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Frodo

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That why I always say your are dumbass, your have subscribed to them in your subconscious mind :wink: Eating too much ang moh shit and drinking too much jewcy urine will make you insane and your brain intoxicated with craps created by ancient a savage tribe . To your they were super civilized and they blurted pearls....

You can't distinguish between bible verses and commentary, you don't have any more morale right left to post further unless your are hardcore hypocrite+fool....

Wow, nothing to rebut or refute just resort to saying about subconscious mind? What a desperate move! Anyway, I am sure you would prefer me not to post anything anymore, but why should I? What moral right have you to say I have no moral right to post anything? But I can understand why you want to persuade me to stop posting, you are so deeply embarassed to be constantly exposed by me as a abysmally ignorant atheist. Still, not going to stop.
 

RiverOL

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Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting (Psa. 126:5).

Read carefully. If your church does not evangelize, then it will surely perish. I say this even if you have several hundreds or thousands of members and are presently a vibrant, fast growing church. We all know of churches that fifty or one hundred years ago were hotbeds of evangelistic fervour but now have dwindled to next to nothing or have sold their church buildings to Hindus or Muslims. You can be easily deceived. If your church is primarily growing by having babies or by receiving disgruntled Christians from other churches, then you are kidding yourself. The seeds of death are already sown in your church. The culture is decidedly one of maintenance ministry. Sooner or later your church will no longer be the cool place to be. Some other church will gain that distinction, and you will see major decline. When I speak to pastors and elders of many churches, asking them specifically how many professions of faith they had last year, how many people have they directly shared Jesus with in the last six months, the answers are often pretty discouraging. You must evangelize or you will perish. You must have a harvest of souls.
Okay, what must we do to see this happen? Psalm 126 is a ‘Song of Ascent,’ a song sung by God’s covenant people as they joyfully made their way up to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. The Psalmist begins, ‘When Yahweh brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream.’ In other words, their release caused them to rejoice exceedingly. They were ‘beside themselves’ with joy. This is not necessarily referring to the return from Babylonian captivity. There were many other times of captivity for the people of God – four hundred years of Egyptian bondage, perennial trouble with the Philistines, wicked kings during the time of the Judges – but whatever time it was, the return from captivity brought great rejoicing. Why does the Psalmist refer to Zion? Why not Judah, Jerusalem, Israel? Charles Spurgeon observes that Zion was a hill on the north side of Jerusalem, the place where the Temple of God stood, that the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob (Psa. 137:2).1 When the people of God were released from their captivity they were overjoyed, astounded at God’s mercy and grace to them. Even the pagan nations around them observed how Yahweh, their God, had shown kindness to them. This even caused Israel to say, ‘Indeed, the Lord has done great things for us. We are glad.’ But then the Psalmist offers a prayer, asking Yahweh to restore their captivity, to deliver them afresh and anew, as the streams of the Negev. The Negev is a dry and parched land between Jerusalem and Egypt. Most of the year the wadis or river beds are utterly dry. However when the rains come the wadis become a mighty torrent of rushing water. The ‘streams of the Negev’ are symbolic of revival, as cool, refreshing water comes to God’s weary people and sustains them (Exod. 17:1-7; Num. 20:8-13; Ezek. 47:1-12; John 7:37-38). When these mighty, rushing waters of revival come then God’s people are able to sow in tears, and reap with joyful shouting. The farmer intentionally, at the right time of year, in the correct fashion, sows the seed. He does so in tears. Sowing is hard, frustrating work. Sometimes his plans are thwarted by drought or flood, but at other times, when the great harvest comes, he rejoices, bringing the sheaves of wheat into the storehouse.
This Psalm gives us four necessary action steps if we are to harvest souls, if we are to see our churches flourish and not die. First, ask for the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:1-13). The believer, of course, has the Spirit indwelling him, but he can quench (1 Thess. 5:19), grieve (Eph. 4:30), or resist (Acts 17:51) the Spirit. People without Christ are not buying what you are selling. They have no hunger or thirst for God (Rom. 3:10-20). You must have the Spirit’s convicting, convincing, and regenerating work if you are to see anyone, anytime come to Christ. Do you, my friends, ask for the Holy Spirit? Are you aware of hardness or dryness, often brought by the neglect of your soul, that renders you powerless in the face of unbelief?

Second, you must remember your own captivity. Never forget what you were and from where you have come. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. You were in the ‘hip pocket’ of the devil. You were dominated by the world’s folly. You were guilty of indulging, in your creative fashion, the desires of your own mind and flesh, coming up with a myriad of ways to displease the Lord. Therefore you were facing condemnation, just like everyone else in the world. You had no hope at all. You were without God in this world (Eph. 2:1-3, 11-12). Had you died one minute prior to God’s regenerating grace, then you would surely have gone to hell, and you would have deserved that judgment. But God was rich in mercy toward you, making you alive together with Christ, saving you, making you his own workmanship, drawing you near by the blood of his precious Son (Eph. 2:4-10, 13). Therefore you are debtors to God’s grace (Rom. 1:14-15). Smell the smoke of perdition, feel the flames of the lake of fire, hear the awful words of judgment from Jesus. This was to be your lot, but God was rich in mercy toward you. Do you regularly celebrate your deliverance from captivity? Do you say, ‘When the Lord restored my captivity from the devil and hell, I was like one who dreams. My mouth was filled with laughter and my tongue with joyful shouting.’

Third, sow the gospel seed in tears. You must be intentional. The first two points are ‘heart’ issues. Get your heart right by grace. But now you are to be intentional. Like the farmer who knows he must cultivate the ground and sow the seed at the proper time, so you must cultivate relationships with people, asking the Spirit to cause a hunger for truth to overcome them, and then you must give them Jesus, the most marvellous and gracious Saviour. In other words, it is one hundred percent man and one hundred percent God. The farmer sows the seed (100 percent man), but he then is completely dependent upon God for the rains to come at the right time (100 percent God). What must you sow? Sow obedience to God’s law. Sow faith. Sow repentance. Sow kindness and compassion to those with whom you share Jesus (Col. 3:12-14).

And fourth, you are then to reap souls with joyful shouting. Expect people to call upon the name of the Lord. Expect to find people who want to hear the gospel. Offer Jesus to them. Our problem often is that we do not expect anything to happen in our gospel work. Attempt great things for God. Expect great things from God. If you are not experiencing a harvest of souls, then ask yourself, ‘Why not?’ Could it be unbelief (John 14:12)? Could it be unrepentant sin which blocks the flow of the Spirit into your ministry (Psa. 66:18; Isa. 59:1-2)?
Ask for the Holy Spirit. Remember your past captivity. Sow in tears. Reap with joyful shouting.
 

drifteri

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If there be an infinite Being, he does not need our help -- we need not waste our energies in his defense.
-- Robert Green Ingersol
 

drifteri

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Towns Murdered



The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were approaching on the road to Atharim. So he attacked the Israelites and took some of them as prisoners. Then the people of Israel made this vow to the LORD: "If you will help us conquer these people, we will completely destroy all their towns." The LORD heard their request and gave them victory over the Canaanites. The Israelites completely destroyed them and their towns, and the place has been called Hormah ever since. (Numbers 21:1-3 NLT)
 

drifteri

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Murder, Rape, Pillage, and Plunder


"As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you. But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of nations nearby. "As for the towns of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing in them. You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the LORD your God has commanded you. This will keep the people of the land from teaching you their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the LORD your God." Deuteronomy 20:10-18 NLT
 

RiverOL

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The Prodigal Son and the Poison Ivy

by Jean V. Dickson


My father turned to me and said, “University - I can’t send you to university! You need to get a job so you can support your sister.”

His words slammed into my solar plexus. I stood there with my mouth open, wheezing for wind, searching for sanity. And I thought, “This must be what the brother of the prodigal son felt like.”

In that moment, I empathised with the anger of the son who stayed home. I too saw red – a river of red blood. The celebration calf slaughtered before my eyes. A reward carefully prepared for the lazy, dissolute child while I, the responsible child, got no reward. I, the good child, was supposed to work to support my sister’s sloth.

I wouldn’t have been hurt by my father’s words if my sister were five years old and needed looking after. But at 29, my elder sister was more than capable of getting a job and supporting herself. However, like the prodigal son, Gail liked spending money - as long as she didn’t have to work for that money. Gail was as likely to dive into work as a cat catapult into cold water. Even with a flock of birds on the other side of that pond, it just wouldn’t happen.

As far back as I could remember, Gail would yell for an hour instead of doing 15 minutes worth of work. Then, when I was a pre-teen and Gail in her twenties, she convinced my parents that she was ill - that she needed to spend each winter someplace warm, someplace expensive. One night, exulting in her victory, she boasted about how gullible mom and dad were, believing her when she pretended to be ill.

As much as I hated how my sister manipulated my parents into giving her the money to go away each winter, I rejoiced whenever Gail left. Because, hell on earth was only another way to say Gail was in town.

Yes, I had many good reasons to resent my sister. I hated her manipulations, her lies - the way she would try to embarrass me in front of my friends, and teachers. The way she would barge into work, refuse to leave and try to get me fired from my job. How she would take credit for my work when relatives visited. The many times she tried to make me late for important appointments.

Oh, yes, I had many good reasons to hate my sister, and I thought about them constantly. I loved to dwell on all the ways she had done me wrong. She was an itch that I just loved to scratch.

It was the poison ivy that brought me to my senses.

When I looked at the red, itchy rash on my son’s arms and legs, I didn’t know what it was. At first, I wondered whether it might be chicken pox. But then our neighbour pointed to a patch of soft green vegetation gently shaded by a cedar hedge. “That’s poison ivy. You don’t want to touch that. You don’t want to even walk through it. Because the poison will stick to your shoes and the next time you touch them, the poison will touch you right back.” He paused, then continued, “You should put up a ‘Keep off the grass’ sign - just until you get it under control.”

Maybe it was because I had just spent an angry hour arguing over the phone with Gail. But as he said these words, I suddenly realised that I had spent 30 years carefully cultivating an emotional poison ivy patch. Each time I took out Gail’s list of sins, I walked over to the edge of my poison ivy patch. Every time I stopped to dwell on a particular injustice, I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants and waded through the ivy. Each time I exulted in my superiority, it was if I had taken off all my clothes and was rolling in the ivy, rapture radiating from my face. Afterwards I would scratch my legs raw as I sat happily contemplating another way she had done me wrong.

That afternoon, I finally realized my emotional poison ivy patch was more harmful than the one outside. The only way to combat it was to apply the calamine of forgiveness.

That night, as I kissed my son’s cheek, I once again thought of the prodigal son. Brushing my son’s hair from his forehead, I understood why the father killed the fatted calf when his lost son returned home. There was no doubt in my mind that I too would kill a fatted calf for my son. And for the first time, I wondered why I ever thought the son who stayed home was justified in his anger.

That night, as I stood outside my son’s bedroom door, I put a ‘Don’t Walk on the Grass’ sign in my mind, to match the one outside in our yard.
 

The_Hypocrite

Alfrescian (Inf)
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If Christians did that more aggresively. Would there be a muslim n jewish problem like the one that is faced today?

Murder, Rape, Pillage, and Plunder


"As you approach a town to attack it, first offer its people terms for peace. If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor. But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town. When the LORD your God hands it over to you, kill every man in the town. But you may keep for yourselves all the women, children, livestock, and other plunder. You may enjoy the spoils of your enemies that the LORD your God has given you. But these instructions apply only to distant towns, not to the towns of nations nearby. "As for the towns of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing in them. You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the LORD your God has commanded you. This will keep the people of the land from teaching you their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the LORD your God." Deuteronomy 20:10-18 NLT
 

Frodo

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If Christians did that more aggresively. Would there be a muslim n jewish problem like the one that is faced today?

The village atheist does not care if he has got the right interpretation, and neither does he want to know. Thrashing the village atheist bigoted anti-Christian rants is easy, but will he be satisfied? Nope. He is not here to learn but to win an argument, even though he has yet to win any.
 

drifteri

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If Christians did that more aggresively. Would there be a muslim n jewish problem like the one that is faced today?

Most of the jews are secular they don't practice judaism, I see as more of a muslim problem. But I don't see that happening here. For that to happen, those fundamentalist christians had to turn peesai into a christian country by exterminating those other religions they consider fake...islam, catholic (they called the false church), hinduism, buddhism and taoism (they really wish to). But it would be hard for them even with the help of their ang moh deity, they have to whip off the hardest one but they don't have the gut to take on that. Secondly, secular laws are holding them back. So it will never happen, not that they are truly benovelent towards their fellow men or other religions.

You have earlier said that 10 commandment and old laws were absorbed when jesus was crucified. Why some christains are advised by their leaders not to hold joss stick when they attend pagan funeral? What is so satanic about holding joss stick?
 
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Frodo

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Most of the jews are secular they don't practice judaism, I see as more of a muslim problem. But I don't see that happening here. For that to happen, those fundamentalist christians had to turn peesai into a christian country by exterminating those other religions they consider fake...islam, catholic (they called the false church), hinduism, buddhism and taoism (they really wish to). But it would be hard for them even with the help of their ang moh deity, they have to whip off the hardest one but they don't have the gut to take on that. Secondly, secular laws are holding them back. So it will never happen, not that they are truly benovelent towards their fellow men or other religions.

You have earlier said that 10 commandment and old laws were absorbed when jesus was crucified. Why some christains are advised by their leaders not to hold joss stick when they attend pagan funeral? What is so satanic about holding joss stick?

it is the village atheists who are hell bent on exterminating religions and he wants to implicate the Christian? No shame no morals village atheist.
 

The_Hypocrite

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I dont know about other Christians,,probably those baptist or protestants or presbytarians or whatever. i hold joss sticks and have no such issues

Most of the jews are secular they don't practice judaism, I see as more of a muslim problem. But I don't see that happening here. For that to happen, those fundamentalist christians had to turn peesai into a christian country by exterminating those other religions they consider fake...islam, catholic (they called the false church), hinduism, buddhism and taoism (they really wish to). But it would be hard for them even with the help of their ang moh deity, they have to whip off the hardest one but they don't have the gut to take on that. Secondly, secular laws are holding them back. So it will never happen, not that they are truly benovelent towards their fellow men or other religions.

You have earlier said that 10 commandment and old laws were absorbed when jesus was crucified. Why some christains are advised by their leaders not to hold joss stick when they attend pagan funeral? What is so satanic about holding joss stick?
 

drifteri

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I dont know about other Christians,,probably those baptist or protestants or presbytarians or whatever. i hold joss sticks and have no such issues

I am not sure holding joss stick is more customary or folk religion in nature, the line is very blur. But I understand very well the significance behind. When chinese greet each other, they don't use 'how are you?', 'how is your day' but 'have you eaten?' lei siak ho mu(cantonese)...Our ancestors suffered famines and it becomes part of the chinese culture to ensure the stomach is being fed. We are very worry our love ones who left this world have no food to eat in the after life, so offering joss stick symbolised the kind intention we have for them. I don't see anything satanic about it, less being worshipping the death person... some fundamental christian doctrines are really absurd. Like you said, they need to be interpreted in the context of the jewish culture 2000-3000 years ago.

You moderate kind of christianity is acceptable and I have many good christian friends like you in this forum. And we have no problems with each other.. :wink:
 
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The_Hypocrite

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If u read up on incense, the catholic church and orthodox have candles and use incense during Mass. The incense symbolises prayers and offerings to God as smoke rises, that is not different to incense the Chinese use in temple and offering for ancestors.

I have encountered those right wing Christians who say cannot even learn kung fu or yoga etc as its demonic. That is just their limited understanding so I never bother with such so called 'Christians'.

I am not sure holding joss stick is more customary or folk religion in nature, the line is very blur. But I understand very well the significance behind. When chinese greet each other, they don't use 'how are you?', 'how is your day' but 'have you eaten?' lei siak ho mu(cantonese)...Our ancestors suffered famines and it becomes part of the chinese culture to ensure the stomach is being fed. We are very worry our love ones who left this world have no food to eat in the after life, so offering joss stick symbolised the kind intention we have for them. I don't see anything satanic about it, less being worshipping the death person... some fundamental christian doctrines are really absurd. Like you said, they need to be interpreted in the context of the jewish culture 2000-3000 years ago.

You moderate kind of christianity is acceptable and I have many good christian friends like you in this forum. And we have no problems with each other.. :wink:
 

Frodo

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Loyal
I am not sure holding joss stick is more customary or folk religion in nature, the line is very blur. But I understand very well the significance behind. When chinese greet each other, they don't use 'how are you?', 'how is your day' but 'have you eaten?' lei siak ho mu(cantonese)...Our ancestors suffered famines and it becomes part of the chinese culture to ensure the stomach is being fed. We are very worry our love ones who left this world have no food to eat in the after life, so offering joss stick symbolised the kind intention we have for them. I don't see anything satanic about it, less being worshipping the death person... some fundamental christian doctrines are really absurd. Like you said, they need to be interpreted in the context of the jewish culture 2000-3000 years ago.

You moderate kind of christianity is acceptable and I have many good christian friends like you in this forum. And we have no problems with each other.. :wink:

Be careful when less than honest village atheists pay you compliments and call you moderate. Ask what they mean by that label, does it include denial of orthodoxy and creeds upheld by the early church? I am sure if you tell him you believe in hell and eternal punishment he will turn two faced and call you a fanatical fundamentalist or worst.
 

drifteri

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Loyal
If u read up on incense, the catholic church and orthodox have candles and use incense during Mass. The incense symbolises prayers and offerings to God as smoke rises, that is not different to incense the Chinese use in temple and offering for ancestors.

I have encountered those right wing Christians who say cannot even learn kung fu or yoga etc as its demonic. That is just their limited understanding so I never bother with such so called 'Christians'.

Those fundamentalist nuts can be ruthless annilihators of the very own cultures and customs they inherited by birth and ancestry. I only whack veri jiak lat those nuts who dish out hell condemnation at non believers or when they lost an argument ...:wink: There are many religions also have punishment in hell, you don't see me whack them unless they start to spread their stupidities:wink:
 

drifteri

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Be careful when less than honest village atheists pay you compliments and call you moderate. Ask what they mean by that label, does it include denial of orthodoxy and creeds upheld by the early church? I am sure if you tell him you believe in hell and eternal punishment he will turn two faced and call you a fanatical fundamentalist or worst.

Why you care so much about the orthodoxy and creeds of the early church that your faith considered malfunction and against? :wink:
 

Frodo

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Why you care so much about the orthodoxy and creeds of the early church that your faith considered malfunction and against? :wink:

Why you so upset? Afraid that the other poster really believe in Christian orthodoxy and you have to eat back your label of calling him a moderate? Afraid of being exposed again as a two-faced hypocritical abysmally ignorant village atheist?
 

drifteri

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Why you so upset? Afraid that the other poster really believe in Christian orthodoxy and you have to eat back your label of calling him a moderate? Afraid of being exposed again as a two-faced hypocritical abysmally ignorant village atheist?

You are the one being upset:wink: I don't have to eat back my words, he is definitely not an extremist like some nuts here:wink:
 

RiverOL

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When God Looks on Us with Favor

Isaiah 66:1-2

Believers are always under the canopy of God’s grace and love. Nothing we do can change that. At the same time, our behavior and heart condition do determine whether we receive the fullness of His blessings. Today’s passage teaches us how to experience the Father’s favor.

First, He desires that we have a contrite heart and a humble spirit (Ps. 51:17). For that to be the case, all aspects of our lives must be surrendered to Jesus. Yet some dreams, desires, and people are difficult to release into His hands.

Anything we do not give over to His authority is evidence of pride, the exact opposite of what our Father wants in His children. Remember that “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Lack of submission proves that we think our way is better than His plan.

Second, God tells us to tremble at His Word (Isa. 66:2). Scripture—the unfolding revelation of Jesus Himself—is living and powerful to teach and transform us. Consider how we treat this treasure. Do we devote time each day to know what the Bible says and how to apply its principles? Do we hunger for more of the Word in our lives so we can know its Author better? One measure of our reverence is obedience: to honor the Lord, we must obey Him.


We all desire God’s favor. Are you living in a manner that positions you to receive His full blessings? Prayerfully consider whether you have submitted all areas of your life—from finances and health to relationships and work habits—to Jesus Christ. Recognize His authority in all things, and revere His Word.
 
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