But those miracles and healings are bringing people into the church, aren't they?
If Jesus said that the devil was going to "plant" seeds of fake Christianity in all the world, then what if he is bringing people into his counterfeit by deception? Don't you think he has an agenda behind presenting himself as an "angel of light"?
Look how he turned the Jews away from Jesus.....he used lies and deception and corrupt men who were only too willing to do his bidding. This guy was making them look bad. (Matthew 23)
The bulk of God's nation lost their place in the Kingdom. This notion makes Jews very angry because they pride themselves on being 'sons of Abraham'. John the Baptist said that God could produce children of Abraham from the rocks. (Matthew 3:7-10) Being "Jewish" by birth was no longer important because God changed what it meant to be "Jewish".
Paul wrote at Romans 2:28-29...
"For he is not a Jew who is one on the outside, nor is circumcision something on the outside, on the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit and not by a written code. That person’s praise comes from God, not from people."
God had fulfilled his promise to Abraham by producing his Messiah as he said he would, and now he would abandon that wayward nation as incorrigible. (Matthew 23:37-39)
By faith in this context, you mean trust?
That's what faith is....absolute, unreserved trust. We earn God's trust...he earns ours. It's a beautiful friendship. He has never let me down in my whole life. But that doesn't mean I have lived a charmed life...it simply means that God has seen me through the hard times with my faith intact. He always gave me the right advice.
I guess I fall into the first category...
Why do you say that? I am thinking that you probably fall into the second or third category, otherwise why would you be here asking all these great questions?
Perhaps its more like the thorns choking out the seed and not allowing it to grow? Do you have pressure from family to conform to your Pentecostal upbringing? Is it a church you would have chosen yourself? What if you told them what you are telling us? Do they know how you feel?
But some of the Christians who accept evolution do give Him the credence and believe that He deserves it for setting the whole process in motion...
If you do the research, then you will find that the "macro" part of evolution is a figment of science's imagination. They have no more proof for that scenario than we have for direct creation. For those who accept the Bible as the word of God, there can be no putting your own spin on scripture to make it more acceptable to yourself. You must take God's word on faith that if he said he created all the different "kinds", then that is what he did.
Did 'adaptation' create all the different varieties within each kind....perhaps that part is true because science can actually prove that adaptation takes place. But never have they observed it taking any organism outside of its taxonomic family. You can't use adaptation to prove macro-evolution....not without a heap of guesswork....and wishful thinking.
The Christians who accept evolution do believe in God
What does it mean to "believe" in God?
James 2:19-22....
."You believe that there is one God, do you? You are doing quite well. And yet the demons believe and shudder. But do you care to know, O empty man, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father declared righteous by works after he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that his faith was active along with his works and his faith was perfected by his works"
There is more to "believing" than just 'believing'. One involves the mind, the other involves actions prompted by the mind. You can't have one without the other.
Absolutely. Why do you think this debate has gone on for so long? Some YEC's will even tell you that there were dinosaurs on the ark!
They stick to their 24 hour day scenario in Genesis as if the earth and everything on it is merely 6,000 years old. We know that is nonsense.
The "days" in Genesis were obviously not 24 hour days and if you look at the Hebrew word for "day" (Yohm) it can mean a literal day or an extended period of time, as we would use the word like "in our grandfather's day".....this is not referring to a literal 24 day and neither does Genesis.
If those "days" were millions of earth years in length, then the Earth can be as old as science claims. Genesis 1:1 is a statement about the creation of the universe. There is no timeframe between verse 1 and the rest of the chapter. So the creation of the universe could have taken place well before God chose to prepare the Earth for habitation. The creative days were filled with God's activity and he obviously planned his work to take place within a certain period, so that at the completion of each stage, he was able to express his satisfaction with his accomplishments thus far. The only day that has no declaration of satisfaction, is the 7th. We believe it is still current.....it has not yet ended. Paul made reference to it.
Yeah free will isn't really freeing especially since one's actions can affect others also
That is the lesson.
Free will is a blessing only when the will of others is not overstepped.....as if one person's will is more important than another's.
If all are subject to God's will, then everything works beautifully. He was to be the arbiter of all our conduct, setting the rules so that we would never treat our fellow humans with disrespect. No human life is less valuable to God because Christ died for everyone. But the value of Christ's blood is not applied to those who don't want it. We have to qualify for it as part of our citizenship requirements.
So Christians shouldn't go into politics and they shouldn't defend their country if it's being attacked? And if there shouldn't be any bloodshed, should they engage in self defense if they're attacked?
Self-defense is not the same as defending a country. Christians hold citizenship in God's Kingdom, so there is no Kingdom on earth that we would defend by killing other human beings. So many of the wars fought in the modern era do not involve defending one's own country. Many of them involve going to a foreign land and killing their enemies. The weapons used indiscriminately kill innocent people, and God would never sanction such a thing.
If Jesus said to 'love our enemies' then there should be no reason to kill anyone. If someone was to attack us personally or to attack a family member, we would rightly defend them and ourselves, but it would be a determination only to stop the attack, not to deliberately cause harm or murder.
I've talked to Christians who participate in these holidays and they say that God redeemed the holidays for His people and they say sin is both objective and subjective so what's a sin for one person may not be a sin for another person...
That is called justification...according to Paul, it doesn't wash. When Israel tried to mix God's worship with Baal worship, God punished them.
If Christians want to honor God or his Christ, then why choose a day dedicated to a false god? Its insulting, especially if you carry on with the original customs and just put a "Christian" label on it. God saw the original and what the people did whilst worshipping their false gods. Do you think he approves of it? I can't see how.
Paul said it was like mixing righteousness and lawlessness....Christ and the devil.
I've heard that people may not be ready to hear the gospel and that pestering them can draw them away from God, IDK...
LOL....another excuse. If Jesus commanded it and he said he was going to back it, then why offer excuses for why you can't do it? You have the most powerful force in the Universe working with you. Do you think Jesus "pestered" people? What did he say to his disciples?
Matthew 10:11-15....
"Into whatever city or village you enter, search out who in it is deserving, and stay there until you leave. 12 When you enter the house, greet the household. 13 If the house is deserving, let the peace you wish it come upon it; but if it is not deserving, let the peace from you return upon you. 14 Wherever anyone does not receive you or listen to your words, on going out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I say to you, it will be more endurable for the land of Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah on Judgment Day than for that city."
Jesus sent them out to preach "good news", not to pester people. The political system under which they lived was far from ideal. The people needed to hear that their Messiah had come....so the message was offered, and if it was well received, the disciples were to stay and impart that good news to those ones...but if they were turned away, the disciples were to simply shake the dust off their feet and move on to the next house. (Acts 20:20) We do this work and it is amazing how many people want answers to their questions. The churches just don't have them. We get thousands of requests for Bible studies just on our website.
JW.ORG
Thanks for answering my questions...
Again, this is the result of 46 years of thorough research, so hopefully the details are as important to you as they are to me.
The Bible answers all our questions. If it is God's truth, then it must.