The
Garden of Eden was more of an environment than an actual location on
earth.
Yes, there was a real geographic place on the planet called "The
Garden of Eden" but what made that place special, what made it the
Garden of Eden was its environment and not its physical location.
The word 'Eden' means: 'spot, moment, presence, open door, delight.'
So, the Garden of Eden was the spot for the moment where the presence of
God provided an open door to heaven.
Its where heaven met earth.
Before the Garden of Eden came to earth it was in heaven and after Adam
sinned it went back to heaven from whence it came. Remember I'm primarily
talking about an environment not necessarily the physical location.
In the following scriptures God is referring to Lucifer (Satan before he
fell), here's what He said:
"Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was
thy covering... Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set
thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and
down in the midst of the stones of fire." Eze 28:13-14
This shows that the Garden of Eden was in heaven BEFORE the fall. Next we
have the following scriptures:
"...To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev 2:7
The word "Paradise" here means "Enclosed Garden" and
notice carefully the presence of the Tree of Life. I submit to you that
this is none other than the Garden of Eden back in heaven where it was
located before God brought it to earth.
In conclusion, the physical location where the Garden of Eden was located,
no one knows exactly where it was or where it is today.
The actual Garden of Eden (The Paradise of God with the Tree of Life)
that's back in heaven where it belongs and where every born again child of
God will get to experience it's beauty and glory forever!
Hell
is a generic term given to describe a very large and complex area located
in the spirit realm.
It consists of 5 specific compartments namely:
(1) Hades
(2) Paradise
(3) The Great Gulf
(4) The Bottomless Pit
(5) The Lake of Fire
(1) Hades is where lost souls go after death to await the Great White
Throne Judgment after which they will be cast into The Lake of Fire for
all eternity. Hades is a place of torment, where the fire never dies and
worms continually eat your flesh. This is possible because at that time
you will have a spiritual body that can never be totally consumed. Matt
10:28; Mark 9:43-44; Luke 16:19-26
(2) Paradise under the Old Covenant is where righteous souls, like
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob went after death, awaiting the resurrection of
Jesus Christ so they could gain entrance into Heaven. In Jesus' parable in
Luke 16 He referred to it as "Abraham's Bosom representing a place of
comfort and safety". Luke 23:43; John 20:17; Eph 4:8-10
(3) The Great Gulf is what separated Hades from Paradise. Luke 16:26
(4) The Bottomless Pit is a special prison for different classes of evil
spirits. It houses a specific group of fallen Angels and shall also be
used to lock away Satan for a thousand years in the future. The Bottomless
Pit also keeps locked away some very nasty spirit beings who will be
loosed on the earth to torment men during the Great Tribulation. 2Pet 2:4;
Jude 6; Isa 14:15; Rev 20:1-3; Rev 9:1-11
(5) The Lake of Fire is the eternal destination of everything that offends
God, which includes all the other compartments of hell. This is why the
Bible says that Death and Hell will be cast into The Lake of Fire along
with The Devil, the False Prophet and everyone who rejected Jesus Christ
as Savior. Rev 20:10-15
NOTE: Paradise which was beneath during the Old Covenant is NOW ABOVE
under the New Covenant, meaning that the 'geographic' area in the spirit
realm may still exist but it is devoid of ALL its inhabitants because they
were taken to Heaven with The Lord after His resurrection. Eze 37:12-14;
Matt 27:50-53; Eph 4:8-10; Matt 8:11
Anybody
can say they're a Christian, this doesn't make them so. Therefore, finding
out what "Christians" believe is irrelevant.
The question you should be asking is what does GOD say about hell, because
HE is the ONLY one who can judge you or your relatives.
Here's what Jesus (God in the flesh) said about hell:
Matt 10:28 "...Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body
in hell."
Luke 16:23 "...In hell he lift up his eyes, being in
torments..."
Mark 9:43 "...It is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than
having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be
quenched."
Matt 23:33 "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape
the damnation of hell?"
These scriptures do in fact show that unbelievers do suffer in hell but
I've got some good news for you and it has nothing to do with your car insurance.
Jesus also said, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish (in hell),
but have everlasting life." John 3:16
I admit some Christians can be really insensitive sometimes and come off
as being judgmental but if your friend cared enough about you and was
willing to risk your friendship to tell you the truth then she is a true
friend and you should consider her words in light of what The Bible says
about hell.
You
almost answered the question by the way you phrased it.
Receiving salvation or becoming 'born again' is as simple as asking Jesus
to forgive you for your sins and receiving His forgiveness in faith. You
do that and you're guaranteed to miss hell.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come
into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
But this is just the very first step in a long journey. In order to
receive all the other benefits of salvation like health, wealth and peace
of mind you DO have to make Jesus the Lord of your life and day-by-day
follow His teachings.
Phl 2:12 ...Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
You see, there are 3 distinctly different levels of salvation, the
salvation of the spirit, the salvation of the soul and the salvation of
the body.
1Th 5:23 ...I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Without
a thorough understanding of the 'mind and heart of God' many scriptural
concepts would seem difficult to reconcile and the Bible would appear to
be filled with inconsistencies.
Your question is a case in point. I have learnt over the years that
scripture always interprets scripture or in other words, the Bible
explains the Bible.
While it's true that God doesn't want us maliciously harming other people,
it is equally true that He doesn't want us turning a blind eye to
injustice and not acting righteously in any given situation.
For instance, if a burglar or mugger was about to kill your spouse or
child and the only way to stop him was to take his life first, do you
think God would agree with you standing by and allowing your family member
to be murdered while you did nothing to stop it?
When Adolph Hitler was attempting to enslave the world and America joined
the fight against his oppression and injustice do you think that God
frowned on this act?
Of course not!
The Bible says there is a time for everything, "A time to
kill..." Eccl 3:3. "A time to hate... a time of war..." Eccl
3:8.
Here's the thing we need to know, the Law of Love supercedes EVERY other
law in the Bible. There is NO LAW that you can be found guilty of
transgressing when you're truly acting in the love of God.
Gal 5:22, 23 says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love... against such
there is no law" and Rom 13:10 says, "love is the fulfilling of
the law..."
What I'm saying is, whether you're defending your family or your country,
if your actions are motivated by 'the love of God' NOT necessarily
romantic or emotional love BUT THE UNSELFISH LOVE OF GOD then you CANNOT
be found guilty of transgressing any other law.
This is why we celebrate our war heroes who have taken other peoples'
lives during times of war, they were defending their country out of a love
of freedom and justice. These things are approved by God!
It's the same for an individual defending his family or his own life from
an act of aggression!
This is VERY different from taking vengeance which is clearly against the
word of God, vengeance suggests premeditated action to exact some personal
satisfaction in seeing someone suffer for a wrong or perceived wrong committed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
What
gives us the right to Kill one another even in War when the Ten
Commandments say " Thy Shall Not Kill " -- ?
Answer:
When
discussing The Bible it is always important to understand the difference
between what is written and what is meant.
We must get to the meaning of the words to understand the underlying
concepts.
And the only intelligent way to interpret and understand "Thou shalt
not kill" is "You must not unlawfully take a human life."
If we were to take "thou shalt not kill" literally then God
himself would be in violation of His own commandment when he encouraged
people in The Old Testament to kill their enemies. 1 Sam. 15:18
So, in discussing this commandment we must understand that for killing a
human being to be a sin it must be conditional and the operative word has
to be "unlawful."
Was the killing a "lawful" killing or "unlawful"
killing. That's the question?
Here's an Illustration: Supposed a couple is returning home after a
night out and they're attacked by a bandit who shoots and kills the
husband and is about to kill the wife when he's shot and killed by a
police officer who witnessed the incident.
If ALL killing is wrong then that cop should be prosecuted for killing the
bandit shouldn't she?
If this is what God intended by "Thou shalt not kill" then in my
opinion He wouldn't be a very intelligent God would He?
Of course that's NOT what He intended at all.
Police Officers are authorized to take life in the "LAWFUL"
performance of their duties, as it should be and so it is with soldiers in
a situation of war.
One more illustration: It's 3am and you're asleep in your bed,
suddenly you feel a hand over your mouth, a knife to your throat and a
weight pressing you into the bed - I'M GOING TO KILL YOU - A voice
whispers in your ear!
You struggle for the knife and manage to gain control and stab your
assailant. He dies from the wound.
Should you spend the rest of your life in jail as a convicted murdered?
Your obvious justification is "self defense" - You were
defending your life. Right?
So, if a soldier kills someone in defense of her country and it's citizens
isn't she more noble than you?
You're killing to defend one life - YOURS!
She's killing to defend an entire country and it's way of life.
She's killing in defense of people she may never meet, people who sit
comfortably in their houses thousands of miles away and have the liberty
to ask philosophical questions on websites about whether she's right or
wrong!
Please
consider the following scriptures which show that NOT only two of each
animal was taken unto the Ark:
Gen 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the
ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his
female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep
seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty
days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I
destroy from off the face of the earth.
5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
We see here that the Lord commanded Noah to take seven pairs of certain
animals into the Ark, so contrary to popular opinion its NOT only two of
each animal that entered into the Ark but fourteen animals male and female
of clean beasts and birds such as Oxen, Sheep, Doves, Pigeons, Etc.
These extra animals would have supplied food for the Carnivores and we
know there were a lot of these 'clean beasts' because even after the flood Noah still had enough to
offer sacrifices unto the Lord.
Gen 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean
beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
The
Serpent of Genesis 3 was indeed a literal animal with a physical body.
The Serpent, however, allowed himself to be possessed by Satan, who is a
spirit, and used in the deception of Eve thereby sharing in Satan's blame
and judgment.
Now, because the first time Satan interacted with humanity he did so
through the serpent, he became forever identified with the animal as shown
by the scriptures below, and the animal was henceforth considered evil by
association.
But make no mistake, they BOTH were guilty! Satan, for being the
mastermind of the deception and the serpent for being his cohort.
(2
Corinthians 11:3) "But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent
seduced Eve by its cunning, YOUR minds might be corrupted away from the
sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ".
(Revelation 12:9) "So down the great dragon was hurled, the original
serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire
inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were
hurled down with him".
(Revelation 20:2) "And he seized the dragon, the original serpent,
who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years".
When
you are born physically the first time the Bible says that you are
"dead in sins and trespasses" which means that your spirit is
separated from God and your inner nature is in a state of rebellion to His
ways.
When you hear the good news that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for
your sins, God gives you the faith to believe His promise to save you.
As you confess this faith in Jesus' ability to forgive you for every sin
you have ever committed it releases the Holy Spirit to enter your spirit
and begin to transform you from within.
The Holy Spirit transforms your spirit from its degenerate condition of
sinfulness to a new condition of holiness.
He does this by releasing the eternal life of God within you and reconnecting
your spirit with God so that the life of God can continue to flow into
you, imparting the nature of God in you.
When this transformation is completed in an instant, you are said to be
'Born Again' because your spirit has had its condition changed from death
to life. Separation from God to reconnection with God.
And your nature is changed from sinfulness to holiness. You no longer have
the nature of Adam but you now have the nature of Christ.
The
'Five-Fold Ministry' is taken from the book of Ephesians in the Bible.
The Bible says, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ:" (Eph 4:11, 12)
True Bible Christianity is NOT a religion or just a way of life, it is
nothing less than the re-institution of the Kingdom of God in the earth!
A kingdom is a type of government and the Kingdom of God is no different
in this respect.
Five-fold Ministers are people who are called to help administrate the
Government of God in the earth. They are Born Again Christians who are
empowered by the Holy Spirit to serve the rest of the Body of Christ in
various capacities.
Each of the five offices is characterized by a particular word which
symbolizes the primary function of that office.
For instance, The Pastor's Office is characterized by the word,
"Guard" because his chief function is to protect and nurture the
sheep (believers) as they develop a more intimate fellowship with God.
The Evangelist's Office is characterized by the word, "Go" as
this is what Evangelists generally do. They are the ones who primarily go
into all the world and preach the Gospel for the salvation of men.
The word that characterizes The Teacher is, "Grow" as his main
function is to feed the believers with spiritual food for spiritual
growth.
Next we have The Prophet whose word is, "Guide" as his primary
function is to offer guidance to the body of Christ through the
inspiration and direction of the Holy Ghost.
Finally, The Apostle is characterized by the word, "Govern"
because they are enabled with divine authority to provide general
oversight to the other ministers.
Now, having said this we must understand that the basic activity of ALL
Five-fold Ministers is to preach and/or teach the word of God, but each
one will do so in their own characteristic way because of the special
grace given to them by God for service to the Body of Christ and to humanity
as a whole.
If you have already experienced biblical salvation i.e. You have received
Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and become born again, then there is
NO sin that you can commit that has the power to undo what Jesus Christ
has done in you!
He promised that you can NEVER lose your salvation. "And I give unto
them eternal life; and they shall NEVER perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand. " John 10:28. (Caps Mine)
If you have NOT yet received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior then the
only thing keeping you out of Heaven is NOT receiving Jesus Christ as your
personal Savior.
It's that simple!
Concerning the sin of “Blasphemy Against The Holy Ghost” this is
something that is extremely rare and NEVER done by accident.
"Blasphemy" is saying something slanderous or injurious to the
good name of God. So speaking blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is when
someone who knows better deliberately attributes the works of the Holy
Spirit to the Devil. Like what the Pharisees did when Jesus was casting
out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit.
They proclaimed: “...This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by
Beelzebub the prince of the devils.” (Matt. 12:24)
Jesus then said, "...All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be
forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be
forgiven unto men. (Matt. 12:31)
So, its safe to say that once someone is genuinely concerned about their
salvation they have NOT blasphemed against The Holy Spirit because its the
deliberate and willful act of slandering the Holy Name of God by someone
who knows exactly what they're doing.
We
are saved by grace through faith without works, but after we become saved,
works then become necessary because there are 3 distinctly different
levels of salvation.
Let me explain:
(Level 1) The salvation of the spirit - 1Co 5:5 "... that the spirit
may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."
The salvation of the human spirit is instant and qualifies you for heaven
by changing your nature from human to divine, from Adamic to Christlike.
This is what happens when someone receives Jesus as their savior and
becomes born again.
This is known as Justification (just as if you had never sinned).
It is a permanent, miraculous work that ONLY God can do!
(See these scriptures: 2Pet 1:4 - John 3:3 - Gal 2:16 - Rom 10:9,10)
(Level 2) The salvation of the soul - Jas 1:21 "...receive with
meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."
The soul and the mind are one and the same thing. The word
"soul" translated from the Hebrew is "Nephesh" and
means "mind or mental creature."
So, the salvation of the soul is the same as the salvation of the mind. As
a matter of fact, this is exactly what Paul the Apostle is referring to
when he says, "be renewed in the spirit of your mind."
The salvation of the soul or mind is progressive and qualifies you to
govern the earth with Jesus during His thousand year reign (The
Millennium) by changing your character to resemble His.
This is known as Sanctification (separation from the seduction of sin).
It is an ongoing work that God gives YOU the responsibility to accomplish.
This is what is meant by "work out your salvation with fear and
trembling." The salvation of the soul or mind is about building
Christian character on a day-by-day basis and will not end until we stand
before God in Heaven.
(See These Scriptures: Php 2:12 - Eph 4:23 - 2Co 5:10)
(Level 3) The salvation of the body - "...but we who have the first
fruits of the Spirit, even we have sorrow in our minds, waiting for the
time when we will take our place as sons, that is, the salvation of our
bodies," Rom 8:22-23.(Bible in Basic English)
The salvation of the body is experienced as you progressively learn to
dominate the appetites and passions of your body.
It empowers you to live above sickness and poverty and will culminate in
total victory over death!
This is known as Glorification (physical dominion over the effects of
sin).
(See These Scriptures: 1Co 9:27 - Ro 8:13 - 1Co 15:51-54 - 1Th 4:16-18)
The Bible was composed
by God Himself and recorded by men for our benefit, therefore, there's
only one safe way to interpret it.
Become very intimate with the author of The Book.
If you wanted to understand and accurately interpret The Harry Potter
Series of books who would be the best person to talk to about it?
J. K. Rowling, of course - The Author!
The closer you got to
her, the more intimately you knew her and understood the inner workings of
her mind, how she thinks, her motivations and why she wrote what she
wrote, the better you'd be at interpreting her books, wouldn't you?
The closer you get to God and the more you understand how He thinks and
feels the more accurate your Bible interpretation will become.
So, the very beginning of ANY accurate Bible interpretation must be with
you becoming Born Again.
Without having your inner nature changed to line up with God's divine
nature it will be impossible to understand Him and if you can't understand
Him how can you understand His recorded thoughts?
For an unsaved person to understand the Bible is like asking a crab to
understand an Eagle - It's impossible! They have two different natures!
And even after you become Born Again there's still years of study
involved.
I've found that fasting and prayer helps a great deal in opening up my
spiritual understanding to receive revelation from God.
The Bible says in Psalms 111:10 "The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his
commandments..."
So, we develop 'a good understanding' from DOING His commandments or
obeying His word.
It's somewhat of a paradox but you will NEVER fully understand the Word of
God until you start trusting Him and obeying Him with the very little that
you DO understand.
When you show God by your obedience that you value the little knowledge He
has given you , only then can He trust you to handle more knowledge and
become more familiar with Him. Remember, knowledge is power and will
not give power to someone He can't trust!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
Did
the Bible really say that God is omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient
(all-knowing)? Can you list some of the verses that say this?
Answer:
Re 19:6 ...Alleluia:
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. (KJV)
Mt 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth.
This verse says ALL power is given to Jesus who is God The Son!
1Jo 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and
knoweth all things.
This verse says that God knows ALL THINGS - That sounds like Omniscience
to me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
Can demons hurt Jesus?
Answer:
Jesus Christ is God
Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth. He cannot be hurt by anything or
anyone AGAINST HIS WILL.
It was His will to suffer and die to redeem mankind 2,000
years ago. This is the only reason He was able to be hurt - He
voluntarily allowed that to happen!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
What
reasons are there for me not to just give up on life?
Answer:
You shouldn't give up
because every life has a divine purpose.
Every human being is a catalyst for someone else's genius.
Your life has a very
specific purpose that only you can accomplish and because of this it is
absolutely priceless!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
Where
in the Bible does it say that we should confess our sins through a priest?
Answer:
Nowhere in the Bible says this!
The closest we find is in the Old Testament when the Israelites brought
their sacrifices to atone for their sins and the High Priest confessed the
sins of the people before God. (See Leviticus 16:21)
But nowhere are we instructed to confess our sins to a Priest who then
takes them to God on our behalf. This is a Roman Catholic practice which
is NOT found in the Bible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
If
god made everyone just they way they are, and the person is gay, doesn't
that mean that god made him/her to be gay?
Answer:
The most important word
in your question is "If" The truth is there is NO scientific or
medical proof that Homosexuals are born that way. All indications say that
the Homosexual condition is a lifestyle CHOICE and NOT a result of genes
or anything biologically intrinsic.
There are factors that play a part in people's lifestyle choices, like the
unfortunate experience of prison rape, child sexual abuse or diseases like
Testicular Feminization for instance but this is merely one factor to
consider. It does NOT necessarily RESULT in Homosexuality.
God does NOT make or create ANYONE a Homosexual. He condemns Homosexuality
all through the Bible, if He were to create someone a Homosexual then condemn them for it He
would be a Hypocrite and a Liar!
What
"indications" are you referring to, please elaborate?
In response to your question as to what
“indications” I referred to in my initial response, I trust the
information below provides some clarification.
Noted Biologist, Dr. Alfred Charles Kinsey the most famous researcher of
homosexuals and himself a Bisexual rejected the idea that Homosexuals are
“born that way”. He said, “One should never speak of homosexuals as
if such an identity were inherent rather than the product of social
labeling."
To Dr. Kinsey, sexual preferences and behaviors ranged along a continuum
with an infinite number of combinations and possibilities. Sexuality was a
"fluid" enterprise, with any kind of sexual expression being in
the realm of possibility for any particular person, given the right set of
circumstances.
Furthermore, empirical data supports Kinsey's thesis in the most important
ways. In one of his published surveys: The Kinsey Data: Marginal
tabulations of the 1938-1963 interviews conducted by the Institute for Sex
Research, in which he interviewed Gays and Lesbians about why they became
homosexuals, he compiled the following data:
Sexual experiences and learnt behavior was found to be very influential in
determining if someone became a homosexual. 42% of gays and 18% of
lesbians claimed that having homosexual sex or being seduced homosexually
helped lead to their sexual preference. 50% of gays and 52% of lesbians
said that trying homosexuality and liking it was influential.
How much pathology is reported? "Non-congruent gender
development" refers to having been slow or fast to mature, or having
interests, skills, or proclivities different from one's peers. Given the
fact that development occurs at varying ages in any group of children,
these differences are not necessarily pathological. And, plenty of
heterosexuals experience similar developmental differences.
So there is no one-to-one connection between non-congruent gender
development and becoming homosexual. Poor relationships with one or both
parents might be considered a 'pathology of child-rearing.' Yet no more
than 27% of the gays and 31% of the lesbians nominated these reasons for
their homosexuality.
Even if the categories of "fear heterosexuality" and
"physical trait" are added to these totals, a maximum of 35% of
gay males and 43% of lesbian females offered any of these possible
reasons.
On the other hand, consider those responses directly connected with
experience or learning. Combining "early homosexual experience"
and "homosexual associates" neither of which would be considered
a pathology per se, as many as 33% of men and 42% of women made one or
both of these choices.
Adding the category of "heterosexual partners unavailable," the
figures rise to 49% of the men and 50% of the women. And what childhood
pathology is connected with "anti-heterosexual training?" Many
families, churches, and schools weigh-in against heterosexual fornication while
never mentioning homosexuality. So, adding this response brings the
maximum percentages up to 56% for the gays and 59% for lesbians.
The bulk of Kinsey's results are squarely in the realm of learning and
opportunity just as with any desire that eventually develops into a habit.
If these homosexuals were at all accurate about themselves, we might
conclude that learning may be considerably more important than any
pre-existing "pathology" in the development of homosexuality.
That was Kinsey's conclusion and he had a telling point against those who
were pointing to hormonal differences as a biological "cause" of
homosexual activity.
Kinsey said, “The circumstances of the first sexual experience, psychic
conditioning, and social pressures are obvious factors in determining the
pattern of the behavior. It would appear that no similar correlation has
as yet been shown between hormones and homosexual activity." The same
could be said for today's genetic theories of homosexuality.
Overall, the percentages of homosexuals who claimed they were "born
that way" were rather modest. Only 11% of gays, 6% of lesbians made
that claim.
It’s obvious then that Kinsey's theory that sexual experience and social
pressures are the most influential in determining homosexual preferences
looks more plausible than the psychoanalytic account.
In closing let me stress that the information given above is solely for
YOUR benefit. The reason I KNOW homosexuality is a choice is because GOD
SAID SO!
Here's what the Bible says in Romans chapter 1
verses 21-27 of the Contemporary English version.
"They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him.
Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. They
claim to be wise, but they are fools. They don't worship the glorious and
eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans
who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles.
So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do,
and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies.
They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's
creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.
God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have
sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not
natural. Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex
with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did
shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is
punishment for their foolish deeds."
Is this clear enough? Does this information answer your question?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
Is
the Bible God's word or man's?
Answer:
The Bible is God's
word.
It was inspired by God
and recorded by man.
When we say the Bible is inspired, we do not mean the kind of inspiration
that comes to an author trying to write a book or a mechanic trying to
find out what's wrong with a car.
In a supernatural way, the Holy Spirit led Moses, Isaiah, Matthew, Paul, and the other
Bible authors to write the message of God to man. Their writing was
initiated and controlled by God Himself.
The Bible's unusual claim to be the inspired Word of God is made clear in
several key passages.
2nd Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God...
The word translated "inspiration" means
"God-breathed." This tells us that the Bible originated in the
mind of God. The Holy Spirit influenced the individual Bible writers to put down the message God wanted mankind to have.
2nd Peter 1:20-21 says, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of
Scripture is of any private interpretation [origin], for prophecy never
came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by
the Holy Spirit."
These verses make a tremendous claim! They say that the Bible prophets did
not originate what they wrote. Rather, they recorded what was given to
them by God. They were moved (literally "borne along") by the
Holy Spirit. Now, that doesn't mean that their individual personality or
style of writing was overpowered. It means that they were kept from having
any error creep into what they wrote. They were directed by the Holy
Spirit to record only what God wanted man to know.
The Bible's claim, then, is that it was written by God. It is not man's
book, it is God's book. Paul informed us that the spiritual truth he gave was "not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which
the Holy Spirit teaches" (1 Corinthians 2:13).
Yes, the Bible claims to be the inspired Word of God--powerful, living,
and indestructible (1 John 1:1-3; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23-25). In both
the Old and New Testaments, it is the message of God to people of all
ages, a book you can trust!
If the Bible was not authored by God there's no way it could have the
amazing unity that it does throughout it's text.
If you asked 10 different authors to write on the same topic there is no
way they all are going to agree. More than likely you'll have 10
completely different points of view.
Yet, from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible tells a single story: the
rescue of mankind from sin through the death of Jesus Christ. The Old
Testament presents Him as the hope of mankind; the New Testament shows Him
to be the fulfillment of that hope.
Now, if the Bible had been written by one person at one time, one could
understand how it would be unified in general thoughts and specific
details.
But consider these diversities in its origin:
· It was written by 40 different authors.
· It was written over a period of 1,600 years.
· It was written in three languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.
· Its writers came from many walks of life: prophet (Jeremiah), priest
(Zechariah), shepherd (Amos), king (David), servant (Nehemiah), doctor
(Luke), tax collector (Matthew), and Religious Scholar (Paul).
· It was written on three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe.
· A gap of more than 400 years separated the writing of the Old Testament
from the New Testament--equivalent to the time span from the days of Sir
Francis Drake to today.
In spite of this wide diversity, the Bible is one book. As branches,
roots, trunk, and leaves are part of one tree, so the parts of the Bible
make up a single unit. It agrees in doctrine, details of prophecy, what it
says about Jesus Christ, and its offer of rescue to mankind. It is a
unified book made up of many books.
It is a book you can trust!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
Should we interpret the Bible literally
Answer:
The Bible should be interpreted ACCURATELY!
Sometimes this means literally and sometimes NOT!
You MUST be led by The Author of The Book - The Holy Spirit!
For instance, "Thou shalt NOT kill" CANNOT be interpreted
literally. We have ALL killed, an ant, a mosquitoe, a fly, etc. This
scripture actually means, "You must NOT take another human life
UNLAWFULLY!
If a Police Officer in the lawful performance of his duty kills a criminal
who was in the act of committing a crime, has he broken this commandment?
Of course not! He has NOT UNLAWFULLY taken a human life - It may be
regrettable but it was lawfully done.
On the other hand Luke 16:22,23 says, "...the rich man also died, and
was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments..."
this is to be interpreted quite literally - This man died and went to Hell
- Period!
We do not need to add or subtract anything from this statement - It stands
alone and complete.
In any and all Bible interpretation you must be led by The
Holy Spirit!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
How could Jesus be the Son of God and
the Son of Mary and Joseph?
Answer:
God is a corporate
entity eternally existing in 3 distinctly different persons: The Father -
The Word - The Holy Spirit (1st John 5:7)
Each one by Himself incorporates the fullness of all 3 together. This
means that each one has ALL the power of all 3 together and shares in the
same divine nature making each one God all by himself.
In order to become the Savior of mankind, God The Word decided to become
human so that He could die to pay the price for the redemption of
humanity.
The ONLY legal way He could enter the physical realm and live and die on
earth as human being was to be born of a human woman through the natural
way.
So, about 2,000 years ago God The Father miraculously fertilized the Ovum
of a virgin human female named Mary making her pregnant with His Seed.
This Seed was actually God The Word who entered into the body of that
Child and literally became a Human Being called Jesus (which means
Savior).
But because of WHO He was and HOW he was conceived His nature became
two-fold, both Human (from His Mother, Mary) and Divine (from His Father,
God).
Therefore, He could live and interact fully as a human being having all
the normal human experiences yet still remain completely sinless because
of His divine nature.
Joseph was engaged to be married to Mary when she became pregnant with
Jesus, so Joseph became His foster-father.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
Demons- How can we
resist them?
Answer:
The best protection
against demonic attack is to live righteously in obedience to the word of
God.
There's a natural defense against Satan's attacks just by being a child of
God because the Bible says, "No weapon formed against you shall
prosper" and "You are more than a conqueror through Christ
Jesus."
The problem begins when we deviate from the path of obedience to God's
word and open a way of attack for the Enemy.
If you're already born again and being harassed by demons you need to find
out where you're being disobedient to God, repent and begin to take
authority over the demonic spirits harassing you.
Your declaration might go something like this:
"Demon of ________, I bind you in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. I command you to cease and
desist your filthy works against me and go to where Jesus would send you
and stay there.
I declare that I'm a child of God, walking in truth and obedience to
Almighty God and to His word. I am clothed with the whole Armour of God,
no weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that rises
against me is condemned! Amen!"
After this, spend quality time in praise and worship to God for the
victory He has already given you.
P.S. If you have not identified the specific demon attacking you,
you may address him as "Satan" this word simply means
"Enemy"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
Does the Rapture take
place before or after the Tribulation?
Answer:
According
to my understanding of scripture the Rapture takes place BEFORE The Great
Tribulation.
The
time-line for end-time events is as follows:
Once
the Gospel of the Kingdom is preached in all the world the Rapture will
take place. (Matt.
24:14)
The
Rapture is for the Church – The Body of Christ –All Christian
Believers – Everyone who is Born Again. (1Thess
4:16, 17)
The
Church goes up into Heaven for a period of 7 earth years to experience the
Judgment Seat of Christ (2Cor
5:10) - Then the
Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev
19:7-9) - At the end
of these 7 years we will return to earth with Christ as King of Kings and
Lord of Lords to fight at the Battle of Armageddon. (1Th
3:13; Jude 1:14; Re 19:14, 8)
During
those 7 years on earth there will be Great tribulation (Mt
24:21) – The first 3½
years there will be apparent peace and safety when The Beast (Anti-Christ)
will start ruling the world (1Th
5:2,3; Re 12:6) then
the second 3½ years it will be hell on earth when the devil inhabits the
body of the Beast (Anti-Christ) and reigns on earth for a short season! (Re
13:1-9)
He
will motivate the armies of the world to gather against Israel to utterly
wipe them off the face of the planet (Lu
21:20, Re 19:19) –
An innumerable army of soldiers will march against Israel and if it
wasn’t for the Lord Jesus Christ and the Armies of Heaven, Israel would
be totally destroyed. (Re
19:11-16)
But
Israel will be saved by the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah who they
will finally accept as their King after He delivers them from certain doom
at the hands of the Beast (Anti-Christ). (Zec
12:8-10; Mt 19:28; Lu 22:30)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
Genesis
4:17 says that ‘Cain knew his wife’, from where did he get this woman?
I understand that at that time the only human beings living on the earth
were Adam, Eve, and Cain. What records are missing in the bible? Or what
is it that I’m not grasping?
Answer:
There
are NO records missing in the Bible! It does NOT contain errors or
unplanned omissions!
In
the account recorded in the book of Genesis the Bible is literally telling
the story of the beginning of human civilization.
This
is an age when the average person lived for almost a thousand years –
700 – 1,000 years was the average lifespan.
So
when the Bible says, “And in process of time…” (Gen 4:3) we could be
talking about a period of 300 years. And between verses 16 and 17 in
Genesis chapter four 100 years could have gone by.
The
Bible is NOT narrated in chronological sequence.
When
the Bible says someone did something and then they did something else it
doesn’t automatically mean the next day or the next week or even the
next year. It may be 50 or 100 years between the first action and the
second action.
Remember,
we’re talking about when people lived for 900 years!
So,
it is reasonable to deduce that Cain married one of his sisters or nieces
because the Bible says, "And the days of Adam after he had begotten
Seth were eight hundred years and he begat sons and daughters."
(Gen 5:4)
After
Adam’s first 3 sons Cain, Abel and Seth, he and Eve had many more sons
and daughters.
So,
by the time Cain was banished to the land of Nod there could have been
many more people on the earth, male and female, not just the few the Bible
mentions by name.
Therefore,
it is not stretching the imagination to assume that Cain took one of his
sisters or nieces with him to the land of Nod and married her and they
produced offspring.
Furthermore,
at that time in human history when humans still had outstanding physical
health and vitality, as indicated by the length of their lives, the
likelihood of passing on defects as a result of marrying a close relative
was not great. After some 2,500 years of human history, however, when
mankind's physical condition had greatly deteriorated, Jehovah gave to
Israel laws forbidding incest.
If
we look at this logically it has got to be obvious that Cain married one
of his close relatives. Because God started the human race with only two
people!
He
had to expect brothers and sisters to marry each other and have children
– This was His plan!
How
else could the human race multiply?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question:
Why is being called
"Gay" considered a common insult?
Answer:
Let
me start by saying that prejudism and bigotry are wrong and I'm against
all forms of them. I do not hate gay people, I just disagree with their
lifestyle.
Now, I believe that being called "gay" is a common insult
because deep down inside most people know that a woman having sex with
another woman or a man having sex with another man is unnatural, unhealthy
and just not right!
So, in order to verbally insult someone they may refer to them as
"gay" knowing that the average person will feel insulted to be
labeled as someone who's sexual lifestyle is unnatural and unhealthy.
If homosexuality was natural and healthy why would someone feel insulted
to be called "gay"?
Before all you pro gay people get on your soap boxes and begin preaching,
I've included an excerpt from a very informative report by Dr. Paul
Cameron PhD. called "The Medical Consequences of What
Homosexuals Do"
It
is very graphic in detail so please be warned.
This is to support my statement that homosexual sex is unnatural and
unhealthy.
Here's the excerpt:
"ORAL SEX:
Homosexuals (men) fellate almost all of their sexual contacts (and ingest
semen from about half of these). Semen contains many of the germs carried
in the blood. Because of this, gays who practice oral sex verge on
consuming raw human blood, with all its medical risks.
Since the penis often has tiny lesions (and often will have been in
unsanitary places such as a rectum), individuals so involved may become
infected with Hepatitis A or Gonorrhea (and even HIV and Hepatitis B).
Since many contacts occur between strangers (70% of gays estimated that
they had had sex only once with over half of their partners, and gays
average somewhere between 106 and 1105 different partners/year, the
potential for infection is considerable.
RECTAL SEX:
Surveys indicate that about 90% of gays have engaged in rectal
intercourse, and about two-thirds do it regularly. In a 6-month long study
of daily sexual diaries, gays averaged 110 sex partners and 68 rectal
encounters a year.
Rectal sex is dangerous. During rectal intercourse the rectum becomes a
mixing bowl for (1) saliva and its germs and/or an artificial lubricant,
(2) the recipient's own feces, (3) whatever germs, infections or
substances the penis has on it, and (4) the seminal fluid of the inserter.
Since sperm readily penetrate the rectal wall (which is only one cell
thick) causing immunologic damage, and tearing or bruising of the anal
wall is very common during anal/penile sex, these substances gain almost
direct access to the blood stream.
Unlike heterosexual intercourse (in which sperm cannot penetrate the
multilayered vagina and no feces are present), rectal intercourse is
probably the most sexually efficient way to spread hepatitis B, HIV,
Syphilis and a host of other blood-borne diseases..."
Think about this information the next time you hear someone say,
"Homosexuals aren't hurting anyone" because they're definitely
hurting themselves.
The last paragraph of the report reads as follows:
"GENUINE COMPASSION:
Society is legitimately concerned with health risks-- they impact our
taxes and everyone's chances of illness and injury.
Because we care about them, smokers are discouraged from smoking by higher
insurance premiums, taxes on cigarettes and bans against smoking in
public. These social pressures cause many to quit. They likewise encourage
non-smokers to stay non-smokers.
Homosexuals are sexually troubled people engaging in dangerous activities.
Because we care about them and those tempted to join them, it is important
that we neither encourage nor legitimize such a destructive
lifestyle."
