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| FATAI WROTE:
good day sir, and also here in my society youth have to be taught
about sex pls sir is there any help u can give about these so that i can
have more knowlege to counsell other fellow of mine and so on. DON WROTE: Hello Fatai, I notice that you spelled "Christian" with an "x"--i.e., "xtian." I can recall when this practice first began among the unbelievers in the USA. It was in the early 1950s and it was especially used by merchants at Christmas time who spelled "Christmas" with an "x"--i.e., "xmas." The churches at the time complained loudly, saying that America was "throwing away the Son of God" and trying to leave Christ out of Christmas. I know I'm a little late in responding to the alternative spelling, which has actually become a practice among many (I was only a lad at the time); nevertheless, better late than never--so I will comment on the practice now. Let's look at what the letter "x" stands for in our society. Other than just a letter of the alphabet, we use it to stand for an "unknown entity/quantity in mathematics. Consequently, its use among merchants who commercialized Christmas makes sense--for they obviously did not know Christ or they would never have coined the spelling. However, we believers who know Christ Jesus, and our known of Him, should never fall into the practice. There is a verse of Scripture that applies here.
As to the Churches' cry "America is trying to throw away the Son of God," this just can't be; for Jesus never did belong to America. Truth is, America--and the whole world--belongs to Jesus.
So, not only do we see that Jesus the Son was with God the Father before the creation of the world, but we are told that it was Jesus Himself Who actually created the heavens and the earth. This is why it is so important that we understand that Jesus came into His earth through the miraculous birth of a virgin girl named Mary. This identifies Jesus as a part of the Godhead (i.e., God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), and not just some teacher or a great prophet. In fact, Jesus is the only One to found a religion who had/has power over man's most formidable enemy, death! Although Jesus was crucified on the Cross, man did not take His life. The Bible declares that Jesus Himself "gave up the ghost" and that He resurrected His body after it was three days in the tomb. Today, Jesus sits on the right hand of the Father where He sat before He created the heavens and the earth. No other religious leader or prophet can say this about himself. Their bodies have long since turned back to dust and their souls are awaiting judgment along with all of mankind. The Bible also says that Jesus will one day return to His earth to take the born-again believers up to Himself. Paul wrote it thusly:
In the light of all of this, any religion that sets its founder/leaders ahead of Christ Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God, --Mohammed included--belong to the spirit of the anti-christ. Now, as to whom Jesus does belong to, consider the following verse:
To whom does the Son of God belong? Well, according to the words of Jesus, He belongs to "whosoever believeth in Him," and this does not include a church organization, and most certainly it does not mean a nation. (This doesn't mean that a nation cannot be founded/grounded on the principles that Christ Jesus taught, for America was build upon those principles as set forth in the Bible. Nor does it mean that a nation cannot throw away those principles, for there is a strong element in America that is spending much time and money in an effort to do just that. Also, to make matters worst, there are church organizations that are helping the ungodly in their effort! [See II Timothy 3:1-5.]) I want to give you some Scriptures that will help you make your transition from the Islam that you have been taught to becoming a follower of Christ. [Note that I did not say a "transition" from Islam to Christianity; because, unfortunately, as one becomes a follower of Christ, they cannot help but note that "Christianity" has many meanings. In addition to "Christianity" meaning the movement of those who follow Christ, you will also bump into Christianity (the religion) and Christianity (the social make up of a nation)--both of which can have a negative influence on what Christ is trying to do. As to the negative aspects that can be associated with Christianity (the religion), consider verse 5 of the following passage.
Also, as to the "negative" of living in a "Christian" nation, it is not unusual for people to believe that they are Christians by virtue of their nationality; and this can deceive them into thinking that they are "right with God" when in truth they have never been "born-again." Those who fall into this snare are candidates for "Christian" political parties that differ none from any other political party except in the minds of the "national Christians." _____________________ As to what you're going through with your Muslim family, the Lord Jesus knows and He is more than able keep you in all of your trials. After all, He only had to "speak" and the worlds came into being. However, I will share this. I was blessed just recently to hear the testimony of a Muslim who had been converted to Christ as a teenager. As a result, his family disowned him, but because they were visitors in the USA, they couldn't kick him out of on the streets. The boy remained faithful to His New Savior and by returning good for evil, he helped to win his brother over to Christ. Eventually, the boy did leave home; but not with his father's approval for his father often said that he consider his sons to be dead and would not speak to them. Although the father died in his stubbornness, after his death the boy's mother also accepted Christ. In all of this, he learned to walk with Jesus and to trust Him to keep him in every circumstance. I pray that one day you may also have a testimony of the keeping power of Christ! _______________________ As to sex, it should be as simple as one man for one woman.
However, as with everything else, sin has eroded away at the marriage union. It is my personal belief that when one comes to Christ that if they will leave the matter of marriage in His hands that He will bring together the two that He wants married. As to the Muslim teaching that virgin girls, and boys if that is one's preference, awaits the suicide/homicide bomber who dies for Islam as per the teachings of the Koran, such teachings and concepts are specifically opposed by the Lord Jesus and the Bible. Consider the following Scripture:
So, there will be no sex in heaven for there will be no need of procreation/reproduction. In fact, there will be no male or female, but we will all be as one. And as to homosexuality in heaven, I know that there are verses in the Koran that deal with it. but I seriously doubt that even Mohammed believed it to be so in his heart. He may have taught it because he wanted it to be so, but unless he was totally reprobate, he could not believe it...especially after it is so expressedly forbidden in the Bible. In fact, the Bible not only calls it a sin, but an abomination that brings down the wrath of God! Keep looking up, for Jesus is coming soon, Don |
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JULIE WROTE: Question-Comment: My question is as
follows: DON WROTE: Hello Julie, Thanks for WRAPPING with us. When we think on the New Testament's gift of prophesying, Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians comes to mind.
Let's look at Paul's reference to prophesying in its context, for it is sandwiched between "Quench not the Spirit" and "Prove all things...". To me, this says that I will not offend the Holy Spirit if I "test the spirits" of those who contend to be prophets. In fact, it appears to say that if I follow some such spirit without testing it in light of the Scriptures, that this might very well be grievous to the Spirit. Because of our ministry of music, my family and I have visited in most all types of churches in the many years that we have been in evangelism. We have been in services where the Spirit was able to minister with His gifts, and we have been in services where we did not get a witness to the spirit that was at work. If I were to give a rule of thumb for the babe-in-Christ as to how to recognize the genuine from the imposter, it would be this: the services that were under control of the Holy Spirit were controlled by peace and gentleness and longsuffering one with another; whereas, the other services radiated contention of strong, self-willed individuals along with bickering and confusion. (If you will read Paul's letters to the Corinthians, you will see that the "contentious spirits" we encountered are not new, for Paul had to address them in his letters to the believers at Corinth.) If you do not sense the "peace of Christ which passeth understanding" in the church that you attend, might I suggest that you take your concerns to the Lord and be open to His leading you to another congregation. Church attendance is supposed to be a positive influence on the believer: a place where he or she can fellowship with other kindred spirits, share their faith in Christ, and learn even more from their Bible study of the previous week as they share it with others of like precious faith. However, church attendance can also make the babes-in-Christ confused and bitter--twisting their understanding and putting them under various bondages--even driving them away from the things of the Lord. Be assured that Christ Jesus will not leave any of His babes without guidance in this matter.
With all the faith that God has given, if we will take our needs to the Lord Jesus, we know that He will meet our needs and He will comfort us with His peace because we are trusting Him in the matter. However, if we do not have the peace of Christ about a situation, we should be open to a change--either in ourselves (i.e., our attitude and thoughts) or in our situation. Just remember that Christ Jesus is more than able to meet all of our needs. Love, B'ANN WROTE: Hello Julie, I find that the prophecies in the Bible usually have an "if" attached. In the Old Testament we find that "repent ye therefore," "sackcloth and ashes," and "turn ye" are some terms that accompany prophecy. Always people are given a choice of behavior to correct a wrong doing. However, we do find that God did lose His Patience in regards to Israel and gave a judgment that seemed without repentance. Yet, we find that again he made a way through His Son Jesus for Israel to enter His Kingdom in fullness by faith. In essence, God Himself repented in "sackcloth and ashes" when He gave His only begotten Son. This is perhaps the most powerful part of the Grace Age which the world now enjoys. So, a prophecy can be seen as a warning of impending drastic change in ones life if a certain required repentance is not met. However, it can be a prophecy of blessing if the attitude is right toward God. (We should note that we do have some absolutes in life that did not come as a prophecy but in the form of a curse. Death is an example of a curse. The plagues put upon Egypt were a curse as a result disobedience to a direct command from God. For the most part, prophecies are given to turn people from a destructive path, which is in direct opposition to a command from God. But over and over in the Scriptures, we see where the result of stiff-necked disobedience is a curse.) Now, the Bible tells us that when someone gives a "Word of Prophecy" there is to be the "Gift of Discernment" operating as well. No Body of Christ should attempt working in the "Gifts" unless there are other "Gifts" that give it "witness," "power," "meekness," "temperance..." etc. which keeps the church balanced. [THINK ON THIS!] Too often we are seeing unbalanced churches and even the world has eyes to see this. We find many ministries that fall or become a shame and blight upon the Christian community simply because they were not "seasoned" in the Word of God much less in the handling of the "Gifts of the Spirit." They became "high-minded," "prideful," "boasters," ...wildly fanning the flames of their "spirituality" for all the world to see. All around us we see churches bragging about being more God-like than another; or feeling themselves to have a higher position with Christ than someone else. This is the PRIDE that satan manifested before he was cast from heaven.
How often have we seen local or mega-ministries brought low because they no longer remembered their humble beginnings. What beginnings am I talking about? We were never called to build "bigger and better barns" but rather to sow the Seed. What Seed??? It is so simple. We call it John 3:16. We call it feeding on the "sincere milk of the Word" for we are all born as a tiny babe in Christ. We call it "growing and maturing" in the Spirit. The only thing Paul was allowed to do before He was sent into the desert to learn was the sharing of his conversion experience. We are allowed to give this from the day we are " born again." However, WE MUST GROW UP TO BE AN ADULT BEFORE WE CAN START EATING MEAT. (So many churches do so many new converts a great disservice by putting a guilt trip on them if they don't hit the streets and immediately become a fiery witnesses for Christ.) How long does this growth process last? For those that READ THE BIBLE for themselves, it is relatively short. For those that are SPOON FED THE SCRIPTURES by their pastor, it will probably never happen!!! Please note that the Scriptures make a distinction between babes-in-Christ, those who are growing in Christ, and those in Christ who are full-grown and seasoned warriors. The Bible addresses these three stages of growth: i.e., the little children/babes-in-Christ--urging them to repent if they have temptations or stumble in their walk, the young men who who have learned to overcome temptations and have the abiding Word of God in them, and the Fathers who have known Him that is from the beginning.
My husband was given a prophecy that he would "travel over the waters." This caused him to start seeking these "waters." Being human, and influenced by the current church philosophy, we began to look about for someone/some church to sponsor us overseas. This did not happen and we could have become frustrated and just quit. But because we were both well grounded in Bible study, we were wise enough to give ourselves to dedicated, extensive Bible study. These "waters" did not manifest for about five years. This was when everything fell into place to put our web site on the internet. We did travel "over the waters"/ the globe but not in a boat or plane. We need to watch when given a prophecy and be sure we understand what it involves. We must always "test the spirits." This does not make God angry. We should begin "testing spirits" by looking at ourselves. For example, how do we approach what we do for the Lord? If a carpenter is told that he is to build a church, does he grab a shovel and start digging, or a hammer and start pounding. No! Of course not! He first carefully plans what he is going to do. Then, as much as possible, he makes sure that his tool box has all the necessary equipment so that he won't be slowed down when the job starts. The same with a Christian. WE SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT A JOB FOR CHRIST IF WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT HE WOULD HAVE US TO DO AND WE DO NOT HAVE OUR TOOLS IN PLACE. What tools??? our "gleanings from the Bible," the "Fruit of the Spirit," the necessary "Gifts of the Spirit," etc. But above all this, our "ministry" must "bear witness" with someone/others in the "true Body of Christ." Each local congregation is considered to be a "local body," but it should be a body with "adults" and "strong, young men"--not a bunch of "babes in a crib" or "children at play."
I had a friend that was given a prophecy that "Thus saith the Lord, you will marry ______." She set about to make this marriage happen, but there was a variable. At the time, the man was running from God and traveling with the alcoholic crowd while she was trying to remain steadfast in her faith. He has since married two other women, never marrying her, but because she grabbed this "prophecy" and ran with it, they have a child together. I say this to make a point. Perhaps they were to marry. Perhaps they would have been extremely happy--only God knows. Most certainly she became a woman to be proud of. (Note I said "became.") When the young man first met her she was a waitress in a restaurant and bar. Different people began to prophecy that she was to enter the medical profession. Today she is much respected in the medical field. He has a steady job that demands rote labor with many years of child support as his reward. God prepares good things for us but not always is a man/woman wise enough to trust and wait upon the Lord, for to walk the path God chooses usually requires patience and waiting on our part. However, God is not a bully. God lets us choose.
I hope this has been a help. Sadly, we have too many people giving us a "word" today and if we are not careful, we can find ourselves blown about by every whim/wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). This unstable state of the churches has come about because the church members are not encouraged to study the Bible for themselves. The Bible does say that each of us are to seek Christ for ourselves through 1) simple belief, 2) Bible study, 3) witnessing, 4) then branching out into the Gifts of the Spirit energized by the Fruits of the Spirit working within us. |
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CONCERNED WROTE:
Question-Comment: End-time! End-time! Everyone is caught up in end time prophecy. What should be a spirit-filled Christians response to all the hyp and alarm round about? Everyone seems to say "say the sky is falling, the sky is falling" with great alarm but offer no remedy. Where is our peace? I would appreciate some Scripture to help me. Thanks, Concerned B'ANN WROTE: Hello Concerned, We are commanded to "stand" as we see the evil days approaching. This is summed up in the following Scriptures. Note that the main commands are given in verses 6, 14 & 27 of the following passage which gives us our "watch," "call," and "charge." The "call" was given in the Great Commission starting with the words "Go Ye..."(Mark 16:15-20). Our "watch" in our Age of Grace is to be busy, busy, busy gathering in the harvest for the "fields are white unto harvest" (John 4:35). The "charge" is that this Scripture be read to every Christian lest they get caught up in the clamoring of an " end of the world" philosophy. We are promised a place in heaven; not an ending (John 5:4).
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