| Is There A Rapture Of The Church? Is It Taught In The Scriptures? |
Jun 15, 2008 7:48 am
102 Views | I have seen posts here where others have mocked the idea of the rapture of the church. I have also seen just about every nonessential doctrine become a place of contention and dividing of the body of Christ here on B.C. all because many of us myself included at times have not learned to hold our doctrinal view in humility! When I say nonessential doctrines I mean any of those that one must believe in order to be saved such as we are saved by God's grace alone through faith alone in the finished work of Jesus on the cross alone and that Jesus is fully God and fully man and therefore is the only One who can pay the sin debt that we all under with our fallen sinful natures.
I do believe in the rapture of the church and believe it will happen very soon with all that's transpiring especially with the Jews being brought home to their own land where they have to be when Jesus returns at His second coming at the battle of Armageddon. Now I know many will say this is not something that was taught in scriptures and only resonantly been brought to light through a wild eyed Margret MacDonald's vision and in which Darby and Scofield picked up on. What others may have forgotten is that Paul talks about the the great departure in 1 Thessalonian and 1 Corrinthians as well as other places and there is records of others in church history that have believed in this too.
In the 11Th chapter Daniel he was told to seal up the book of his vision of the last days when knowledge will be increased and I believe this is why there is a great world wide anticipation within the church of the Lords soon return to snatch up His bride before Antichrist will be revealed and the start of God's judgment upon the whole Christ rejecting world with the 7 year period of the great tribulation. If you look back on the 15Th and 16Th centuries when the reformation happened you will find that the battle cry from all the priests that came out of the RCC during this time was rightfully addressing the doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone and not of works or through a church! Everyone was focused in on this much needed understanding and a return to the scriptural truth relating to this yet they weren't newly found Scriptures or some new doctrine that the reformers were espousing but the word of God that the church throughout the centuries had gotten away from and forgotten.
That was the message for that period of the church and God was opening the eyes of many during to the simple truth of salvation by grace through faith and away from works or RCC membership that had befallen so many during that time. One could say the same thing about all this during that time when God worked in the hearts of so many yet it has always been taught and believed. In the same respect I believe that God is doing just the very same thing the past 3 or 4 hundred years as the day ever approaches when Jesus Himself will come back and call out His Bride to be with Him before God's judgment is to come to this world. One other thing !Thessalonian was believed to be one of Paul's earliest writing to the church dating back to about 20 years after his ministry so the rapture goes all the way back as far one can go even though it has been neglected but as I said I believe God has begun to open the eyes of the church in these last days to this all important and Bible taught truth. If you don't agree with me thats fine and will not effect either one of our relationship to the Lord nor should it effect of fellowship with one another either I just hope I'm standing close to you when it happens to see the look on your face.  I'm not opening this up for comments coz I know all to well there will be all sorts here that will take exception to what i've just shared and sadly it will lead to the in house fighting we've all seen here more times than we can count or like to remember! | |
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| I think I need to see my Doctor and get some "Flomax" |
Jun 6, 2008 10:00 pm
590 Views | I just got finished writing littlemstrouble maker an e-mail and was going to sleep when the inspiration came to me for this post! Sooooo i turned on the light and got by b-hind over here to write this so I can get up in the morning with my 1st cuppa of joe and see who was here leaving a comment Not that I will respond or anything like that coz if you notice I been kinda in a funk about doing that from time to time and the mother of all funk has surley landed upon me recently
Well this maybe more infor than you care to hear about but I figure if Pen can im and tell me she has to p as she did with me tonight then I figured I should be able to share my having to go to the bathroom 3, 4, even 5 times a night Soooo seeing that is a common symtom to guys my age, just a tad this side from being over the hill on the the other side of that hill you will find the great yendor huffing and a puffing just grateful to have ever been able to get over that dam ahhh darn thing!
Well, I like that word in case you hadn't noticed I may have an enlarge prostate or maybe it's because of my trying to do the right thing by excersizing in riding my bike to work for about 5 years straight from 1997 to 2002! Now Al Gore would have been proud of me coz I never hardly drove my car the 14 miles round trip during that time even when we had a really bad el nino rain year
Well I got to thinking that it was because of my dilagents in wanting to get in shape and help the eviroment in the procees that caused my prostate to go wacko and have me do all these late night duncanny runs of late How could the bike riding have anything to do with it? I know your thinking that aren't you? 
well it's because of that tinly winny itty bitty European seat that we have to sit on thats why!!! Have you ever seen the adverage American male sit on one of those? thats right the darn thing disapears from sight completely and if you could see the fellas face after he's sat down it would look something like this I mean come on maybe those skinny little Euro boys have no problems with putting their skinny little Euro butts on one of them but hey they're not made for the adverage American male butt and some American females I've noticed too
Well if we are to stop all of the needless carnage being done to the American male butt then I want to be the very first to demand that Congress pass a law and replace all those skinny Euro seats with something more suited for us here in the good old U.S.A. like maybe a John Dear tractor seat yeah baby thats what I'm talking about I can see the looks changing all ready whenever an American man sat on his tiny little skinny seated Euro bike seat being that of to his newly installed big as all ourdoors American made John Dear tractor seated mountain bike to one more becoming of his stately manner mo9re like this
Well There you have it the post of my late night inspiration like it or not see you in the morning | |
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| Does God Have Any GrandChildren? |
Jun 6, 2008 5:47 pm
420 Views | The Bride's Girlfriends (or The Ten Virgins)
Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13
1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, `Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' 7 Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 But the wise replied, `Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, `Lord, lord, open to us.' 12 But he replied, `Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
The oil represents the Holy Spirit in the life's of the 5 wise virgins and what they said was/is true we can't give our salvation to others. Our salvation and relationship to the Lord is personal and only God can/will give it to us and we must come to Him through the Son. So does God have any Grandchildren? Nope! He sure doesn't! We can't get into heaven because our mom, dad, aunt, or sister was a Christian we must believe, repent, and follow after Jesus all on our own! | |
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| “MAN'S EXTREMITIES ARE GOD'S OPPORTUNITIES” |
Jun 6, 2008 6:56 am
352 Views | “MAN'S EXTREMITIES ARE GOD'S OPPORTUNITIES”
TEXT: Psalm 91:3-5, 9-10
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling--
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
In the name of the Lord Jesus, dear fellow believers,
One of the challenges of being Americans is that we speak an odd and very difficult language. For example, our everyday language regularly will have a word that can have several very different meanings. There's an expression that says, “Man's Extremities Are God's Opportunities.” But what does that word “extremities” mean? Well, according to any good dictionary, our “extremities” are our hands and his feet. Those are the parts of the human body that are the most extreme distance from the center. In some human bodies the extremities are extremely distant. But the word also can mean something quite different. Any good dictionary will also point out the “extremities” are times of critical need or extreme danger.
So which meaning is appropriate for this axiom? Is it, “Man's times of critical need are God's opportunities” or, “Man's hands and feet are God's opportunities”? Both statements are true, right? My friends in Christ, as you and I focus in our preaching and teaching on the critical subject of friendship witnessing, as we equip and train one another to carry out a fruitful “Festival of Friendship,” as we ourselves grow in our understanding of what God-pleasing personal relationships need to include, this is a wonderful expression to hang onto - with both meanings: MAN'S EXTREMITIES ARE GOD'S OPPORTUNITIES!
Daniel stood alone, except for lions. As the hungry beasts circled him, there was no escape from his extremity. But what happened next was that…
A demon-possessed man stood at the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Without clothing and without reasonable mind or reasonable hope, he was in desperate straits. But as he watched a small boat pull up to the shore, what happened next was…
In a city called Philippi the apostle Paul was beaten and thrown in prison, with the jailer given strict orders to guard him carefully. But what happened next was…
You could finish those accounts. Given a moment to think them through, you all could supply the fascinating details of “the rest of each story.” Or, interestingly enough, you could simply say that all of the incidents continue with the same phrase: “And the Lord saved him.” Isn't that one of the most common lessons of the Scriptures? There must be dozens and dozens of instances in the Scriptures where the writer describes someone who was in extreme danger or misery, “and the Lord saved him.” Each time “Man's extremities were God's opportunities” to protect, to heal, to encourage, to strengthen the person who was in trouble. Time and again the Lord is proven to be a Rescuer.
These incidents also have taught us something else - that “man's extremities are God's opportunities” to get his message clearly proclaimed to his people. The very next morning after the Lord had rescued Daniel, he was able to say something very significant to his religiously confused King Darius. He had a chance to say that it was the Lord who had “sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions.” (Dan. 6:22) At the Sea of Galilee Jesus came ashore and healed the demon-possessed man. You remember how the Lord then got his message to others? “The man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.” (Lk.8:39) At Philippi the Lord shook the doors of the prison open and shook the conscience of the jailer. Paul and Silas then were able to tell the jailer one of the simplest Gospel statements ever made: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31) You see, God not only rescues his people from trouble and danger, but MAN'S EXTREMITIES ARE GOD'S OPPORTUNITIES to get his message across to other people as well.
Like me, you have acquaintances that desperately need to hear God's Word. They, too, need to hear about sin and its consequences in the world and in their lives; they need to hear about God's grace in Jesus Christ, who has redeemed the world from sin. They, too, have many times of troubles and hardships, and often those are the times when they will be most receptive toward your talking with them about God's solutions. We all know people who have recently experienced a death in the family, a divorce, an illness, an injury, a rock relationship, the loss of a job or financial headaches. When those disturbances are taking place, those are God's opportunities. We have been called to get his message across. We have been called to equip our members, too, to share his Word with those who are in extremity.
What can you say at times like that? Psalm 91 provides wonderful ideas about sharing God's Word with those who are troubled. Like the Psalmist, you can express your faith that the Lord will save. Certain good and right things will take place for those who turn to the Lord, no matter how extreme their predicament. Keep displaying your childlike confidence in God. The Psalmist wrote about bird-hunting, battle scenes, pestilences and plagues. Those were well-know realities for the people of that day. He wanted his first listeners, again, to relate such severe troubles to what the Lord can do to help. Like the psalmist, you can use the colorful words and expressions that your acquaintances will understand and remember. We don't have to use the same word-pictures that the Psalmist used; use expressions for God's Law and gospel that you know your listener will really understand. The Psalmist even mentioned what the Lord meant for himself personally: “If you make the Most High your dwelling -- even the Lord who is my refuge -- then no harm will befall you.” Like the Psalmist, it's good when you personalize your witnessing.
It is a fact that there are times when people are troubled and more ready to be open to you as a friend. There are times when people are receptive to just about any guidance when someone has convinced them that they care. What a time for us and our fellow saints to have the confidence to share the healing Word of God. MAN'S EXTREMITIES ARE GOD'S OPPORTUNITIES for his witnesses to come forward and speak up and be heard.
And my friends, lest you forget, YOUR EXTREMITIES ARE GOD'S OPPORTUNITIES in another sense. Every one of you has extremities at the end of your arms. They're called hands. My hands and your hands need to spend a lot of time like this, as we pray for that troubled friend or co-worker, as we pray for the motivation to talk to him or her about Christ, as we pray for the right things to do and say. As far as I can tell, every one of you also has extremities at the end of your legs. They're called feet. They come in all sizes and shapes, and their purpose is like every other part of the body -- to give glory to God! Your feet will assist you as you walk over to your neighbor's house to give him a simple gift or walk over to the phone to offer your help. That will build your relationship for the next time when your feet carry you to your neighbor's house and your mouth can talk about your Savior.
As Paul wrote to Timothy, the Lord wants people everywhere to be using their “holy hands in prayer.” (1 Tim. 2: And as Isaiah stated: “How beautiful…are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation.” (Is. 52.7) Yes, those extremities, too, are God's opportunities for proclaiming his Word day after day.
Use your eyes and ears to watch and listen for the extreme difficulties of other people. View the troubles they experience with compassion and active concern. View them also as opportunities given by God -- as situations where God's Word can make all the difference. Then use your extremities in the other sense of the word -- use your hands and feet -- to pray for them and go to them. Then reach out and touch their lives with Jesus Christ. Amen.
May he who began a good work in you carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. Amen.
I found this on the internet yet there was no credit given to the author who wrote this | |
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| Is it ok to marry your sister??? |
Jun 5, 2008 7:08 am
565 Views | | Well no of course not but is it any less a sin for a man to marry another man or for women to do the same??? We are living in the last days and just as the men who were so demanding, angry and full of perverted lust when they tried to attack Lot and the two Angels that were sent by God to rescue him so mankind today is shaking it's rebellious fist up at God and I'm afraid this nation as well as others around the world are heading for certain judgement too! God is only going to allow so much sin and so much time for men to repent and call apon Jesus then just like the entire world save Noah and his family the door will be closed and sudden judgement and destruction will surely come! | |
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| Wouldn't it be wonderful? |
Jun 5, 2008 6:39 am
462 Views | If science came up with a pill that you could take at night to make you feel as sleepy and tired as you felt on some mornings!!! | |
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| I don't think everyone got the point! |
Jun 3, 2008 7:27 pm
598 Views | | Read some of the comments yourselves Now wouldn't be nice in a perfect world if everyone was considerate to the others here? I don't think that young lady knew any better and I wrote her and hope she wasn't hurt or offended but there is a little raskel here who does know better and how nice it would be if he got the point and better still actualy put others thoughts and concerns before himself and his constant multi-posting!!!! | |
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| To link to this blog (gregduncan) use [blog gregduncan] in your messages. |
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