Drugs I can't address because i've never done them. Smoking is another subject. I was a 2 pack a day smoker from 12 years old until 27. It took 2 times for me to permanently quit. the second time I had read a small article that sounded stupid. When you get the urge for a cigarette, take 3 very deep breaths and exhale as much as possible, after the 3rd exhale inhale as deeply as possible and hold it for as long as you can. The urge will go away. I carried an open pack of Marlboros in my shirt pocket for 3 months as a self imposed temptation. It wasn't until one day stopped at a light in Wallingford, Ct and day dreaming, when the person on the car next to me lit up. I reaached in and grabbed a cigarette and lit it. Thought I was dying. Coughing, dizzy, blurred vision and had to pull over and roll down the windows. I am now 70 and haven't smoked since.

The patches are a scam. The biggest addiction is psychological. The nicotene addiction is gone within 3 days wth the headaches. Don't waste your money.

PS Prayer will help. I was not a Christian when I quit so I can't say it would have been easier if I were. We still have to reap what we sow.

Good Luck
Bill

You hit the nail on the head. "I made my own rule." The problem there is that your own rule can be changed by you. How many New Year's resolutions are carried out for 365 days? Not many. Why, because they are your rules and as such can be changed at your own discretion.

Sex before marriage is not the question and I don't intend to answer it. Only that rules we make aren't rules but suggestions.

The simple answer is, Yes He is. The complication comes when when you factor in the prophetic books of the Old Testament, especially Isaiah. The foretelling of the coming of the Messaiah was (and is) much anticipated by Israel. As a Christian I see that what Israel wanted is not what they got. They did not get a warrior of vengance to defeat all the enemies. Part of that problem was, in the words of the great philosopher Pogo, "We have met the enemy and it is us." The Messaiah came for all people. Jew and Gentile alike. He is a man of peace and grief, but most of all HOPE.

I have read here from some that they could not follow a God that was going to throw you into the pits of Hell for sinning. God doesn't do that, you do. I will use the analogy of the drowning man again. You are in the lake drowning and I throw a purple life preserver to you, you don't like purple, but purple is all I have. You reject the purple life saver and drown. Am I responsible for your rejection? No! I offered a way and you chose to ignore it at your own peril.

In the New Testament Jesus quotes from Isaiah frequently. John tells us that God gave His only begotten Son to pay the price for our sin. The only payment God will accept is that of blood from a "spotless" lamb.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is truly the God of all.

Bill

The distance thing happens to me all the time. Ithought it was just because I live in Mexico and Mingle doesn't know where Mexican cities are. I specified 50 miles and get possibe matcxhes from both the Northern and Southern borders both of which are ove 500miles away. Little far to commute

The first and biggest "rule" as a Christian is to love gad above all others the second and equally imprtant is to love your neighbor as yourself. The second one is where we all fall way short. I have read about parents who have petioned a governor to spare the life of the man who raped and killed a young daughter. I don't think I could do that even though I know that is what my God wants me to do.

The difference be tween religion and Christianity is oe word "relationship". As a christian I have a relationship with God the father through Jesus. A a religious person I was acting out according to a set of rules written by people who are no smarter than I.

If you can go to sleep singing praises to God and wake up saying "Good morning pop", you are heading in the right direction.

Try this tonight when you roll over to go to sleep (not out loud).

I love you Lord
and I lift my voice
to worship you oh my soul rejoice.
Take joy my King in what you hear
and let it be a sweet sweet sound in your ear.

It is amazing how soundly you sleep. Been doing it for about 2 years now and can't imagine not doing it. It wipes out all the days troubles and worries for tomorrow.

Not a woman, but the same thing goes for both sexes. In the beginning you put your best foot forward. It's like a job interview. You wear your best clothes and shave closer. You show up a few minutes early and offer your best qualities. Like a job, if you get hired there is usually a trial period where you can be let go for almost no reason at all. I can see the best foot forward, what is really annoying is leading someone on and then ignoring them without a by your leave. If the chemistry is not there say so and part company. Don't be rude or crude. It reflects back on yourself.

This has happened a number of times, someone will indicate being on line and I will IM and get a message saying they are not onlline and will get the messae later. Is this a glitch or a way of saying "Get out of my face?"

Happy Birthday. I tried stopping them figuring if I ignored them I wouldn't get any older, didn't work. There is only one alternative to geting older....

Remember that today you are the youngest you will ever be

We live in a fallen world. It's sounds like a cop out, but it is true. All people suffer at one time or another, some more and harder than others. I have always found that when I am suffering I se or hear about someone else who is going through something much worse and coping. It makes me feel sad that I am miserable when there are other in a lot worse shape than me.

Just hang in there and try to convince yourself that "this too shall pass."

I had a minister tell me that the wine that Jesus created from water was grape juice. Only one problem with that argument, it's called fermentation. The high sugar content of grapes is what causes wine to be made. Orange juice from freshly squeezed oranges will last in a refrigerator for 2 days at the most before turning. I may be wrong but I don't think they had too many Fridges in the double digit AD years.

Grape juice is a fairly modern invention.

Real is better than fake any day of the year.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son Jesus Christ to die for "ALL" our sins."

Now I can already hear the retort that "well He knew he would come back to lie in 3 days." That is true, but do you have nay idea of the pain and suffering involved in being crucified. The scourging first being whipped with a 9 tentacled bone tipped whip. Being punched in the face so many times that you are unrecognizable and then being stripped naked and nailed to cross to suffocate slowly. Any volunteeers?

Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that jesus christ is Lord. How much better for those of us who do so now :-)

If you are in a pool and are drowning and I throw you a rope and you tell me that you don't believe the rope will save you and you drown. Is it my fault? God doesn't send you to Hell, He lets you go of your own free will. It also says that it grieves Him for this to happen. I may feel grief because you drowned and I had the only answer to your safety and you refused it, but I will not feel responsible.

I would rather be wanted than to be needed. That is where we differ from God. We need Him, but He wants us.

I was a programmer for many years and wrote many hundreds of programs to do certain things. I could write a program that would say "I Love You" every morning. Or I could have friends that choose to like me or love me. Try and look at God in that manner. He cold have made us perfect and have no choice, but that s not love that is programming. I had a wife that needed me and got upset because I didn't need her. The difference is I wanted her. When her need was no longer there she left.

God loves all of us even when we we sin. Read the Bible and look at the heroes, David oved God yet committed murder and adultery. Peter denied Christ, Paul was responsible for Timothy's death yet is also responsible for most of the non-gospel books of the New Testament. Every hero depicted n the Bible was flawed in some way, yet they all were loved by the God who created them.

Hitler demanded love and devotion as did Mao, Mussolini, Stalin, Pol Pot and so many others. There was no choice. I have a choice and I choose to love God and to "try" and be like Jesus. I really do suck at that, but I try.

here is a parting thought, suppose you are right and I am wrong, what have I lost? Now reverse that and suppose that I am right and you are wrong, what do you lose????

Absolutely not. The pictures we see of Jesus were what many of the old masters idea was. Since Jews have been on the out list for so long it would not have been "cool" to depict Him as a Jew, but that is what He is.

As to His return, Revelation tells us that no man knows the hour or day. We are told that he will come like a thief in the night. We are to expect Him at any time and to be ready. There are 2 returns depicted. The first is when all believers dead or alive will be caught up in the clouds and the trbulation period of 7 years will begin. The second time will be on the final judgement day.

If you hear about any plane/car crashes and people disappearing leavng only clothes behind you might stop and ask yourself, "Oops did I get this Christian thing wrong?" You will go through the tribulation and will have a chance at "making things right", but it won't be easy and you might be killed because of it.

Try reading the Left Behind series by Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Excellent books even for non-believers. The story is about fictional characters nd events, but they are biblically accurate.

Getting old is not for sissies or weaklings. I can still out walk most 45 year olds and I am pushing 71 hard. I can still mow 1/2 acre of grass and walk 6Km round trip into the village for whatever. I would prefer having someone to walk with, but for now it is one of my three best friends all with 4 legs and cold noses.

I have an 8 yr old Lab/Chow that developed a cataract about 6 years ago. The vet said they could operate and she would have a 50/50 chance of regaining the sight in the right eye. It was also $500. It has never bothered her and she catches rats and squirrels. She will jump if you sneak up on her right side. Unless it is both eyes the dog will adapt. If you have 2 dogs that were raised together and one does go blind completely the other one will probably become the eyes for both of them. I have seen it in dogs and even in horses.

Reading Hamfist in Vietnam. Just finished You don't know Jack and a few different Clancy books and the Harry Potter series last week for the third time. I am addicted to reading and finally got myself a Kindle. Didn't thnk I would like it since I have been reading paper and ink books for 65 years. Decided I do like it and I can get free or cheap books from Amazon.