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I am not at liberty to say.
__________________ "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity." Dave Barry 2005
I am a firm believer in the Old Paths
Articles on such subjects as "The New Birth," will be accepted, whether they teach that the new birth takes place before baptism in water and Spirit, or that the new birth consists of baptism of water and Spirit. - THE PENTECOSTAL HERALD Dec. 1945
"It is doubtful if any Trinitarian Pentecostals have ever professed to believe in three gods, and Oneness Pentecostals should not claim that they do." - Daniel Segraves
When you do good things, does God reward you? I mean here and now, not in the afterlife. Got any examples?
I stopped tithing once, and got a big raise soon after.
Yes, he will. We are saved by grace, but judged by our works. In the next age, rewards will be given to us based on our faithfulness to what he has given us.
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Please pray for India
My personal mission is to BRING people into a right relationship with God, GROW them up to maturity and SEND them back into the world to minister.
Yes, he will. We are saved by grace, but judged by our works. In the next age, rewards will be given to us based on our faithfulness to what he has given us.
How about in this life?
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
I'd venture to say, the rain falls on the just and the unjust. The sun shines on the saint and the sinner. Sickness and health strike the rich and the poor, and Jesus Christ appeared to be reaching for those that the Religious didn’t count as “Blessed” or rewarded.
Christians are way too guilty of claiming a special favor from God. People fall, fail, and are completely human, even in Church. When the divorce rate in our Church was the same as the World, I knew, "Houston, we have a PROBLEM!" While people are counting their supposable blessings, personal deceit grows within the heart. As long as certain things work out, God remains in our little box of lies.
Why doesn't the Church have the "Blessing" of un-failed marriages? If God has joined 2 Believers in Faith, Love, and Truth, nothing should cause them to separate.
I think the bottom line with Life is; you reap what you sow, Christian or not. And, if we would truly judge our blessings for what a blessing "IS", we would discover that sunshine, water, and oxygen is more important than money or some monetary reward that will vanish when we die.
We do not share a collective problem. I would prefer, I would... um, ya'll need to stop saying that WE have a problem.
"We", or "Houston"?
The divorce rate amongst Christians, including conservative Christians, is as high, or higher than Atheist or Agnostic groups. Not only have they proved this with polling all groups of Faith and Denominations, I have seen this with my own eyes.
I have been married for 31 years, but many of my friends in the Apostolic Church haven't been so lucky. I came from a very conservative Church, and the divorce rate in that church was unbelievable!!
At first I didn't really consider how many of our constituents were getting a divorce, but one day I was going through an old Church Directory, and I was floored at how many marriages had fallen apart!!!! And, I’m talking about solid families, and marriages of 20 years and better.
I watched my Pastor, who was a well respected UPCI preacher and leader, grow weary of trying to help couples who just didn't get along. I have been a pastor for the last 15 years, and now I know exactly what he was dealing with.
Houston, in reality, problems with people don't change when they become saved. In fact, I would be so bold as to say, problems usually intensify when a spouse, or spouses, become believer(s). The Church is guilty of causing division in well established families because of creating a religious difference between men and women who once loved each other.
The lack of tolerance for those who have a different idea about Faith can lead to a very stressed marriage, and, when a spouse starts to call her mate, “Lost”, this can rival hate and separation in a once, healthy and loving relationship.
Divorce rates among conservative Christians were significantly higher than for other faith groups, and much higher than Atheists and Agnostics experience.
George Barna, president and founder of Barna Research Group, commented:
"While it may be alarming to discover that born again Christians are more likely than others to experience a divorce, that pattern has been in place for quite some time. Even more disturbing, perhaps, is that when those individuals experience a divorce many of them feel their community of faith provides rejection rather than support and healing. But the research also raises questions regarding the effectiveness of how churches minister to families. The ultimate responsibility for a marriage belongs to the husband and wife, but the high incidence of divorce within the Christian community challenges the idea that churches provide truly practical and life-changing support for marriages."
According to the Dallas Morning News, a Dallas TX newspaper, the national study "raised eyebrows, sowed confusion, [and] even brought on a little holy anger." This caused George Barna to write a letter to his supporters, saying that he is standing by his data, even though it is upsetting. He said that "We rarely find substantial differences" between the moral behavior of Christians and non-Christians. Barna Project Director Meg Flammang said: "We would love to be able to report that Christians are living very distinct lives and impacting the community, but ... in the area of divorce rates they continue to be the same." Both statements seem to be projecting the belief that conservative Christians and liberal Christians have the same divorce rate.
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