pattygreen

How true. We all mess up, yet God is there to forgive and forget. To help us change and correct our mistakes. His word teaches us how to do this.

I agree with the writer in purple, when he or she speaks of good and bad pride. But, Cleo's was not talking about being proud of her education, which is a good kind of pride. When she posted her feelings about how she felt like Gus, the Texas Ranger, she was telling us that she was more intelligent than the rest of us and "just once would love to talk with someone who had intelligent brains like her on this board." This is a bad kind of pride.

When I said "pride" coming before the fall, I was talking about the fact that you feel you are more intelligent than those you converse with, not your pride in your college degree. Your 'pridefulness' is astounding. There isn't one person who is all knowing, and you are no exception. To brag that you are more intelligent than the rest of us here is truly unbelieveable. God says that the wisdom of the wise is foolishness in his eyes. So, when you tell me that you are sooo smart because of your education, it tells me how foolish you really are. I went to college as well, and I'm sure many on these boards have also. So, to make such a comment is degrading to the rest of us. But, it certainly is not surprising coming from you.

Another one:rolleyes:....."Pride cometh before the fall."

You must be dense.

Go back to where you got the old post and read my response to it there, if you want it.

Pat Robertson is a human being with many faults, just like the rest of God's creation. God's soul purpose when intervening on this earth in any way, through answering prayers, through natural disasters, through crisis or through blessings is that it will in some way turn the sinner towards Him. His interference in the lives of all people is strictly to draw them to Jesus, His Son. If a tornado passing through a certain town will do that, he will allow it. If a sick child will bring his parents to their knees before God, he will allow it. If His giving a blessing to someone will make them acknowledge God and give Him thanks, he will give it. His whole purpose is the salvation of souls. God knows what each individual needs to have happen in their own lives to bring them to a point of recognizing that He is who He says He is. God works in this earth drawing men unto Himself. It is His desire that none should perish, but that all should be saved from the coming wrath. Satan, OTOH, is working in this earth to keep people from turning toward God. It is his whole purpose to distract mankind and to do whatever it takes to keep them from finding out that God exists and that he can save them from the coming wrath. He wants to take as many souls as he can to hell with him, and he knows his time is short, so he works all the more at it. Evil is multiplying here on earth. You can read and hear more and more about it every day. The truth of God is becoming a reality. Mankind is making what God deems good out to be wrong and what God deems bad out to be right and acceptable. This is Satans scheme to keep people from God. Keep them biblically illiterate, so they will be lost forever.

This thread is entitled "how do I feel about "born agains". So, I feel compelled to give my testimony about how I became "born again." I was sitting in my living room, relaxing and smoking my cigarette. I put my 2 sons to bed for the night and thay were asleep. My husband was in the garage drinking his beer and 'tinkering' with his tools. I was all alone and pondering that there must be something more to this life than just this. I noticed an old bible that was given to me by our Priest as a wedding gift, sitting on my stereo across the room. I picked it up and sat back down. I wondered if there was something in there that I should know about. I had never bothered to look before, so I opened randomly to the New Testament book of John, Chapter 3. I began to read the story of a man named Nicodemus: John 3 Jesus Teaches Nicodemus 1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." 3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.[a]" 4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" 5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You[c] must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." 9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked. 10"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[d] 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.[e] 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.[g] 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."[h] After reading it, I Thought, "What BS! You can't be born twice." I didn't understand what that meant. (being "born again") I closed the book. Then I sat and wondered if God was real or not. I said my first prayer. I said, "God if you're real, then I need to know. I want to quit smoking, but it seems that I am not able to give up this habit as hard as I try to. If you are real, then take this strong desire from me. Then I will know that you are real." I put the bible away and went to bed. The next day, I awoke and never had another cigarette again. It was that easy. I began to have a strong desire to know what else was in the bible. I started at the beginning and read it all the way through in a matter of 3 months time. It was a long read, but I was determined. I read it with a strong belief that all that was said was true and came from my Creator. He began to work in my heart. I was now beginning to understand many mysteries of life. It was then that I understood that the church (Catholic) I was raised in, but not attending, was not one that I could ever go back to, for they taught me many falsehoods as a child. So, I asked some friends and family members about what they believed about God. I was surprised to learn that my sister-in-law and my sister both believed in God, and so did a good friend of mine. We gathered together once a week to read the bible and study it. Others joined over those 2 years of bible study. My mother-in-law joined, too. Then I decided to look for a local church that had a biblical foundation. A church that taught truth from the scriptures, and not lies. I fully understood what it meant to be "born again", now. For I was reborn. I was made new in Christ. My thoughts, my faith, my beliefs, my way of living. Everything had changed. My husband saw the change in me, too. It was for the better. He decided to attend the same church that I was going to, cause my 5 year old asked him to come with us. He asked Jesus to be his Savior during one of the services there and he, too became "born again." He was a new person as well. God took his desire for alcohol away from him. He hasn't drank since then. (26 years ago) Being "born again" is simply God touching your heart and changing you from the inside out into what He wants you to be. It's acknowledging that God is real and that he exists and becuase you have done that, he does a work within you to change you. Faith grows within you. He gives you wisdom and knowledge from his word and helps you to "see" things for what they really are. First you are born physically, through the womb, and then you can be born spiritually, through the work of the Holy Spirit. Just ask God for it. He will not disappoint you.

"Pride cometh before the fall."

Jesus is very patient with us humans. He knows that some just haven't read his bible and know that praying to those who have died before us is not acceptable by Him. So, when they do it, He doesn't get mad, He is probably more hurt or disappointed that they don't take the time to read His words to us and learn all they can about Him.

After a believer dies, his body stays in the ground and his soul goes to a place called Paradise where it awaits the judgement. Many scriptures teach that it is a place of rest or sleep. On the ressurection day, the soul returns to the body and it is ressurected. What do the souls of believers experience in Paradise? God has revealed very little about this, except that it will be a place of enjoyment and comfort and rest in the presence of God, where there is no death or sin or care. It is a place that is “far better” than our life here, where we will be “at home with the Lord.” Whether the souls of those in heaven are able to see what happens on the earth, or in what way time passes, has not been revealed in God’s Word. Therefore definite statements should be avoided. So, as far as whether they are sleeping in God's presence in Paradise, I can not say for certain, but the bible tends to lean that way, so if I were to gesture, it would be that they do. Since many scriptures teach that you can not talk to the dead, or that Jesus is thee only mediator for us, I come to that conclusion. Even if I am not correct about souls sleeping, it makes no difference. Talking to the dead is strictly forbidden by God in the scriptures. So is having any other mediator but Jesus.

You sound like a mean and nasty person. To say what you said about Cheri is totally unacceptable. Shame on you. Or are you capable of feeling shame? Somehow, I think not. You write like your writing a novel, and not like you are talking to other human beings. Work on it!

Even I call Mary a blessed woman. She was chosen to carry the mother of God's own son, after all. But, I wouldn't dream of praying to her or worshiping her or putting her up on a pedestal or anything. "Worship the Lord your God, and Him only." and "There is only one mediator between man and God, and That is Jesus Christ." God commands it. I would NEVER dishonor His own words on the subject simply because the denomination that I belong to okays it. "Do not pray to the dead." I understand that you believe Mary is not 'dead', but in reality, she is. Her soul lives on after this life, but like all souls, it is asleep, lying dormant, waiting, until the ressurection day when Jesus returns for the rest of us and the world as we know it ends. To pray (talk) to her or anyone else who has died (saints) would be futile, since she is in a sleep state until then, just like the rest of creation who awaits the ressurection.

I don't get too many Bravos! around here, so thanks!

How has what I wrote disrespected Mary? And, BTW, if I disrespected Jesus' earthly mother, (which I didn't), doing so would not be able to send me to Hell. I have Jesus as my Savior, and He has forgiven me for ALL my sins. (Past, present and future ones) Our deeds do not determine our destination after we die, only our faith in Jesus determines that.

I don't see how you can call my HI a 'handout' to me. I pay quite a pretty penny every week for my HI. Because I do, I have every right to use it.

Thank you, Cheri. Even though others feel that I am full of it when I say that I am tolerant of others beliefs, I know that you truly understand that I am. I know that God allows only ONE way to the Father. Through Jesus Christ. Anyone who plans to get in through some other doorway will be surprised over their lack of getting the key turned. This is unfortunate for them. It is okay to know beyond doubt that your way is THEE way, and still be tolerant of others who havn't figured it out yet.

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I'm sooo thankful for God's interferences in my life.

bjean, I'm not forcing my beliefs on you. I hope that's not what you're talking about when you say "forcing their beliefs on you". You have every choice in whether you read what I have to say about God or not. No one is "forcing' anything on you.

It's insulting because we are all supposed to be God's children whom he loves equally. God's children are those who ask Jesus to be their savior. Those who believe in Him. God's children are those who ask to be in His family. ALL others are His 'creation', until they get adopted. (by their own choice or decision to be so) Not everyone that was created is a child of God's, only those who want to be. God loves all of His creation equally, and he desires that none of them should perish, yet he protects and cherishes and takes care of those who make Him their Father. He hears their prayers and answers all who call on His name. I don't remember learning that he picks and chooses which prayers to "answer" based on whether you are born again or righteous. It's insulting because who among us can call themselves righteous? I can. And many other Christians as well. Jesus said that Christians are the 'righteous' ones. Even though we Christians fail every day, we are considered righteous in God's eyes through what Jesus did for us on the cross. When God looks at us, he sees his son, Jesus, in us, and wipes away our unrighteousness. We are not righteous by any means of our own. We are considered righteous because Jesus made us so. We are all sinners, yet Jesus took his children's sin from them and made them righteous in His Father's sight. When there is no sin standing in the way of God hearing your prayers, they can get answered. And time and time again, when someone opposes your biblical interpretation, you criticize them for taking a biblical quote out of context yet you do it all the time. What biblical quote have I taken out of context? I will try to clear it up. ................................

Well, I'm off for vacation in Maine. I leave at 10 AM. Looking forward to the ocean view! lol. See you all in about 12 days. God bless. Patty