Hi, All!

These days, there is so much confusion over what the Bible actually teaches or what putting your trust in Jesus Christ really means. I thought to offer, therefore, to try if possible to answer any questions you might have. As times get tougher, it will be important to know the truth and make decisions based upon wisdom. I hope I can be of service to anyone having genuine questions...

Sincerely,

FIH

It troubles me greatly, and breaks my heart, to see so so many lost in a "religion" or "spiritualism" of their own choosing/creation. In the relative and feel-good culture we live in there seems to be so few who have any foundational truth in their lives, or even a desire to look for it. Even so called christians have created movements so far from the Gospel of the Bible.

Where is the hope without Jesus Christ? No other religion on the planet offers a personal one-on-one relationship with the one true God. The creator of everything there is, ever was, and ever will be. What other religion gives you the hope and the ability to know, that you know, that you know, your eternal salvation is secure. Not because of anything you have done, but only based on the complete work of Jesus on the cross.

The gospel:
Salvation is a gift of God through His grace, through Christ alone at the cross, by faith alone in His completed work and His promise of our eternal salvation, not by anything we can do or add to the above. Apart from Jesus we are hopeless sinners destined for judgment and damnation. Through faith in Jesus our sins are covered by His blood and we are destined for Heaven. The life we live, governed by the Holy Spirit within us, testifies to the great love that God so greatly lavished on us to turn our lives right-side up.

Now that’s hope! We don' t have to lay our head on the pillow at night a wonder if we have done enough, or if god is happy with our lives, or plan to martyr ourselves to get to heaven, or if we will be reincarnated into a better person, or if we are praying to the right god for the right purpose in the right way. We are secure and free from all these trappings to live the life Christ wants us to live - for His glory not ours.

Valid points to consider, my friend. My hope for this thread is that folks might have specific questions about what the Biblical gospel actually says or what it means. So far, however, the interest appears to be slow...

Jesus did say that the road to heaven is narrow and difficult and few find it. So it does not surprise me that the responses are slow to this post.

I have spent the past year reading scripture every day. Before, I thought I knew what it meant to be a christian. I was very wrong.

Scripture has opened my eyes tremendously and healed many broken places in my heart. It has given me a new respect and awe of the God we worship.

Many concepts I had before were false and I humbly realize the errors I made in the past and have asked forgiveness and am living the christian life, not just talking about it.

A huge part of faith, is obeying God's word. Something many christians are not doing. I think God is sending a warning to christians to turn back , ask forgiveness, and seek his face. He said if we seek his face, he will be there.

We need to read God's word and renew our minds to fit the will of God. We are children of God, not of the world. If you love the world and the things of the world more than your God, you are not with God and not walking in Gods will.

Purge the misconceptions of God, that the world has been feeding us. Then find out God's truth (read the bible every day) and renew your mind and then live it. We all need to stop being hypocrites before God. Put forth the effort yourself to learn about God.

The wonderful news is that God is a loving, merciful and compassionate God. No matter what we have done in the past, if you will just ask forgiveness and seek his will, he remembers the past mistakes no more. This is the great gift Jesus died to give us. All you have to do is accept it. It really is that easy.

You want to know how great our God is, do research on how big space is. And we have only scratched the surface. Wow, is he huge and glorious. He holds our galaxy in the palm of his hand. He's HUGE!!!!! And he knows each and every one of us on this planet, mere specks. But he cares about every one of them. Wow!!

If you seek his face, he has promised he will not leave or forsake you. I don't know about you, but I like the idea of having God on my side. Nothing is greater or more powerful than him. Nothing.

May God bless you and protect you.

Prospector, Amen and Amen. The Lord ALWAYS honors the prayers of one truly seeking Him during their time in His Word. We can never fully comprehend this side or eternity just how great and awesome our God is.
Romans 10:17
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."
Hebrews 1:3
"And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,"
Psalm 130:5
"I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His Word do I hope."

Only two things are eternal:
1. The souls of Men (and women)
Daniel 7:14
"And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him His dominion is an everlasting dominionWhich will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed."
2. The Word of God
Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

nine years later is a drop in the bucket in the lords timeline

not sure interest is slow versus trying to get a handle on the many different biblical interpretations that are continually being revised to better understand the "history" (John 1:1) of humankind. for me the history is crucial and this is why i believe most don't take the time to read any of the books. when you say "gospel (greek - for good news)" are you referring to all of the 81 known books, maybe more, or just the four in the NT? to know our lord is to understand our lord and to understand god one needs to understand the words. IMO religions are a joke and the main reason for all of our divisions in this world. so if you are interested in this type of back and forth that ties it all together - beginning, obedience, jealousy, love, faith & destruction, then you have my attention...

Why isn't WHOM used in the BIBLE?
I couldn't even find it in my Websters Dictionary from the late 70s.
Why such an emphasis in school about WHO and WHOM?
I'd love to hear input on this.

Our Father Whom Art in Heaven?
Our Father Who Art in Heaven?
Does it have to do with Art being a place or ART being an action or the result of creation.
I have been tripping out on this question and thought my good friends at Pinecam would have the answer
When I start asking questions at the local "biblical authority", I get myself in trouble - which is fun and all, but this isn't worth getting undies in a bunch

Walk Blessed!

Free in HIM, Anything BIBLE or from the tree of Christendom and beyond is my favorite.
I'd be happy to play!
I've been having fun meditating on certain words, like you know when you say a word repeatedly it starts to sound weird?

Ok, I'll take another turn:
GIVE - Give us this day our Daily Bread

This always sounded so weird and like, selfish to me - like, DUH of course he GIVES us the Daily Bread, and just saying GIVE US without saying please or expressing GRATITUDE anywhere in this prayer as we are supposed to come to him with Thanksgiving etc...
I was in the shower saying this line over and over until it sounded really weird, and I get to the word GIVE and I concluded that it wasn't a REQUEST from us to HIM, it is the ACTION that he performs as HIS part of the two-way radio to US.
GIVE - Flexibility, pliancy, vulnerable but strong enough to not break.
GIVE US - He can create this in us so that we may be stronger in HIM but not in a war-torn sorta way - there is no GIVE in that. Hardness of heart is the root cause of MOST problems we have in our lives on all levels.

The head of our local household disagrees, but I don't think there is no real right or wrong answer.
Meditating on the WORD (literal words) even if our interpretation is WRONG is GREAT because it's still building relationship.

"I don't care who's right or wrong, I don't try to understand. Let the Devil take tomorrow, Lord tonight I need a friend." K Kristoferson
I like Slim Cessna's version a LOT. Shop Local! Park County's finest in the Land!!!
https://youtu.be/Vorr7ni7sNM @ 27:27

There is much knowledge on all levels, but especially important today, it is a firm warning about letting your freedoms be systematically taken away.
MORE IMPORTANT IS how and why JESUS came on the scene and why HIS MESSAGE of LOVE ONE ANOTHER is the most important fundamental lesson we could learn for the betterment of ourselves and others. It's way cool, I trip out for days on end when given the opportunity to on this dusty ol book.
The visions of the Prophets are so CRAZY and insane sounding, but further study reveals our Creator's way of telling us EXACTLY how this little ol Rest Stop we call EARTH runs... like Clockwork.
If you like puzzles, codes and symbols - this'll keep you busy for a bit.
REMNANT OF THE LIGHT breaks down Ezekiel beautifully - she cross-references the Book of Enoch, and holy CATS, if it ain't the best explanation of this fine timepiece we live on/in then...well, I'll be a monkey's uncle
The lady who started this YT channel got swept up into it by studying CALENDARS - pretty cool!

I would suggest, it's because 2000 years ago there was no word in the Hebrew language that translates to "whom"
You should remember the bible was written by mortal men and women. They were limited by the language and vocabulary they knew.

here, I think maybe you're over thinking, most of the time things are exactly as they seem. How could you conclude give us our daily bread is not a request?

It's a prayer, nothing more nothing less, that begins by acknowledging God's almighty power, then asking for his kindness and benevolence, and to help us in our daily struggles.
Getting lost in looking for some mystic meaning in an individual word, will only distract from the intent of the sentence.

edited spelling,

In scripture we find many times that we are INVITED to know God and we are encouraged to meditate on the word, and in it, we are transformed and reborn.
Morning by morning new Mercies we see.
What better way to actively walk in the new Mercies and promises than to pray and meditate word for word if we feel pulled to do so?
There is no wrong way to dance, just that we show up and participate when we come to the party.
For me, it isn't over-thinking in the least bit.
"Over-thinking" just how this brain works and a favorite 'hobby' I would say - is there really such thing as "overthinking"?
Just as in a friendship, marriage or any other relationship, it is better when you dive in and learn new aspects of the relationship.
Magic IS real - Jesus was the one who told me so when He told the bleeding woman that it was merely by her belief that she was healed.
It's not mystical or complicated.
It's simple and we were shown the way.