I've heard so many, say that the bible was a means for the powerful to control the masses. That's not why Jesus came nor gave us His Word.
I've heard so many people say that. I cannot agree with that. Which sounds more like "people are so helpless they have no control over their own mind and can be lead by their nose to do anything." We need to give people more credit than [i]that[/i]. It also sounds like an excuse to criticize/ bash Christians. I can be doing something as simple as post something about my love for the Lord, and here they come like little vultures, all the trolls, all the way over to my post, just to let me know they think I'm stupid, delusional, mentally ill, perverted, controlling, asinine, delirious, proud, "holier than thou", bullying, then proceed to curse me with the filthiest names you've ever heard. My, my, such hate. Then twist my words around and make accusations, in an attempt to make me look like the bad guy. All just kindergartener stuff. People who are immature and insecure, the trolls. They hate God, and they hate anyone who talks about God. That's their problem, not mine. They need to find someone who cares what they think.
The Bible is not a dictatorship and you can't force people to do anything they don't want to do. There are Christians that may be traveling to another country, say for example, a camera man simply reporting the news, then hes kidnapped, held hostage, and sometimes tortured for a long time, then beheaded. These murderers sought CHRISTIANS out, not the other way around. And it's always God-haters and Christian haters here, saying, "God is so bad, he's a demon, he's a monster who is just out to throw people in hell." They never stop to see how stupid, critical, and hateful they sound, not to mention how illiterate they are when it comes to the Bible, by reading a few verses here and there and taking things out of context, then mistakingly think they know enough of the Bible, to engage Christians, so they can curse them and call them wrong. Yep, that really makes sense. 馃槀 What little they've read, or [b]claim[/b] to have read (and I can't even say what little they "know") is just enough to be dangerous, as this is where false teachers pop up all over the place. What people don't understand, they criticize. Then insist they are right. Differed opinions on the Bible are most welcome, as that is how we learn from each other and grow more mature in Christ. However, nothing is accomplished if one or the other has no knowledge of the Bible.
"For [b]God is not the author of confusion[/b], but of peace, as in all churches of the Saints. 1st Corinthians 14:33
The key to living out our faith, is to not just [i]hear[/i] the Word of God, but to humbly receive it, study it, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts and lives through what we read, thereby allowing the Holy Spirit to transform and reshape our thinking, so we shall have the wisest counsel, true direction, live happier, and experience fulfilled lives. To hear the Word and not apply it to our lives, is to not really hear it at all. God's Word is intended to change us, not entertain us.
Contrary to belief, people can, and do, have the ability to respond to others, with a simple [i]yes[/i] or [i]no[/i], these days. Unless they are somehow mentally disabled, or have allowed themselves to get "groomed" into a cult religion. We're talking about today, not thousands of years ago. Christians do not go out of their way to seek war with others. It's quite the other way around. Christians are attacked on every side, even here on this site. All I hear on this site is "Christians do this and Christians do that", yet it's "ok" for others to go attacking and criticizing Christians. I mean, people need to grow up. I see no one posting about Muslims or bullies or other religions. It is the haters of Christians and Christianity in other countries, that seek Christians out, to cut their heads off. The very same reason God went to war in the Old Testament. God made a [b]promise[/b] to His people, to protect them from their enemies! ENEMIES....haters that came after Christians to kill them, but God kept his promise and stepped in to protect them in their battles in those days. God didn't CAUSE the wars. Genuine Christians, don't go after others, to kill them. The enemy does....haters of Christians and Christianity.
God left us His Word, for the specific reason that people would know how to find their way to heaven, what God's standard for salvation is, that God set for all of us, and how to have a blessed, happy life. And when people say they don't know what the future holds, or that there's no way to know what the future holds, or anything else....that's an indication, they have not read God's Word, because His Word has the answers we ask about life. It accurately describes our future in great detail. We cannot use the excuse, that we didn't know. Some people say we have no way of knowing what's out there... GOD... or how to have salvation, so we can go to heaven when our time is up here. This is why God left us His Word....so we wouldn't [b]have to guess[/b] about life, how we got here, why Jesus came to earth, what our future holds (in detail), how to make sure we don't miss heaven, where we're going when we die, and how to get there. How to [b]know[/b] all these things, and yes, that is in God's Word. Not one of us, shall be able to claim, we didn't know about God and His Word:
1 John 5:13 - I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may [b][c=BF0000]know[/c][/b] that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God, [b]Jesus[/b].
Martin Luther King loved the Lord and would preach from God's Word of His [b]love[/b] and how to get to heaven. I see no mass control there. God not only [b]say[/b] he loves us, he [b]proved[/b] it, on the cross. There's our evidence/proof, right there.
The Bible is not a dictatorship and you can't force people to do anything they don't want to do. There are Christians that may be traveling to another country, say for example, a camera man simply reporting the news, then hes kidnapped, held hostage, and sometimes tortured for a long time, then beheaded. These murderers sought CHRISTIANS out, not the other way around. And it's always God-haters and Christian haters here, saying, "God is so bad, he's a demon, he's a monster who is just out to throw people in hell." They never stop to see how stupid, critical, and hateful they sound, not to mention how illiterate they are when it comes to the Bible, by reading a few verses here and there and taking things out of context, then mistakingly think they know enough of the Bible, to engage Christians, so they can curse them and call them wrong. Yep, that really makes sense. 馃槀 What little they've read, or [b]claim[/b] to have read (and I can't even say what little they "know") is just enough to be dangerous, as this is where false teachers pop up all over the place. What people don't understand, they criticize. Then insist they are right. Differed opinions on the Bible are most welcome, as that is how we learn from each other and grow more mature in Christ. However, nothing is accomplished if one or the other has no knowledge of the Bible.
"For [b]God is not the author of confusion[/b], but of peace, as in all churches of the Saints. 1st Corinthians 14:33
The key to living out our faith, is to not just [i]hear[/i] the Word of God, but to humbly receive it, study it, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts and lives through what we read, thereby allowing the Holy Spirit to transform and reshape our thinking, so we shall have the wisest counsel, true direction, live happier, and experience fulfilled lives. To hear the Word and not apply it to our lives, is to not really hear it at all. God's Word is intended to change us, not entertain us.
Contrary to belief, people can, and do, have the ability to respond to others, with a simple [i]yes[/i] or [i]no[/i], these days. Unless they are somehow mentally disabled, or have allowed themselves to get "groomed" into a cult religion. We're talking about today, not thousands of years ago. Christians do not go out of their way to seek war with others. It's quite the other way around. Christians are attacked on every side, even here on this site. All I hear on this site is "Christians do this and Christians do that", yet it's "ok" for others to go attacking and criticizing Christians. I mean, people need to grow up. I see no one posting about Muslims or bullies or other religions. It is the haters of Christians and Christianity in other countries, that seek Christians out, to cut their heads off. The very same reason God went to war in the Old Testament. God made a [b]promise[/b] to His people, to protect them from their enemies! ENEMIES....haters that came after Christians to kill them, but God kept his promise and stepped in to protect them in their battles in those days. God didn't CAUSE the wars. Genuine Christians, don't go after others, to kill them. The enemy does....haters of Christians and Christianity.
God left us His Word, for the specific reason that people would know how to find their way to heaven, what God's standard for salvation is, that God set for all of us, and how to have a blessed, happy life. And when people say they don't know what the future holds, or that there's no way to know what the future holds, or anything else....that's an indication, they have not read God's Word, because His Word has the answers we ask about life. It accurately describes our future in great detail. We cannot use the excuse, that we didn't know. Some people say we have no way of knowing what's out there... GOD... or how to have salvation, so we can go to heaven when our time is up here. This is why God left us His Word....so we wouldn't [b]have to guess[/b] about life, how we got here, why Jesus came to earth, what our future holds (in detail), how to make sure we don't miss heaven, where we're going when we die, and how to get there. How to [b]know[/b] all these things, and yes, that is in God's Word. Not one of us, shall be able to claim, we didn't know about God and His Word:
1 John 5:13 - I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may [b][c=BF0000]know[/c][/b] that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God, [b]Jesus[/b].
Martin Luther King loved the Lord and would preach from God's Word of His [b]love[/b] and how to get to heaven. I see no mass control there. God not only [b]say[/b] he loves us, he [b]proved[/b] it, on the cross. There's our evidence/proof, right there.
