So i am starting reading the bible, and i am starting in Acts.

Im having a little trouble understanding things.I understand thats its mainly about being a student and following the word of god.If you guys could maybe help me understand it a little more that would be very very helpful.


please post back thanks..

Amen.

Seeking Him,
Hello,
My preference would be the book of John. The first verse reads, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. verse 2. He was with God in the beginning. Going to verse 14 we read, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Verse 17 tells us who this is.

God bless,
bluelake

Thank you my friends. I feel that you truley are dedicated to educating me in the ways of Christ and for this thank you. (Maybe we should rename this post 'educating the tundra') I will go back and read all of these posts in a lot more time and analyse them more. But to ask for clarification on a point. It is lent now and i have stopped fasting myself. Is this good or bad or uneccsary. This may sound weird but by not fasting in front of G when i believe i should, i feel that i have commited a heinous crime because i made such a big thing of fasting for christ in my head and now i've broken it. Any more comments.
(And seriously thank you for all of this, through you guys, my Bible and some christian courses im going on i will become a better worshipper)

Maybe this will help also.
The Ten Commanments

First Commandment (Exodus 20:2): I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Second Commandment (Exodus 20:3-6): You shall have no other gods beside Me. You shall not make for yourself any graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord Your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.


Third Commandment (Exodus 20:7): You shall not take the name of the Lord Your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.

Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11): Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the Lord Your God, in it you shall not do any manner of work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your man-servant, nor your maid-servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:12): Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord God gives you.

Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13): You shall not murder.

Seventh Commandment (Exodus 20:13): You shall not commit adultery.

Eighth Commandment (Exodus 20:13): You shall not steal.

Ninth Commandment (Exodus 20:13): You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:14):You shall not covet your neighbor's house, nor his wife, his man-servant, his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

God bless you,
bluelake

now look at what we did we hijacked another thread.

Was he brought up to love the Lord when he was young?
 How old is he now? Ask him. Pray for him.
God bless you and your son,
I'll pray for him too.

bluelake

I heard this story on the radio today, but the only news article I could find is kinda pathetic. Hopefully I'll be able to find something that has more detail, but for now; http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/14/national/main1398309.shtml

It is about the mother of Zacarias Moussaoui (guy currently being charged with the WTC bombing). She asked for a meeting with some of the 9/11 victim's families so she could meet them...
 

I just read this today . I thought you might enjoy it too,

Subject: THE BEST POEM IN THE WORLD!




I was shocked, confused, bewildered
      as I entered Heaven's door,
      Not by the beauty of it all,
      nor the lights or its decor.
   
   
But it was the folks in Heaven
     who made me sputter and gasp--
     the thieves, the liars, the sinners,
     the alcoholics, the trash
   
   
There stood the kid from seventh grade
     who swiped my lunch money twice.
     Next to him was my old neighbor
     who never said anything nice.
   
   
Herb, who I always thought
      was rotting away in hell,
      was  sitting pretty on cloud nine,
      looking incredibly well.
   
   
I nudged Jesus, "What's the deal?
      I would love to hear Your take.
      How'd all these sinners get up here?
      God must've made a mistake.
   
   
"And why's everyone so quiet,
      so somber? Give me a clue."
      "Hush, child," said He, "they're all in shock.
      No one thought they'd be seeing you."
   
   
Judge NOT.

 
bluelake


 

I was reading on another forum that oneness teach that tithing is required for salvation.
I believe that a person should support their church, but I have not been taught tithing is required to be saved. What are your thoughts?

bluelake

[an interpretation]

Bluelake:

The 10 Commandments and the Lord's Prayer (or more precisely the Disciples' Prayer) are Scripture -- the Word of God and the words of God. No one can reject them without rejecting Scripture.

The Apostle's Creed -- for all it's merits -- is an interpretation of the Word of God, and subject to further intepretation based upon the church tradition to which one might belong.  For example "the communion of saints" and "the holy catholic church" will not be interpreted by Roman Catholics as they will be by evangelicals.

So the Apsotle's Creed must be kept in perspective. A Creed or A Statement of Faith is not Scripture, although it may be based on Scripture. Sometimes, there may be errrors in Creeds, Catechisms, and Statements of Faith. A careful study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) will prove this.

Let's take one example from the Apostle's Creed (which was not formulated by the apostles of Christ). We read "I believe in God the Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth". While this is true in itself, Scripture teaches that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all equally involved in creation. Gen. 1:2 speaks of the Holy Spirit and Jn. 1:1-3 speaks of the Son.

So it would be more accurate to say "I believe in the triune Godhead -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- Maker of Heaven and earth".

Thanks for your reply.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equal in power and attributes. There  is one God, remember.

God bless you,
bluelake

Perhaps this is the reason that I do not like the word Protestant in regards to myself. I do not belong to a denomination nor to any reformed churches. I belong to Jesus Christ, one body. I gave myself to Him and He is the only one that owns me.

As Christians we all belong to Jesus Christ.
Since the Reformation we all belong to a  reformed Church. The Church that we were reformed from was the Church of Rome.

God bless you,
bluelake

In accordance with these websites, complaining is a sin:

http://www.obeygod.com/sinofcomplaining.htm
http://www.growingchristians.org/dfgc/complain.htm

Now for a few questions:

1) Is complaining always a sin, regardless of what it is about? If not, when is it a sin?

2) What would be considered to be the Bibical definition of complaining?

For example, if I were to watch a movie, and I saw things in it that I thought were cheesy, would it be considered complaining if I said "That's stupid"? What if I were to say "They could have done a better job" or "How could they make a movie like that"? Is it considered complaining if I critiqued a movie and pointed out the things that annoyed me in it?

Another thing, when I found out my brother was smoking, I thought to myself "How could he do that?! He should have known better!" Would that be considered complaining? Is it wrong to complain about sin?

You have complaining mixed up with having your opinion. If you saw a movie and you didn't like it , that is your opinion. if your brother is smoking, giving your opinion of the bad things that happen from smoking is the truth. it's not complaining. btw, engourage him to quit. Tell him of the dangers of smoking. Pray for him.

God bless you,
bluelake.

Hello Bluelake,

How would you explain Cornelius in Acts 10 if one receives the Holy Spirit at their water baptism? Cornelius and those with him received the Holy Spirit before being baptized by water.

Act 10:44 “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45  And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46  For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47  Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?”

Some in the Church of Christ say this was an exception and salvation does not work like that today. Yet, when Peter spoke about this event in Acts 15, he stated that we all are save in this manner.

Act 15:7 “And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9  And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

Also, if those who hold to the idea that Cornelius and his household were saved differently than we are today then that means there is more than one gospel. The gospel that we are saved by has always been the same in every age. Hebrew 4 speak about the gospel preached to those under Moses wandering in the wilderness being the same gospel we are save by. Therefore baptism could not have been part of the gospel because those following Moses in the wilderness existed before believers baptism was instituted. Seeing we are saved under the same gospel that was given those wandering the wilderness with Moses then baptism cannot be part of the gospel even today.

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

God bless,
Pilgrim

Good question. 
This was Pentecost. The Jews were baptized by the Holy Spirit, then the Gentiles. Peter was surprised that the Gentiles had received the Holy Spirit just as they had, so he ordered them to be baptized as well.
Some Churches teach that baptism is a sacrament. Christ commaned baptism in Mt.28:19-29, Mk.16:15-16
Acts10:46-48
 Moses was under the Old Covenant. They circumsized the males. 
The thief on the cross wasn't baptized. 
We are saved by grace. Eph.2:8-9

God bless you,

bluelake

Bluelake, I dont know if I fully understand your question, but I have something to state, or pose as a further question.. if others dont agree. We know from 1st John that Jesus is the flesh of the word, but do we not also learn that Jesus is in fact our Creator, and also "the Lord" which is stated many times throughout the old testament. Take for example each of the prophets... I have been reading Jeremiah recently.
Jeremiah 1:7 "But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I should send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak."

 This is the way Jeremiah has his whole book written, (which if my memory serves me correct was written by a scribe of a different name.) He tells the scribe exactly what "the Lord" said to him, and the scribe writes it as if Jeremiah is speaking to the people of what has been told to him personally, as well as what has been told to him to tell the word. To me this relates well with Jesus being "the Lord" in the Old Testament, as he was always omnipotent, and only limited his glory when he walked as a man amongst men. Thus "the Lord" who gave prophecy to Jeremiah by visions or in the spirit, is the same Lord who saved us by his own blood, and who is the succouring of all saints during the times of temptation. He is not the Holy Spirit, which is separate and the same, but he is and will be the first spiritual being that also has flesh for all eternity. He is also not God Almighty, but is still perfectly one with God Almighty.

 Of course even if we are all in agreeance that Jesus was our Creator as well as our Saviour it isn't really necessary to preach this. We can say simply "God created man in his own image" and the Holy Spirit will take care of a finite souls interpretation of it. But for deeper studies of the prophets for the purpose of understanding they're divine gift of Gods justice, seeing the Lord speaking his own future to his chosen few is really quite amazing. This was the perfect Son of God, who limited himself by coming into the scene of time and sense, but who did not leave any of his perfection behind when he came into the body of a man, because he was perfectly subjected to the will of God in his love for his own creation.
 
 The tricky part would be that he refers to God the Father as being supreme, which is right, but it confuses most in regards to deciding how much he had limited himself of his own understanding. Some might say that when he knew the will of people around him (which is shown several times in the Gospels) that he was simply perfect himself and so could tell when people were lying, but one also might say that he heard all the thoughts of men but was wholly compassionate and didn't say half the things he knew because his love was to provide a sacrifice for men, and not to tell them all theyre different evil thoughts. This makes sense to me in regards to him being able to succour us in our temptations, because he couldn't ever really be tempted, and yet he did physically feel hungry when Satan told him to make stones into bread. So Jesus was wholly perfect, and that is something we have to accept in an overview way of seeing he is our Creator and Saviour, otherwise we will get caught up in the intricacies of a mind we cannot fathom.

 So indeed, Jesus is the word!!!!!

AMEN!
lightsavour out

What was the question? 
Yes, I believe Jesus is the Word and he was the Word in the beginning.

God bless you,
bluelake

Hey Sis! (I seem to recall that you're a sister not a brother, but I am often wrong about such things, so if you're a brother in Christ rather than a sister in Christ, please discreetly let me know by saying,"YO! MORON!!! I'M A GUY!!!   )  I agree with you on focusing on the scripture from which the Creed was taken.  Please, don't concern yourself too much with the point we're making.  I feel this way myself in many ways.  One particular that I'll share with you: In my former church we had a Church Constitution we signed in agreement to be a member there.  When I signed, I had no problems with the idea, and didn't really pay that much attention to it.  It had in there, that we would uphold the use of the KJV, wouldn't go to movies, and a mess of things like that.  I did uphold the KJV...but also the NIV, the ESV, the NASB and the NKJV versions of God's word.  I did go to movies.  The folks at our church began to uphold this constitution higher than God's word.  The thing said "No Movies" so movies were sin!  The thing said to uphold the KJV so all other versions were straight from the Devil's mouth!  I began to feel as though I were being bound by man made shackles of interpretation rather than living free in Him.  When perspective begins to weigh heavier than liberty, there's a problem.

There in began my problem.  In my estimation, the only document we need to be a local body is God's Word.  We agree on the basics, and grow in our knowledge of the peripherals, and "if a man knows to do right in his heart and doesn't do it, to him it is sin."  For one man, bowling may be a sin because of the influence the things around it had in his life prior to conversion.  For another, it may not be.  For all men, stealing is a sin.  We know the basics, we grow in the peripherals together.  It's when the peripherals take the place of the precepts (which they tend to do most of the time with man written creeds/constitutions and the like) that we begin to have problems.

We are simply stating that no creed can replace God's word.  Will I die for a Creed?  No.  Will I die for the scriptural truths that that Creed upholds?  Yes, but on the basis of God's word.  I stand on precept.  I learn from peripheral.

The Apostles Creed wasn't written to replace the Bible. The Creed was taken from the Bible as a profession of faith.
I appreciate your comments.
I get the impression that many view the Creed as a Catholic prayer. They do recite it as well as many other Churches do. I'm a member of LCMS. A conservative Lutheran branch.
btw, You don't have to die for a cause in the Bible. Jesus already did it for us. Jn.19:30 

Sister bluelake

Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.


There is a movement in America that has gotten a firm hold on us.  This movement has blurred the lines between what is right and what is wrong.  This movement says that good is evil and evil is good.  This movement is called political correctness.  It takes the evil desires of people and labels them under new and nice-sounding titles.  It takes child pornography and calls it art.  It says pre-marital sex is ok as long as it is "safe".  It says people can cuss and be lewd and bash Christianity, because of freedom of speech.

We live in a time when people refuse to take responsibility for their own actions.  We love to blame it on someone else. Well, I do this because my parents or what is worse they say, there is nothing wrong with this.  People have hardened their hearts in the name of freedom, true freedom doesn't come from following sin.  Sin traps us and makes us victims of it. 

As Christians, it's more important than ever for us to know what is right and know what is wrong.  We like to accept Jesus as our saviour, but we dont like the whoel part of our salvation.  We need to dig into Gods word and find out how He wants us to live, so we can be examples to others.  This world is hurting more than ever.  Political correctness has given people a good sounding reason to be what sinful desires want them to be, but political correctness doesnt offer the freedom that it promised.  It has only trapped us more.

It's wrong to be gay, it's wrong to cheat on your spouse, it's wrong to divorce, it's wrong to cuss, it's wrong to worship other gods, such as Allah and Buddha.  It's wrong to blend in with the world's way of doing things.  Subconsciously, people know this and that's why they are trapped because they don't know the truth.  The truth is that it's wrong, but the bigger truth is that God loves the people who are doing this and wants them to come to Him.  He molded each one of us together in His own hands, making us in His image.  God loves the doctors who perform abortions, He loves the people who get abortions.  He loves everyone, no matter what sins they are committing.  God offers these people freedom, but they have to know the truth.  They have to know.  We have to tell them.  We have the right to proclaim the truth of the gospel, after all, we do have Freedom of speech, Satan's using it, we should too.

Thank you  Pastor Roger,
The sad part of this, is it is creeping into our churches. Nothing is a sin anymore.

God bless,
bluelake

PR, BEP's do either one of you know the answer to my question 
I need to know by tomorrow 

I may be a little late with this. I own a Thompson Chain Bible. It's one of my favorites. It lists many promises under different catagories. Well over a 100. Did you ask the net?

God bless,
bluelake

God compensated for our sins that we committed against Him by sacrificing His own life.  In other words, the victim compensated for the sins of His offenders.  This is a very important fact, because, this is true forgiveness. If we have to accept His forgiveness, we must believe in it by doing like wise.  In other words, we must not only write-off what our offenders owe us, but also put our lives on the line in the process of helping them to recover from their sinful ways.  If we do not forgive others in this manner, we will not receive forgiveness (Matt 18:21-34).

This is a loaded question. First we must ask the Lords help. It also depends what action you are trying to forgive. It's easy for example to forgive someone who has lied to you. It's another thing to forgive someone who has harmed your child or you. That takes time. The person who is asking forgiveness, must seek God's forgiveness too. Forgiveness can be a complex problem. Prayer is always the first step.

God bless you,
bluelake

Last Sat. I was stunned to read an article written in our local newspaper. 
 Gloria Dei Lutheran church is inviting gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders with full participation in their confessions. This includes Holy Communion. This church is the ELCA. They have been leaning toward this for some years. They will hold a 'Love Rally' with Peace United Church of Christ located in Duluth, MN.

http://duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthtribune/news/local/13791357.htm

I'm not sure if this link is still there.
Is this going on in your area? Perhaps pastor Rogers can give us some advice concerning this hot issue. Lets pray.
 Sinners, of course go to church, sinners are called to repent. homosexuals are given a pass in this church.

God bless you,
bluelake