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To: Chainmail; Zionist Conspirator; Slyfox; the OlLine Rebel; redleghunter; Springfield Reformer; ...
Rather than emphasizing the differences in doctrine and customs, why not reach out to each other and work together to defeat the evils in front of us? The Devil is winning at this point,...

I would submit to you that God is in control and though it may seem the "Devil is winning", he is not. Satan can do nothing without God's divine permission (see Job) and even when he may permitted to bring calamity on believers God uses it for our good to refine and strengthen us.

Given that knowledge, it is critical that we have sound doctrine. Over time Israel and Judah corrupted their view of God to such a point that they turned to paganism. It is important we do not do the same.

The battle isn't in the lost and dying world that rejects Christ. The battle is within the church against those who would see the gospel corrupted.

126 posted on 11/16/2017 3:33:45 AM PST by HarleyD ("There are very few shades of grey."-Dr. Eckleburg)
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To: HarleyD

The battle isn't in the lost and dying world that rejects Christ. The battle is within the church against those who would see the gospel corrupted.


134 posted on 11/16/2017 3:50:24 AM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: HarleyD; Zionist Conspirator; Slyfox; the OlLine Rebel; redleghunter; Springfield Reformer; ...
So exactly how many new followers to Christ does your message bring? Are you even interested in winning over the lost to Christ?

I'll tell you a little story: in 1988 I was a United Nations Truce Supervisor in the Sinai. We had 14 American, 13 French, and 15 Soviet officers in our unit and our duties put us out on outpost at six different sites from el Arish to St, Catherine's at the south end of the Sinai.

We'd spend a week on out post at a time we usually ended up with one Soviet as a partner for that week (we preferred the French because they were better cooks). The Soviets were well-indoctrinated Communists or they wouldn't have been picked to be with us "enemies" and they would almost always launch into atheist monologues before we got everything unpacked for the week.

I would carefully and politely discuss my believer's point of view coupled with discussions about the mathematical difficulty of accepting the idea that everything in existence was a result of random chance.

Over several of these discussions, we got to discussing Christ and Christianity and the stark difference between faith and disbelief. A Greek Catholic priest buddy of mine got me a stash of Russian-Language Bibles to pass to them (which was hazardous for them, since we had a KGB Resident on the team who was closely watching them).

After several months of these discussions, one by one seven of the 15 privately asked me to help them and their families get baptized. I am the Godfather of several Russian children (which is a little unique for a Marine Officer).

I didn't insist that they become Roman Catholics - I only cared that they find their way to Our Lord. We don't gather the flock for Jesus by yelling at everyone: we call them as our Savior and his disciples did.

138 posted on 11/16/2017 5:24:16 AM PST by Chainmail (A simple rule of life: if you can be blamed, you're responsible.)
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