Is There A Purgatory?

http://www.ovrlnd.com ^ | Unknown | Thomas F. Heinze

[tired&retired]

“Suffering CANNOT rid the soul of sin.”

While I agree with you, suffering can force us to be willing to let go of the sin we are clenching. This is why Jesus asked people if they “Wanted to be healed.”

If it were not for suffering or the discomfort, we would not make the choice to let go of it. Suffering also teaches compassion, a necessary stepping stone toward forgiveness.

When a person can’t forgive someone, I break the process into three steps. First gain “understanding” of the other person. Secondly, with that understanding have “compassion.” And finally, with that compassion, “forgive” that person, (or yourself!) Self judgment, guilt or anger turned inward is one of the greatest obstacles to accepting God’s unconditional Love.

[Elsie]

L is next year.

Two more decades will pass before LXX: when the Colts will beat the EVIL Patriots one - more - time.

[Elsie]

You did...

[tired&retired]

If the Bible is a set of instructions on how to live our lives, then maybe we should read and reread those instructions to learn how to assemble it correctly.

If we followed those instructions and we still did not get the results, then maybe we should look for errors in the instructions. The best solution is not for us to rewrite those instructions as we see fit, but to turn to the author and ask their originator directly for instruction in prayer and meditation.

[Elsie]

Getting to heaven is not easy!

It sounds so authentic it MUST be true!!

---

Matthew 11:30
"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

[Elsie]

But he included it and once again you don’t make the rule by the exception.

You might be right; As I've seen many rules made by visitations and apparitions.

[Elsie]

Purgatory is like a grape press; it squeezes every single droplet of sin away from our souls, and then, then, as Christ sees fit, one is allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Sigh...

---

It's said with such fervor; it MUST be true!!!

[Elsie]

Purgatory is like a grape press; it squeezes every single droplet of sin away from our souls, and then, then, as Christ sees fit, one is allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Avoid purgatory by staying alive until the Lord's return!!!

---

1 Thessalonians 4:17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzFFRAh7Y-U

[Elsie]

Yep, our Heavenly passports are up to date, our visas current, and our reservations are made.

---

Exodus 32:32-33
 But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”  But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.

 

Daniel 12:1
 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.

 

 

 

Philippians 4:3
 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

 

Revelation 3:5
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

 

Revelation 13:8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

 

 

 

Revelation 17:8
 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

 

 

 

Revelation 20:11-15
"Then I saw a great White Throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and THE BOOKS WERE OPENED. Another book was opened WHICH IS THE BOOK OF LIFE. The dead were judged according to their works as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to their works.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

 

Revelation 21:27

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

[tired&retired]

Thank you for making the important words bold.

“everyone who beholds the Son “and” believes in Him”

Beholds: to see, observe or view

AND

Believes

“Belief alone is not sufficient.”

[Elsie]

Believers?????????after 1,600 years someone decides to change the Bible and you would call them BELIEVERS.......sheesh

CATHOLICS?????????after X number of years someone decides to create VATICAN II and you would call them CATHOLICS.......sheesh

[Elsie]

Christ was indeed a man and He started the Catholic church...Luther started one, Zwingley started one, Wesley started one, Calvin started one.....I just choose to follow the one that Christ founded.

I know of 7 famous congregations that John finally wrote about.

Which of these do YOU fit into?

[ShadowAce]

“Belief alone is not sufficient.”

James 2:14-19

[verga]

All three men you named accepted the “Real Presence”, based on that is this something you will now accept?

[Elsie]

Isn't that where you dance under a stick???

Something like Catholic Schools?

[Elsie]

Catholicism is not a denomination, it is Christianity...denominations were invented so the various protesters could differentiate themselves from one another....

---

As I was walking across a bridge one day; I saw a man standing outside the railing, about to jump off.

 

So I ran over and said, "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.

 

I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

He said, "Like what?"

 

I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?"

He said, "Religious."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

He said, "Christian."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

He said, "Protestant."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

He said, "Baptist!"

 

I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of GOD or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

He said, "Baptist Church of GOD!"

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of GOD, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of GOD?"

He said,"Reformed Baptist Church of GOD!"

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1915?"

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1915!"

 

I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.

-- Emo Phillips

[Elsie]

No?

How do you explain reply#268?

[Elsie]

Holy Communion is the shortest and the safest way to Heaven.

My head would explode if I were ever FORCED to sit through catechism classes!

John 14:6 -
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

[Elsie]

Those two commandments together are the secret to entering Heaven.

I kinda like John 3:18

[Elsie]

Believing alone is not sufficient, but it is the necessary first step.

Acts 15

The Council at Jerusalem

 ¹ Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. ³ The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. ⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

 ⁵ Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

 ⁶ The apostles and elders met to consider this question. ⁷ After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. ⁸ God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. ⁹ He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? ¹¹ No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

 ¹² The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. ¹³ When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon^[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

 ¹⁶ “‘After this I will return
   and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
   and I will restore it,
¹⁷ that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
   even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’^[b]—
 ¹⁸ things known from long ago.^[c]

 ¹⁹ “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. ²¹ For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

 ²² Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. ²³ With them they sent the following letter:

   The apostles and elders, your brothers,

   To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

   Greetings.

 ²⁴ We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. ²⁵ So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— ²⁶ men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. ²⁸ It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: ²⁹ You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

   Farewell.

 ³⁰ So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. ³¹ The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. ³² Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. ³³ After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. ^{[34] [d] 35} But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

 ³⁶ Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, ³⁸ but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. ³⁹ They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, ⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.