pattygreen

Plain, You said it best...Separation of church and state merely means that the government can't legally make you practice a certain religion.

WOW! It happens every time! All a christian has to do is get angry at you and all of a sudden "The pounce!' "You're NOT a christian! What a fake!" FYI: Christians are humans too. YOU claim to be a christian, too. But, by your 'Blowhard' statement, I should also call you a fake! Grow up! Your age says 43, but you act 10.

Maybe it was your great, great, great grandparents that did that.

Beth, you like to say that. "Hour of Power". I've heard it more than once. When others, like myself comment it's "They're monopolizing!', But you never fail to cease from one page!!!! Just because this is a thread that began with prostitution, doesn't mean it has to end there. Conversations drift to other things, if you don't like where they go, then get lost.

And you most likely decended from them. If you were born in America then you came from them. Too bad you didn't continue to follow in your ancestors Christian faith, then maybe you wouldn't be so mean and uncaring when you talk to people.

You are right, there were indians on this continent before the christians came over and formed a unified nation that included them as well.

It wasn't a 'Sermon'. And it wasn't boring. Thank you, Carrie for your agreement with me on that one.

That wasn't very nice either.

Wasa, that wasn't very nice. What exactly are your questions??? I know one is 'would we approve of prayers offered at public places to Satan.' NO! I would not approve. Why? Because Satan is the enemy! Take a look around you. The majority rules in this country. Our president is chosen by the majority of votes, decisions are made by who is in favor, not opposed. When our forefathers came here from Europe, it was because they wanted to get away from the catholic church, who insisted EVERYONE follow their traditions. Then came the protestant movement when people protested to this. In other words, religious freedom. At the time, NOT meaning freedom to worship Satan or Allah or Mary, but Jesus. The high majority of christians that came to America wanted to be able to have a bible in their own home and live according to IT. Read the stories of the pioneers as they headed west, or of Abraham Lincoln and his beliefs or the Pilgrims when they kissed the rock and offered a prayer of thanks to JESUS for this land of the free. Christopher Columbus had a faith in God, and in his diaries are many accounts of his offering thanks to Jesus for guiding his paths. This country was founded on this belief. Benjamin Franklin was the one who insisted that if these men (writing the constitution) and meeting together to form this union did not pray to "our God in Heaven" before each assembly they would be meeting in vain. Thus why it is a custom to pray before the assemblies. (They're not talking to Satan there!) God is in our national anthem, on our money, in our pledge, our new president swore his oath on Lincoln's bible, we swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth 'so help me GOD' in our courts of law, Our Pres. says "and may GOD Bless America" after every speech, There is a christian church in just about EVERY town across this nation, most times even more than one, (no doubt there are many different denominations of churches due to minor disagreements on small issues, but all believing in JESUS as the Savior) This country is predominantly Christian. Yes, we allow anyone to enter this country and believe any way they choose, even if it is to worhip or pray to Satan or in your case, to not believe in God at all. But, I say we were here first and if you don't want to conform to the christian faith, That's your right. But don't turn things around and make the majority of us accomodate you. You need to accomodate us! I feel the same way about foreigners who come to America who can't speak english. This country is ENGLISH speaking, and if you want to come here, don't expect us to accomodate you and have to learn your language, YOU need to speak english. My point is, believe anything you wish or nothing at all, but Christianity is here to stay! Atheists are constantly angered over what they feel is a push by christians to conform them, but I say if christians didn't have such a great love for the souls of all men, they wouldn't give two craps about trying to help others to see what they see. Instead of being angry at us, why not try to understand our motives for what we do? And if you choose not to embrace it, well, that's your choice.

Hey! I haven't said a word in at least 5 pages! Give me a break, huh?

I never understood why since my surgery 4 months ago I have had soooo much gas. How embarassing! Because I never had gas like this prior in my life. It's good to know that it is related to laband. But now how do we remedy this?:thumbdown:

Wow! Then my Fatty acids must be running through my blood stream!!! LOL!

Kim, It depends on your insurance. I had blue cross and blue shield. They approved me right away. I was happy when at my initial conference talk, the doctors said that my ins. was their friend. I first went to the info seminar then to my first dr. appt., then to a psyc. and nutritionist 2x each and then to another seminar and lastly my dr. again and had it scheduled. All this took exactly 3 months. You just have to ask for the nearest appointment and take it despite what else is on your schedule. That's what I did. God bless. Patty

My thoughts before surgery were that I couldn't wait to be off diabetes medication. That was my main goal. Everything else is a plus! The day I left the surgery table I no longer took another Actos pill! Then within 6 weeks, I found that getting myself out of bed was so much easier and I had more energy.It's been 4 months and I'm down 40 pounds, and I can walk for exercise and I took that pudgy look off my face and I am happier. I thank God!

I, for one, researched how christianity came to be and how the bible was put together and found that the law of compound probabilities when applied to the 25 very specific predictions made by the old testament Prophets bearing on the betrayal, trial, death and burial of Jesus that was uttered by different prophets during the period from 1000 - 500 BC and ALL being literally fulfilled in 24 hours in one person is pretty convincing to me. According to the law of compound probabilities there was 1 chance in 33,554,432 that these predictions would be fulfilled as prophesied. If 1 prophet should make several predictions as to some 1 event, he might by collusion with others bring it to pass, but when a number of prophets, distributed over several centuries, give detailed and specific predictions as to some event, the charge of collusion can not be sustained. It is a fact that there were 109 predictions literally fulfilled at Christ's first coming in the flesh. Apply the law of compound probability to this number and the chance was only 1 in billions that they would be fulfilled in 1 peson.

Hey green, Heres a nice, clean joke for you. A man was driving down the street in a lather because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking space. Looking up to Heaven, he said, "Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking space, I promise to go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life and give up swearing." Miraculously, a spot opened right in front of the building. The man looked up and said, "Never mind, I found one." lol.

Kat, The preacher told you you were going to hell because you were divorced?! He should be more careful with his words, for Jesus taught that those who preach or teach will be judged more strictly. No one but God alone knows who will or will not enter heaven. Only He knows the heart of each individual. This is just one more reason for why people who are seeking for a relationship with God need to read His word and find out for themselves what he has to say to them, and not rely on the teachings of others whether they be pastors, priests, popes or neighbor. 1Cor.1:20 says... Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. This tells me that God will continue to save people who believe in him dispite the teachings of those who are believed to be full of 'wisdom'.

I agree, green. Christianity can be fun! I don't believe God wants us to simply endure this life, but he wants us to live it to its fullest, enjoy it and be happy. P.S. (I wear makeup, pants, and I can Dance! :biggrin:)

Oh my! I'm almost afraid to go there with you.:biggrin: Remember what we said prior about how there are some people in every religion where they are extremists? Well, sometimes those in the pentecostal faith get extreme and in doing so, get out of God's will. While I believe that speaking in tounges is a gift that God gives his children if they ask for it, and it can be used in your private prayer time with God, and also in the church to build up and edify others and to interpret prophecy, I do not agree with its abuse by some who confess christianity and roll around, bark, get slain in the spirit (as they call it) and speak in their tongue language out of an orderly fashion in their services. This kind of stuff does alot of disservice to christianity and is not from God.

I, too, belong to a pentecostal church. We don't have any of those rules though. I've been attending there for 22 years. They probably came up with that ruling because of a scripture in 1 peter chapter 3 which states, "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's eyes." Statements like these , to me, don't mean "You can't braid your hair or wear jewelry", but that what you wear or how you look, should not take presidence over your good heart. Do you agree?

Donna, There are some actions that God tells us in the bible that are absolutes, black and white. (like whether he approves of prostitution or murder, etc.) then there are gray areas like dancing or whether a woman can wear pants or not, or whether you should wear a hat in church, etc. . That's why so many denominations have sprung up. Christians split up on issues like these all the time and separate themselves from those who disagree and form new meeting places (denominations). (I guess it's ok, so long as you are not divided on the central and most important issue of christianity which is 'Jesus being Savior'.)I guess on some issues, God wants us to decide whether it is acceptable or not, for what might be a sin for one may bring no conviction to another. Our own conscience will sort those things out. That's the reason for why I believe it's not what's written over the door , but what's written in your heart. One thing that I don't like though is when christians tell you that these 'gray' areas are law, and don't accept that because their own conscience would not allow them to participate in something,(like dancing perhaps)that you may not have that same conviction. A good example of that is that baptist pastor making it a 'law' in their church that woman had to wear skirts that fell below the knee. Jesus teaches us how to deal with this in life in Romans chapter 14. He basically said "what your conscience may allow, others may not, so don't be a stumbling block for them. Don't destroy the work of God for the sake of_______." (fill in the blank...dancing, wearing a hat, eating fish on Fridays, short skirts etc.)If I'm with someone at a wedding and there is dancing there, and they believe it is sinful to dance, for their sake, I will not dance. (Even though for me, I don't feel that dancing is sinful) (unless you are dressed half naked and provacatively simulating the sex act while doing it).:thumbup:

Hi green, is that your last name or your favorite color? (for my last name is green):thumbup: I don't praise God for good 'luck', but for good things that happen. I believe that at creation all was 'good', but Satan entered the scene and continues till this day to create havoc in the world. There are 2 spiritual forces (good and evil) and spiritual warfare that goes on all around us. Whenever the evil forces can, they will interefer in the worlds activities and try to bring about death and destruction. Life continues on. Sometimes evil prevails and sometimes good prevails. We can know the outcome of this spiritual war through reading the scriptures. In the end, Satan is defeated and cast into hell for all eternity and God will be forever glorified. I do not curse God for the 'bad' things that happen, I curse Satan. The spiritual warfare that is taking place is for the souls of mankind. Satan knows the outcome of his own fate as well and wants to take as many souls down with him as possible. God also trys to reach as many souls as possible. When christians pray, God hears their prayers and intervenes in situations.

Thank you plain , for your support. I like you. You seem to be a genuinely kind and fair person with a good head on your shoulders.

Hi chocolate-snaps, So, you live in NY. Do you like the city? I'm in CT and have been to NY city many times, but feel I could never live there because of the busyness of it there. I was wondering, do you give pres. Bush any credit for the fact that we haven't had another terrorist attack on our soil? I'm asking you, because you've 'lived' the experience of it right in your backyard as you call it, and lately there has been alot of talk about his 8 years in office. When 911 happened, I felt as if it were too close for comfort, and I'm about 1 1/2 hours away. What's your opinion? Also, were you anywhere near where the plane went down?

Donna, I am not ashamed to say that I had to look up the word 'tenacity' in the dictionary. I may sometimes seem like I'm a know it all, but I will readily admit that I have much to learn. I wasn't sure if you were complimenting me or putting me down. (around here, I never know if I'm going to be yelled at, laughed at, or loved) Tenacity: 'Persistent, tending to hold fast, not easily pulled apart'. I will take that as a compliment, even if it's not, for I could use one today. I started a thread to discuss the miracle on the Hudson, and got yelled at over there. It was my first time starting one, and wanted to talk about something 'good' for a change that was on the news, and I got blasted. Oh well, have a great day!:tongue: