Bex

Again and again scripture shows us that works are a testament and evidence of our salvation. We are called to LIVE and BEHAVE as Jesus told us to live and behave. To be an example to others. Where then is the evidence that we belong to Christ if we are living a life of sin? Of course we are all sinners - we are faulty! We can fall into sin. The difference is, we repent, we ask forgiveness, get back up and with the grace of God, we continue on our journey. We are called to give up our sinful lives and follow Jesus. We are called to walk away from sin and follow after Christ. To leave our old ways. That does not mean we won't fall INTO sin, or slip up, or that we do not have faults, but we GET BACK UP and continue our walk. It is with God's grace that we are able to overcome the sins in our lives. Peristance and cooperation with God's grace on our part, which makes holiness possible for even the worst sinner. Prayer is essential! We cannot do this by our own strength, but we can in Christ. Even if one wants to disregard what I've said here - let's simply read what God's word has to say. Here is just a few examples:

Oh come on Ron, give it a few million years!

That's just absolutely beautiful! What a wonderful God

Yep, I believe this and the earthquakes (the intensity and regularity) is very very probably the birth pangs Jesus spoke about. I have also noticed a sense of time speeding up. I first noticed this around 1998 - 1999. I am far from the only one as many people from very different age groups (young/old/middle aged) have spoken about it. There was even a webpage up about it at one stage. People say it's "age", yet I have to wonder why they say this? I was very young (25) when I first noticed it. Plus, nobody ever spoke about time speeding up when I was a child (neither middle aged or old people). I asked my parents have they ever noticed it before? They said "no, not until now", nor had their parents or anybody else back in the day. Time always went much the same. You might get a day that seemed to go quicker, or an hour, but never the weeks/months/years, as they seem to now and so many people commenting about it. If it was to do with the aging process, then why did all of us feel the same way around the same year? Even though we all differ in age? Technology? Well, my life hadn't changed at all. Still using the same old stuff and doing much the same thing in life. The only aspect that felt different was the pace of time. My lifestyle has not really altered. I can personally pinpoint noticing this sense of racing time in the late nineties. Some are only just noticing it in recent years. Funnily enough, both my brother and my cousin admitted they noticed it in the same year as I did, as did my parents. People mention how the things they used to accomplish in the same amount of time, they can no longer fit them in (even young people). Yet they'll get up the sametime and have the same routine set down, but can't get the same things done. I find it inexplicable!

Interesting? I'm sorry, but to me it's non sensical. I think Gilbo pretty much echoed what most people must be thinking. How can anybody exist in the future to create/seed a non existent past, if they themselves have arisen from that past in order to make it into the future and create....

No amount of evidence is enough for those opposed to creation because its not about whether it's correct or not' it's about what you believe to be true despite evidence to the contrary. And that is the definiton of faith. Yep Ron, that fits quite nicely when its tweaked a little, it sure does work both ways. I'd like to add the evidence presented for evolution is the same for creation. The difference is the interpretation and the interpretation of evolution has not yet been backed up sufficiently, or even NEARLY sufficiently, given what we do find when we actually look at the fossils. Surprising statis showing little to no change, despite the millions of years they've had put upon them. The fossils (the ones that are complete), show full formation, rather than anything on its way to becoming someting or in a clear state of transition in the stages we would expect (ie. dinosaur to bird). Just because an animal becomes extinct and we've not had the opportunity to observe it in our time or history, does not automatically make it an early transitional form of something else. There are plenty of fossils dated millions of years old that show time and time again that the same animals existing today have barely (if at all) undergone any significant or even minimal changes, despite the length of time. It is not enough to use nebulous examples of fossils, put them together and claim one evolved into the other. We need CLEAR unmistakable examples (ie limb to wing, scale to feather etc) to show that such a feat had indeed taken place, as this is a dramatic claim and something we have not observed, nor tested to show that it is even possible.

Exactly! In fact, surely one of the greatest offenses to our Lord is when we think our sins are greater than His mercy.

No I dont' believe that his sins, as horrific as they are, are unforgiveable - unless he refuses to repent sincerely and rejects the mercy of God. Jesus died for ALL sinners, even the worst of them. When we reject that grace/salvation offered to us by denying Christ, denying salvation, we automatically incur the sheer justice of God, because that is exactly what we deserve when we face Him without the saving blood of Jesus Christ. ALL come short of the glory of God. It is only thanks to Jesus Christ that we have hope of eternal life, rather than the punishment our sins really deserve.

You're welcome Ophilolite, Well, I have had a few opposing parties challenge me to actually find specific words in scripture (that did not exist back then). I kid you not! So you'll have to forgive me for assuming you might do the same. The bible is clear on the humanity of the unborn child (even at conception) and is clearly against murder (abortion is murder - it takes the life of the child in order to terminate the pregnancy). So, I can't imagine what you might feel is missing or inadequate....but I appreciate you acknowledging the time I've taken. Thank you!

If you're looking for the word abortion, you won't find it, as you won't find a number of other words that were not used until much later. But we know from scripture that the unborn child is acknowledged and valued as a baby/child. We know from scripture that murder is wrong - specifically the innocent. So it is clear that abortion (the killing of an unborn child) is wrong. First, we find in scripture that the unborn child is acknowledged as human, and valued. Psalm 13913 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Ps 139:16 "Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Job 31:15 Did not He who made me in the womb make them [Job's servants]?Did not the Same One for us both within our mothers? Luke 141 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:44 -- 44 For behold as soon as the voice of your salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Psalms 127:3 -- 3 behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb. (Jeremiah 1:5)“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee..†Isaiah 49:1 -- 1 Give ear, you islands, and hearken, you people from afar. The Lord has called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he has been mindful of my name. Jeremiah 1:4-5 -- 4 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 5 Before I formed you in the bowels of your mother, I knew you: and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you, and made you a prophet unto the nations. (Ps.22:11-12). “You have been my guide since I was first formed . . . from my mother’s womb you are my God†Next, we are warned against the murder of others: (Ex.20:13, Deut. 5:17) “Thou shalt not kill,†[Proverbs 6:16-19]"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers." Matthew 19:18 -- 18 He said to him: Which? And Jesus said: You shall do no murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; Ex. 20.13 · Deut. 5.17 and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: (2 Kg. 17: 17-18). “They mutilated their sons and daughters by fire . . . till the Lord, in his great anger against Israel, put them away out of his sight†(Ps. 106: 35, 37-38) “They mingled with the nations and learned their works . . . They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and they shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, desecrating the land with bloodshedâ€ÂÂ

Forums/websites like this help to expose and challenge a theory being taught in the science classrooms around the world to many youths as though it is a fact. It allows for challenges/exposures and debate and may at least be one area where both sides are allowed to be discussed/debated, rather than an uneven playing field where there is "evolution only". If it is indeed scientific and a fact, rather than faith, then the believers/supporters/teachers should be able to come up the evidence, which would and should easily silence all arguments to the contrary. Yet what we do find is, it always leaves more questions than answers....

Fred, if God has limits in being present anywhere/everywhere at the sametime, that why would He tell us this in the quote below? Matthew 18.20 God is present, right in the midst of Christians who are gathered in His name, anywhere, anytime, any place. And we know this because He told us so! So even if there were many Christians around the world in different places around the sametime gathering in His name, He can be with all those people at once, despite being in different places all around the world, because He is God. He is not bound by space, place, or time. He can indeed be in many places at once if He so wishes. - Luke 18:27...

I take that to mean that their hearts were always far from Him.

Hey Spectre, I am so sorry to hear of this . You can be sure of prayers for you and you can be sure that God is in control, regardless of the outcome. But I know what I'll be praying for! Keep praying and hold on tight to His hand, He's with you every step of the way in this, that you can be sure of. Take care and God bless

I believe that God Himself exists inside AND outside of time, for He "IS". The "I AM". For He is existing in an eternal state and cannot be bound or limited by time, because He is uncreated and has neither beginning nor end. We exist inside of time, because our lives can be measured from a beginning. I cannot see it any other way because any other way would mean that God exists moment by moment from a beginning point, and is therefore not existing in an eternal state. One would have to ask how much time elapsed before God started to make the world? Which would then mean there was time, it was measurable and God had a beginning Himself. This makes no sense to me. I believe that God exists in eternity, but has created a beginning and therefore an end, which is measured in time. I believe that time will give way to eternity when we pass from this life to the next.