But, is that what God intended? Are there so many denominations because they are necessary or because of someone's pride, ego & pigheadedness? A house divided can not stand. Find the common ground not the dissimilarities.
tf73

Look at this way. God is not a spiritual rapist. He wants us come to Him on our on accord. He does not want robots worshiping Him. Can you imagine being God at the point of creating man & He fully understands that giving us freewill is a risk? But it was a risk He was will to take. I know it's difficult to grasp the concept that He also knew that 1st Eve & then Adam would both choose to disobey. But the beauty of it all is that He already had a plan "B" in place. Sending Jesus, the Creator God, in human form to die for us. As was mentioned in the book of Genesis 3:15 -
And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [a] and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."

All of the events in the OT serve to teach us about God's unending love & devotion to His creation & that it all points to the arrival of His only begotten Son. Don't think for a moment that He isn't troubled when we chose poorly or that He has hands-off approach. He truly is in control & He will accomplish His purposes in this world either with or without us. He would prefer that we make ourselves available to Him to accomplish those goals, so that we be blessed & grow closer to Him & become even spiritually minded like He is.

If we have no freewill then we're puppets on a string.
tf73

Ellect, thanks for your comments. This genre doesn't appeal to Earthy & that's OK. I have a friend who, could never reconcile rock & Christian, thinking they're world's apart. I'm not sure she has given it a fair shake because groups like Demon Hunter & Red are definitely anything but "gay" sounding. I will cut her some slack because there are a number of same sounding groups out there. I think the point she's missing is listening to their respective messages. If you're spiritually tuned-in, it's easy to distinguish between the groups that are "inspired" & everyone else.
tf73

You are most welcome. I just posted some more, check them out.
tf73

PS:

Anyone who loves Disciple is OK with me. I absolutely love God of Elijah. I have seen Disciple twice & have had a chance to chat with Kevin the lead singer & members of the band. Kevin is definitely on fire for the Lord. I have the same sense from Skillet & Spoken. Speaking of them, how about I post some links?

1st up Skillet- "Savior"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHzIJEesUPI

Next Spoken- "Falling Further"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFmvewW2leI

Some Thousand Foot Krutch- "Breathe You In"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXfK_LObXAA

And finally Superchick- "Stand in the Rain"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2naYghOqM0s

I hope you like these as much as I do.
tf73

To Sabbath, Peri & Digger, thanks for the comments. Digger, initially I struggled with the feminine persona, then I remembered that when God created humans, where do we think the "female persona" came from? Also Paul wrote that he strove to be all things to all people. I think that is exactly what God is, although anything we attempt to imitate of God would so pale in comparison.

And Peri I think you hit the nail on the head about that we can not truly fathom who or what God really is. Remember Moses' encounter on the mount? God had to shield Moses eyes because in our present form, the visual overload of seeing God in His fullness is beyond what we can comprehend or process in our limited capacity. I'd rather worship a God that I can't easily wrap my arms around, than one that easily fits into my own-notion-of-what-God-is-box. I'll take an out of this world God any day.

tf73

I'm curious about the thread title. What difference does it make? If they believe that they are sinners & have fallen short of pleasing God & acknowledges that God sent Himself, as His son in human form, to die for our sins & be resurrected by God because He was found worthy & now is seated at the right-hand of God & is the judge of all, what else do you need to know? Everything else is just superfluous.

As far as anger issues with scripture disagreement, it's wrong & wrong headed thinking. Only Jesus had the right to be angry with the Jewish leaders of His day because, as teachers of the Law they should know better, but didn't do so. Arguing never converts anyone. I know this the hard way from personal experience.

tf73

Anyone here read it?

I just finished in about a day. It is a very compelling book & difficult to put down. It had me on a roller coaster of emotions. I highly recommend it. It is a must read like C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity", John Eldredge's Wild at Heart" & John Piper's "Passion of Jesus". (fifty reasons why he came to die) It will challenge every preconceived notion you have about God, His working within the Trinity & the relationship he desires to have with you.
tf73

PS- If I see 1 more fair-skinned, blue-eyed actor, portraying Jesus, I'm just going to scream. My Lord is a Jewish handyman for crying out loud.

JT:

Keep in mind that God had set the dietary restrictions on the Hebrews as 1 way to set them apart from the rest of the world.


When Jesus was crucified & raised from the dead, men were no longer bound by the Law of Moses (Old Testament), because it had been superseded. You find writings by both Paul & Peter stating that the dietary restrictions no longer apply. God spoke to Peter in a vision about the subject.

The person who is arguing with you isn't firmly grounded in scripture. She is defending a premise that no longer applies, like animal sacrifices, worshiping God on Saturday & circumcision to name a few.

Hope this helps.
tf73

PS- anytime you have a God question, feel free to email me.

I misunderstood your 1st post. I now see where your coming from. I did checkout those lyrics & you're right, if you're not in the right frame of mind, some of their songs can be quite disturbing.

Thanks for the comments. You are the 1st to post a comment about the songs. I've had some hits but no comment save yours. Makes me wonder what's on the minds of those out there.

That's close enough, welcome.

About 30 miles east of c-bus.

Which songs &/or groups are you referring to?

Now that, is comedy!!

Not to be party pooper, but I'm with Ruth. I'm turning in as well. Thanks for the par-tay dude!! We'll have to do this again sometime, but only after the EPA clears your place as being habitable for humans. Glad I'm not on clean-up duty.

G-N Holly lady.

Well, Holly just said no & I only go where I'm invited.

Now the curious thing is, is it the bodyguard or Holly that is sleeping? Inquiring minds wanna know.

Not!

Hey tru!! Got a designated dignity ensurer? If you have any more like Holly laying about all passed out & such, someone's gotta keep an eye on them to keep them from being taken advantaged of.

Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. lol

LMAO. I always thought he liked Europe better than the states & this proves it. lol

And the problem with that, is.....?