss it what God feels about it. If I were, say, at the store and started talking with a stranger who was a prostitute, or jumped in a conversation with someone who was talking about prostitutes, I certainly wouldn't come out with, "Hey, You are sinning!" or "Hey, That's wrong!" Now that would be unchristianlike. I wouldn't even bring up the 'sin' issue to the conversation, but this is a clear debate on the subject and what each person thinks about legalizing it and why we feel that way. Thus why I feel free to openly say what I feel. I certainly understand about how being an 'example' and a 'rolemodel' to others works. And in my home life, and in my community I try my best to be what God wants me to be. (and I mean that)

Show me ONE post where I EVER condemned someone to HELL? Never! I may say that this or that is a sin in Gods eyes, or God considers this or that wrong, but NEVER had I said someone is going to Hell. I never said that someone was a False christian either. As a matter of fact in my posts I have said many times that God knows each mans heart.

It was inresponse to what you said above, but not directly for you. It was more to point out how 'Our Government' likes us to believe that waht they have us do and what they do is for our benefit and the benefit of the children, but it's most definitely not. Thus why making more laws which require certain requirements to be met before you can do ANYTHING are absurd sometimes. Who's going to enforce these laws?

And the scripture I quoted (matthew 7:21) refers to those who don't 'know' Jesus personally, yet attend churches and call upon God, but don't really 'know' him. When I was a catholic child, I recited the 'Our Father' prayer over and over and over, but I was never really communicating with God. (just repeating what I was told to say) There are many people who go through life 'just repeating what they're told to say' and never have a real conversation with God. And as far as me thinking that I am one of the good christians, I don't. That is something that most of you have wrong about me. Noone more than me knows how sinful I truely am. Why do you think that I am so thankful to Jesus for saving me? Bam, God does do the 'assessing', as you call it, but we are not blind to the error of others around us, even our own errors. We can 'see' when others are wrong and when others are right. (according to God's word)

I'm sorry. I should have reread my post before clicking enter. I don't feel that catholicism isn't a christian faith. I only know that there are many from this denomonation who profess to be christians, like I once did, yet do not have a relationship with Christ at all. And I also know personally many catholics who have a sincere relationship with Jesus.

There have been many times in the last 4 months when I wondered if I have done the right thing (lapband). It is alot of work to use the tool. (going back to the doctors once a month, getting fills, being conscience of eating healthy, chewing enough, exercise, protien, nutrition, vitamins, etc.) But, if we didn't have the lapband in us, we would still be doing all of the above, except the dr. visits and chewing, and with no success. The band helps me with hunger, portion sizes, and emotional eating as well as keeping me daily conscious of what my goal is (which is to lose weight) Before, I would let each day slip away and not once remember that I should consider what I'm putting in my mouth. It also took away my diabetes medication. One awesome feat!

I believe our laws are becoming more open to accepting homosexual marriage because the minority (homosexuals) have a loud voice and wants the rest of the people to agree with them that thier lifestyle is an acceptable choice for them. I personally don't agree with that. (most people here know my stance on that, so I wont go into it unless i'm questioned.) I don't understand either why some in this country find that the homosexual lifestyle and marriage is ok, but it's not ok to marry more than 1 person, or to marry your sibling, etc. But then again, some in this country feel it's ok to abort unborn children and feel that marajuana and prostitution should be legalized. Go figure.

We have to have some laws. Otherwise we would have chaos. Regulating abortion is important because it is a life and death situation. And for the life of me, I can't understand why we have a law aginst man killing man (murder laws) but not mom killing babies law. That's a whole nother topic! We will never be able to control all the evils of this world through making laws for every little thing, we can only try to 'curb' the evil.

The reason for all those 'requirements' for adoptive parents to submit to before they can adopt is not for the 'parents' sake, but for the 'states' sake. The state wants to be able to say " before we gave this child to that family, we thouroughly checked their background, we gave them parenting classes, we finger printed them and checked their background, we digged into their psychy, we learned about their upbringing, etc. If you think they did that for you so you could 'learn' about parenting, you are mistaken. They will tell you that they have you do all those requirements for your benifit but in reality, They want to be able to defend themselves in court giving you a child should you abuse that child and they are questioned as to why they allowed you to adopt. The government never seems to do anything for 'your' (or the childs ) benefit. It's all for them. That's why, in my opinion, we need to keep the gov. out of as much as possible.

You are a wise mom. I believe that rewarding with food sets a presidence in ones life to eat when feeling down or when you've accomplished something instead of when you're hungry and supposed to eat. You are doing the right thing with your daughter by providing healthy foods for her , but as we lapbanders know, it is us and us alone who puts that fork up to our mouths. Your daughter needs to learn that she is in control of her own eating habits and needs to know when she's had enough or what she should or shouldn't eat. You are teaching her this. I have learned that it is best not to yell at children for being 'fat', but as the parent, to stock the home with only the 'right' foods to choose from, and setting rules about kitchen times. I can see that you are a good mother. As far as your mom goes, it's hard to be a grandparent and not have the say. Grandchildren are an extension of your own children and thus you feel as if they are yours, too. I can understand her, and you will too, when your daughter has a child someday. She loves her. But, you were right to put your foot down, especially when it is something that involves your daughters health. God Bless. Patty

Dear green, The sad thing about christianity is that the wheat grow with the tares. There are many 'christian' denominations that are in 'name' only. People profess the faith, but don't practice it. I can remember when I was younger telling people when they asked, that I was catholic, (a christian faith supposedly)yet, I never even attended a church or thought about God ever. I assumed that I was a christian, because my parents told me I was catholic. "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kindom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven.(Matthew 7:21) Those 'religious' christians who mistreated your ancestors for whatever reason, were not true, practicing, God fearing christians. They were in name only. Christianity is a 'relationship' with God and if they had one they would not have done what they did. This is one of the biggest reasons for why christianity gets blamed for alot of bad things. Because there are so many groups who say they are christian, but truly are not.