Posts by godrulz

49

Will you be attending a "Rapture" party?

by Snoozy in

many others will apparently:.

http://raptureparty.org/.

why are atheists celebrating the rapture?

godrulz

The rapture is the blessed hope of the Church. It is imminent in the sense that it can happen anytime without signs. The rapture is the translation of living saints and resurrection of dead Church Age saints (Christ comes FOR the Church). The Revelation or Second Coming is 7 years later when He comes back WITH the saints (WT nonsense about 1914 invisible return is false) (OT believers and dead Tribulation saints are raised after the 7 years; living Trib saints go into the millennium in natural bodies). Heaven is not limited to 144,000 (there will be billions) and there will be many people in paradise earth. The unregenerate end up in the lake of fire (conscious for eternity).

The problem is not with the rapture, but with well meaning people like the WT and Camping who play the Dating Game, contrary to biblical injunctions. I will be at work Saturday night and will believe His return is Perhaps Today, but not according to men's stupid dates. God will return in His sovereign timing, not according to flakey, flawed calculations.

This is what we should agree on: know that He is coming back; occupy until He comes (and make sure one is ready to meet their Maker through faith in Christ).

149

Exactly how many different views of Jesus are there on the Board and doesn't that kind of tell Believers the obvious problem...

by designs in

godrulz

aguest: thx for the replies that are more confusing than clear. Hear is an acid test to know if you are hearing the Holy Spirit or your flesh or a demonic spirit. Who specifically is Jesus Christ? Many religions can call Him Messiah, Son of God, etc., but they understand these things differently. Who do men say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Where did you get those ideas? Is the Word of God or your subjective impressions the final authority? Do you consider the Bible to be the Word of God (assuming correct translation/interpretation)?

277

What say you Christians ???

by wobble in

it seems to me that most, if not all christians are really hung up on sin and redemption from sin and how naturally evil we all are.. my question, and observation is this : i had nothing to do with whatever you say adam and eve did wrong, i have always, throughout my life, treated whoever i came into contact with compassion, respect and love.. i have lived by the golden rule.. not many people, hand on heart, can say that, i can.. so, is your god going to judge me for the "sin" of some mythical forebears of mine ?

is he going to say that , because i did not believe in him, i willl be judged adversely, even though i lived by the precepts he is supposed to support ?.

all i can say is, if your god is like that, i refuse to worship or acknowledge him.. and i certainly do not want to get to know him.

godrulz

Rom. 9-11 is about the sovereign election of Israel for mission/service and her future restoration. Calvinists are wrong to read a decretal, deterministic view into it in relation to individual salvation. I don't think a baby will object to waking up on the other side in heaven vs hell. They have not actualized sin and would not have an enmity to God (nor would they know differently). Even Catholics have given up on limbo.

132

Hello

by Chariklo in

i am new to this site, just finding my way around.. i've been studying with jw's for about 15 months.

i'm an unbaptised publisher, and until recently never missed a meeting, have been out "on the service" quite a lot.

i've been having difficulties with one of the jw's studying with me and something happened which was just unacceptable.

godrulz

jg, do you have children? How does that work in raising them one way or the other? This is an issue for Catholic-Protestant, Jew-Christian, etc. I am glad that they do not seem to be trying to undermine your marriage, since it is a priority, even if of mixed faiths.

136

Life after death

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

everyone has different views about life after death and whether or not it is a possibility.. as jehovah's witnesses, we were always taught that there is no life after death, that this is the only life we have now and that the wages of sin is death.. .

what are your views on life after death?.

.

godrulz

Talesin: Humans are more than hairless apes since we are created in the image of God (Imago Dei). We have spirit-soul, body. The spirit is God conscious. Animals do have souls, but not to the same degree as humans. They also lack spirits, so they will not live forever like humans. We are the pinnacle of creation, not a product of from goo to you by way of the zoo.

205

The Christian Onslaught

by satinka in

jw
friends

*sigh* i have been noticing lately there are a number of groups of "christians" signing up as members of this forum, with the obvious agenda of gaining converts for their own cult-like religions.

i have been wondering things like:.

hmmm...maybe i'll try ignoring them.. thank you simon for the space to vent.. satinka.

godrulz

Pika, your issue is with the message more than the messenger. The question is how I can be more effective sharing the message without creating unnecessary barriers.

277

What say you Christians ???

by wobble in

it seems to me that most, if not all christians are really hung up on sin and redemption from sin and how naturally evil we all are.. my question, and observation is this : i had nothing to do with whatever you say adam and eve did wrong, i have always, throughout my life, treated whoever i came into contact with compassion, respect and love.. i have lived by the golden rule.. not many people, hand on heart, can say that, i can.. so, is your god going to judge me for the "sin" of some mythical forebears of mine ?

is he going to say that , because i did not believe in him, i willl be judged adversely, even though i lived by the precepts he is supposed to support ?.

all i can say is, if your god is like that, i refuse to worship or acknowledge him.. and i certainly do not want to get to know him.

godrulz

There is great risk, double-edged sword to creating free moral agents with great capacity for love and evil. God does save infants because they cannot reject Him. It would be unjust to condemn those without moral and mental capacity. Can a baby murder someone and go to jail? If a baby knocked a gun that killed his sibling, the baby would not get the death penalty.

It would be murder and sheer utilitarianism/pragmatism (vs biblical ethics) to kill babies to spare them from hell. The human race would cease to exist. Using this logic, God would be better off not creating because many would go to heaven, but others would go to hell. Using this logic, parents should never have kids because a few may turn out bad. In this case, the end does NOT justify the means. It would be morally wrong and contrary to God's wisdom/ways/creation mandate to do this. If it was righteous, God Himself would do it, but He does not. The sin of abortion or murder is not justification to possibly spare a child from turning out bad.

So, God could have not created, could have created robots, or He could create beings with capacity to love or hate and the respective consequences. Despite the grief it caused Him (dying for His creation; tolerating evil until judgment), love was seen to be a higher good, worth the risk. He will triumph over evil in the end, but there will be those who will not share in His glory (however, there will also be many, many who will know and delight in God). There is still a choice and God has done everything He needs to do to redeem us. There is nothing unfair about babies going to heaven or adults going to hell. There is nothing right about killing humanity and playing god to save some from hell or evil. God has already done that in the cross. This is why men are without excuse for rejecting His perfect provision (Rom. 1). Love does not coerce, so God will not force people into heaven or out of hell. Again, nothing unfair in all of this, just the wisdom of God.

149

Exactly how many different views of Jesus are there on the Board and doesn't that kind of tell Believers the obvious problem...

by designs in

godrulz

There is a difference between essentials of the faith that we cannot compromise (Deity/resurrection of Christ; salvation by grace through faith alone apart from works, etc.) and peripheral issues that have been debated without definitive resolution for centuries (non-salvific issues like predestination, free will, styles of church government/worship, eternal security, etc.). Mature believers can have unity in Christ and respectfully disagree on controversial theological subjects that are important, but not heaven or hell things.

132

Hello

by Chariklo in

i am new to this site, just finding my way around.. i've been studying with jw's for about 15 months.

i'm an unbaptised publisher, and until recently never missed a meeting, have been out "on the service" quite a lot.

i've been having difficulties with one of the jw's studying with me and something happened which was just unacceptable.

godrulz

Being married to a JW makes one an expert experientially? If I read ex-JW and JW material/experiences, I will be in the same boat that you are more or less. Counter-cult ministries often know more about the JWs than JWs themselves who have their past censured.

Saying someone is not deserving is classic JW nonsense, ironically, hypocritically.

In your view, is anyone who claims to be a Christian a Christian (Hitler, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Joseph Smith, Herbert W. Armstrong, etc.)? Ted Bundy claimed to be Mormon. Is he a good Mormon in right standing living according to its precepts as a serial killer/rapist?

277

What say you Christians ???

by wobble in

it seems to me that most, if not all christians are really hung up on sin and redemption from sin and how naturally evil we all are.. my question, and observation is this : i had nothing to do with whatever you say adam and eve did wrong, i have always, throughout my life, treated whoever i came into contact with compassion, respect and love.. i have lived by the golden rule.. not many people, hand on heart, can say that, i can.. so, is your god going to judge me for the "sin" of some mythical forebears of mine ?

is he going to say that , because i did not believe in him, i willl be judged adversely, even though i lived by the precepts he is supposed to support ?.

all i can say is, if your god is like that, i refuse to worship or acknowledge him.. and i certainly do not want to get to know him.

godrulz

Since when is actual murder justified to prevent improbable future murder?!