Posted on 11/24/2009 4:10:44 PM PST by NYer
Statistics released Nov. 24 by the FBI show hate crimes against religious groups increased by 9% from 2007 to 2008.
USA Today reported that in 2008, there 1,519 incidents against people based on their religion, the statistics show.
The figures reveal that while anti-Jewish attacks made up the highest percentage of the attacks (17%), there was an increase in hate crimes against Catholics — 75, up from 61 in 2007.
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said the increase may be due to the Church becoming more vocal on life issues such as abortion and homosexual unions.
As the Catholic bishops take a stronger stance, he said, it filters down to the laity, and as more traditional Catholics become more vocal, they become targets for those who disagree with them.
“Unfortunately, it spills over into violence,” he said, adding that it’s just going to get worse before it gets better.
“I’ve never seen our country so culturally divided and so polarized,” he said. “These issues are not going away.”
Fine, knock yourself out, but do understand that I don't read them. I only read your take on them.
Not clear to me. I think God decided to punish Pharaoh, and he hardened his heart to make the evil there more obvious
That's not what the Bible says (on numerous occasions), and you know it.
If man is going to have free moral agency and be able to willingly submit to God, then there must be a possibility of not obeying
Where does it say that man is to have free moral agency? There is nothing that indicates God is giving Adam the freedom to disagree or disobey. In fact, God is telling Adam that he must not eat from the tree...but "in the day when you eat form it, you shall surely die!"
Not "if" but "in the day when..." It's a foregone conclusion. Adam was set to fall from the get-go, and God made sure everything was there to make that happen. Adam was acting out God's will. Did he really have a choice? Did Judas? Where is the "free moral agency?"
No, I have not forced Obama to waste money, but neither am I surprised. Obama makes his choice, but I knew what it would be
You need to give God more credit. :) You knew what he would do because of his track record as the most liberal US Senator who has a track record. God picked Judas because he knew, he was sure, that Judas would act according to God's will and plan, because Judas had no choice. I remember heairng it for the first time and thinking it's preposterous. I still think it's preposterous, but that's what the Bible is saying.
He went without vision until he met Jesus, and what he learned - or should have learned - was more valuable than his sight
What did he learn that he could not have learned with sight?
Ah, so you would have him PREDESTINE their repentance, eh?
Not me! Your friend Paul is pretty much making that a statement of fact. :) One does not repent unless God grants him repentance! Look it up; it's there. So, the Bible is saying one doe snot just "up and repents" on his own; God has to grant it to him! Just as he hardens some poeple's hearts for a different purpose.
No, he punishes those who had been doing evil for hundreds of years
The OT God chooses to destroy rather than to fix. He could just as easily open their "eyes," and grant them repentance if he really desires all men saved, but he doesn't. He sees to it that they are annihilated.
Later, he uses other countries to punish Israel.
Sure but inconsistently.
“It’s because he’s not married. Married men are open books (check books, dictionaries, Scripture and auto manuals.)”
People were in their pews talking at church. Suddenly, Satan appeared at the altar.
Everyone started screaming and running for the entrance, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from evil incarnate. Soon everyone had exited the church except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew without moving, seeming oblivious to the fact that God’s ultimate enemy was in his presence. So Satan walked up to the old man and said,
‘Don’t you know who I am?’
The man replied, ‘Yep, sure do.’
‘Aren’t you afraid of me?’ Satan asked.
‘Nope, sure ain’t.’ said the man.
‘Don’t you realize I can kill with a word?’ asked Satan.
‘Don’t doubt it for a minute,’ returned the old man, in an even tone.
‘Did you know that I could cause you profound horrifying, AGONY for all eternity?’ persisted Satan?
‘Yep,’ was the calm reply.
‘And you’re still not afraid?’ asked Satan.
‘Nope,’ said the old man.
More than a little perturbed, Satan asked, ‘Well, why aren’t you afraid of me?’
The man calmly replied, ‘Been married to your sister for 44 years.’
Truly, God must intervene or we are lost. But if we refuse to believe, we will still be lost!
Of course. And the only men who will respond in faith are those the Holy Spirit has given a heart of flesh and new ears and new eyes and a renewed mind, all of which changes a man's fallen nature from corrupted to spiritual so that he can understand and believe the things of God.
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them." -- John 17:9-10"I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
And there's nothing ambiguous about Acts 13:48 -- as many as were ordained to believe then believed.
I'm always surprised Christians want to take for themselves the glory that is God's alone. Men apparently need to feel they have done something worthy of salvation and therefore want to be rewarded for this action. But we are told that even faith is a work, and all Bible-believing Christians know our own works do not merit reward. Only Christ's work on the cross mercifully imputed to us saves. Therefore faith is not the basis of our redemption - grace is, freely given without regard to our own decisions. Faith is the evidence of God's regenerating grace, not a requirement for it.
"Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father" -- 1 Thessalonians 1:3
MAN KILLED ON GOLF COURSE
A foursome of guys is waiting at the men’s tee while a foursome of women is hitting from the ladies’ tee.
The ladies are taking their time talking and relaxing.
When the final lady is ready to hit her ball, she hacks it 10 feet.
Then she goes over and whiffs it completely.
Then she hacks it another ten feet and finally hacks it another five feet.
She looks up at the patiently waiting men and says apologetically, “I guess all those stupid lessons I took over the winter didn’t help.”
One of the men immediately responds, “Well, there you have it….you should have been taking golf lessons instead!”
He never even had a chance to duck.
The man calmly replied, ‘Been married to your sister for 44 years.’
Was married to their daughter for seven years...
“Faith is the evidence of God’s regenerating grace, not a requirement for it.”
Fascinating.
John wrote, “12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
“to all who did receive him, who believed in his name”, he gave rebirth - and they were born “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Yet he didn’t make them children of God, and then they received him and believed.
“I’m always surprised Christians want to take for themselves the glory that is God’s alone. Men apparently need to feel they have done something worthy of salvation and therefore want to be rewarded for this action.”
After nearly 40 years as a Christian, I can cheerfully say that NOTHING I did before or after conversion merited my salvation. God offered, and I accepted his salvation.
At Pentecost, when the Jews asked, “Brothers, what shall we do?”, what did Peter reply?
“DO? You can do NOTHING! Just wait, and see if God gives you faith...”
Oh, but that ISN’T what Peter replied, He said, “”Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
He didn’t say, “Repent, and live a life of good works and see if it was enough at the end” - THAT would be works-based salvation.
And in the next chapter, Peter blasphemed again, apparently:
“18But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, 20that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus...”
“But we are told that even faith is a work, and all Bible-believing Christians know our own works do not merit reward.”
“28Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
What must we do? Believe. We have no merit for believing. We didn’t force God to do anything. We accept what God has done.
1 Thessalonians 1:3 “...remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
From Barnes:
Verse 3. Remembering without ceasing. Remembering your faith and love whenever we pray. This is not to be understood literally, but it is language such as we use respecting anything that interests us much. It is constantly in our mind. Such an interest the apostle had in the churches which he had established.
Your work of faith.That is, your work showing or evincing faith. The reference is probably to acts of duty, holiness, and benevolence, which proved that they exercised faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Works of faith are those to which faith prompts, and which show that there is faith in the heart. This does not mean, therefore, a work of their own producing faith, but a work which showed that they had faith.
And labour of love. Labour produced by love, or showing that you are actuated by love. Such would be all their kindness toward the poor, the oppressed, and the afflicted; and all their acts which showed that they loved the souls of men.
And patience of hope. Patience in your trials, showing that you have such a hope of future blessedness as to sustain you in your afflictions. It was the hope of heaven through the Lord Jesus that gave them patience. See Barnes “Romans 8:24”. “The phrases here are Hebraisms, meaning active faith, and laborious love, and patient hope, and might have been so translated.” Doddridge.
In our Lord Jesus Christ. That is, your hope is founded only on him. The only hope that we have of heaven is through the Redeemer.
In the sight of God and our Father. Before God, even our Father. It is a hope which we have through the merits of the Redeemer, and which we are permitted to cherish before God; that is, in his very presence. When we think of God; when we reflect that we must soon stand before him, we are permitted to cherish this hope. It is a hope which will be found to be genuine even in the presence of a holy and heart-searching God. This does not mean that it had been merely professed before God, but that it was a hope which they might dare to entertain in the presence of God, and which would bear the scrutiny of his eye.
In our Lord Jesus Christ. That is, your hope is founded only on him. The only hope that we have of heaven is through the Redeemer.
In the sight of God and our Father. Before God, even our Father. It is a hope which we have through the merits of the Redeemer, and which we are permitted to cherish before God; that is, in his very presence. When we think of God; when we reflect that we must soon stand before him, we are permitted to cherish this hope. It is a hope which will be found to be genuine even in the presence of a holy and heart-searching God. This does not mean that it had been merely professed before God, but that it was a hope which they might dare to entertain in the presence of God, and which would bear the scrutiny of his eye.
We are exhorted to hope. Faith, hope, charity (or love). If there was only predetermined behaviour in which we have no choice, what hope is there? Repent and be baptized, or, robotic programming. Without God, there is nothing; without free will there is only robot slaves.
Notice: no bit. If they are willing, a bit isn't needed. I don't think God wants us with bits in our mouths...and spurs on His heels! And this is the horse who spent the summer of 2008 on a ranch in Colorado, and arrived here with holes in his sides where the spurs had cut his flesh to raw meat!
Friends, not servants. And God wants sons, not friends...
Notice: no bit. If they are willing, a bit isn't needed. I don't think God wants us with bits in our mouths...and spurs on His heels!
I agree with you. The Gospels agree with you. The Calvinists depend mostly upon a strange brew of OT and snippets of unrelated Paul. The Gospel proofs of the WCF are few and mostly relegated to unrelated secondary commentaries. If we were predestined to salvation or to hell, the Bible would be unnecessary. Jesus would be unnecessary. The only thing required would be the Holy Spirit leopard dropping down on unsuspecting individuals and making robot slaves of them.
Therefore the Gospel of Matthew, all by itself, not to mention major portions of the other three, puts the theory of predestination to hell to be wrong. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus wants us willingly to participate in our salvation that is offered by Him. The whole bit about Judgement is on our deeds. As you have done to the least of my brothers...
Romans 10:8-10 (New King James Version)
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”(that is, the word of faith which we preach):
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Probably? Lol. "Probably" from someone who believes in Sola Scriptura?
More likely the words mean what they say. Faith is a work. And works do not save us. Grace saves us. Grace freely given by God to whom He will.
God offered, and I accepted his salvation.
Why did you accept when you neighbor refused?
lol. The "Gospel proofs" in the WCF are all from Scripture, Mark, not from "secondary commentaries," whatever that is.
The whole bit about Judgement is on our deeds
Rome was wrong on that one centuries ago, and it is still wrong (and there's no "e" in the judgment "bit."
"For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth" -- Romans 9:11
Does God give all men a heart of flesh and new ears and new eyes and a renewed mind with which to believe and repent?
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" -- 2 Timothy 1:7-9"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Yup, that's about it. :)
Speaking of married people (and I know this is off the thread topic), I often hear and read how men publicly praise their wives by saying something to the effect that their wives are much smarter than they are.
I don't see that as a compliment. If their wives are so smart, why did they marry someone much dumber than they are?! What does that really say about them?
You've answered your own question.
Hmmm, if that's all it takes, then I suppsoe LDS, JW, even Gnostics are included.
Why must God intervene? I though his plan is perfect. Everything happens as he wills. Yet, his will is obviously not enough.
If he could create heaven and earth or bring on the Flood with just a word, why did he have to use his hands to make man? If he could harden the Pharaoh's heart with just his will, why did he have to part the sea? I guess it has to do with the days of the week or some silly thing like that... :)
How did God do that? E-mail? Phone call? Trance? Just curious.
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