Sunday, May 22, 2011

SUNDAY on MONDAY: MISS CHARITY'S DINER "MISS CHARITY'S DINER" (05/22/11)

 

 

SUNDAY on MONDAY: Mark Balmer "Lessons For Living" (05/22/11)

 

Yes! Jesus is Coming!  

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Is it Biblical: What does the Bible say about suicide?" -Blogos

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"IS IT BIBLICAL"

What is the Christian view of suicide? What does the Bible say about suicide?



 

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  Christian suicide, Bible suicide 

Question: "What is the Christian view of suicide? What does the Bible say about suicide?"

Answer: 
The Bible mentions six specific people who committed suicide: Abimelech (Judges 9:54), Saul (1 Samuel 31:4), Saul's armor-bearer (1 Samuel 31:4-6), Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:23), Zimri (1 Kings 16:18), and Judas (Matthew 27:5). Five of them were wicked, sinful men (not enough is said regarding Saul's armor-bearer to make a judgment as to his character). Some consider Samson an instance of suicide (Judges 16:26-31), but Samson's goal was to kill the Philistines, not himself. The Bible views suicide as equal to murder, which is what it is—self-murder. God is the only one who is to decide when and how a person should die.


According to the Bible, suicide is not what determines whether a person gains entrance into heaven. If an unsaved person commits suicide, he has done nothing but “expedite” his journey to hell. However, that person who committed suicide will ultimately be in hell for rejecting salvation through Christ, not because he committed suicide. What does the Bible say about a Christian who commits suicide? The Bible teaches that from the moment we truly believe in Christ, we are guaranteed eternal life (John 3:16). According to the Bible, Christians can know beyond any doubt that they possess eternal life (1 John 5:13). Nothing can separate a Christian from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39). If no “created thing” can separate a Christian from God’s love, and even a Christian who commits suicide is a “created thing,” then not even suicide can separate a Christian from God’s love. Jesus died for all of our sins, and if a true Christian, in a time of spiritual attack and weakness, commits suicide, that would still be a sin covered by the blood of Christ.

Suicide is still a serious sin against God. According to the Bible, suicide is murder; it is always wrong. Serious doubts should be raised about the genuineness of faith of anyone who claimed to be a Christian yet committed suicide. There is no circumstance that can justify someone, especially a Christian, taking his/her own life. Christians are called to live their lives for God, and the decision on when to die is God’s and God’s alone. Although it is not describing suicide, 1 Corinthians 3:15 is probably a good description of what happens to a Christian who commits suicide: “He himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”

Is it Scriptural: What does the Bible say about astrology or the Zodiac? -Got Q



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"IS IT SCRIPTURAL"

What does the Bible say about astrology or the Zodiac? Is astrology something a Christian should study?



 

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Bible astrology, Zodiac Christian 

Question: "What does the Bible say about astrology or the Zodiac? Is astrology something a Christian should study?"

Answer: 
The Bible has much to say about the stars. Most basic to our understanding of the stars is that God created them. They show His power and majesty. The heavens are God’s “handiwork” (Psalm 8:319:1). He has all the stars numbered and named (Psalm 147:4).


The Bible also teaches that God arranged the stars into recognizable groups that we call constellations. The Bible mentions three of these: Orion, the Bear (Ursa Major), and “the crooked serpent” (most likely Draco) in Job 9:926:1338:31-32; and Amos 5:8. The same passages also reference the star group Pleiades (the Seven Stars). God is the One Who “fastens the bands” of these constellations; He is the One who brings them forth, “each in its season.” In Job 38:32, God also points to the “Mazzaroth,” usually translated “constellations.” This is thought by many to be a reference to the twelve constellations of the zodiac.

The constellations have been tracked and studied for millennia. The Egyptians and Greeks knew of the zodiac and used it to measure the beginning of spring centuries before Christ. Much has been written of the meaning of the zodiacal constellations, including theories that they comprise an ancient display of God’s redemptive plan. For example, the constellation Leo can be seen as a celestial depiction of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5), and Virgo could be a reminder of the virgin who bore Christ. However, the Bible does not indicate any “hidden meaning” for these or other constellations.

The Bible says that stars, along with the sun and moon, were given for “signs” and “seasons” (Genesis 1:14); that is, they were meant to mark time for us. They are also “signs” in the sense of navigational “indicators,” and all through history men have used the stars to chart their courses around the globe.

God used the stars as an illustration of His promise to give Abraham an innumerable seed (Genesis 15:5). Thus, every time Abraham looked up at the night sky, he had a reminder of God’s faithfulness and goodness. The final judgment of the earth will be accompanied by astronomical events relating to the stars (Isaiah 13:9-10Joel 3:15Matthew 26:29).

Astrology is the “interpretation” of an assumed influence the stars (and planets) exert on human destiny. This is a false belief. The royal astrologers of the Babylonian court were put to shame by God’s prophet Daniel (Daniel 1:20) and were powerless to interpret the king’s dream (Daniel 2:27). God specifies astrologers as among those who will be burned as stubble in God’s judgment (Isaiah 47:13-14). Astrology as a form of divination is expressly forbidden in Scripture (Deuteronomy 18:10-14). God forbade the children of Israel to worship or serve the “host of heaven” (Deuteronomy 4:19). Several times in their history, however, Israel fell into that very sin (2 Kings 17:16 is one example). Their worship of the stars brought God’s judgment each time.

The stars should awaken wonder at God’s power, wisdom, and infinitude. We should use the stars to keep track of time and place and to remind us of God’s faithful, covenant-keeping nature. All the while, we acknowledge the Creator of the heavens. Our wisdom comes from God, not the stars (James 1:5). The Word of God, the Bible, is our guide through life (Psalm 119:105).


 

 

Prophecy Opinion Today: "Ezekiel's Army'"- Bill Salus

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Is Ezekiel's Army About to Face off with the Arabs?

Bill Salus

By Bill Salus 
ProphecyDepot.com 



Approximately 2,500 years ago the prophet Ezekiel envisioned a future valley filled with dry bones. His account is described in Ezekiel 37:1-13. It appears the dry bones represent the Jews in a holocaust condition dispersed throughout the nations of the world. This conclusion can be safely suggested because Ezekiel 37:11-12 says,

Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
These passages clearly evidence that these bones represent the “whole house of Israel.” Furthermore, it pictures the Jews in a desperate condition. Their “hope is lost”, and they “are cut off.” Lastly, they are being restored “into the land of Israel,” meaning they were outside of the land of Israel during the vision.

Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Dr. David Reagan, and many other dispensational teachers conclude that Ezekiel’s dry bones vision pictures the Jews during the Diaspora, and that Hitler’s holocaust caused their condition of hopelessness. Thus, Ezekiel sums up the metric of time that the Jews would be without a homeland, not in years, decades, or centuries, but in their helpless concluding condition.

History testifies to the accuracy of Ezekiel’s prediction because shortly after the holocaust the reestablishment of the nation Israel officially occurred on May 14, 1948. It is important to note that Ezekiel prophesied that the Jewish people would arise from their hopeless condition as refugees and emerge into an “exceedingly great army.”
So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. (Ezekiel 37:10, NKJV).
The ongoing Arab–Israeli conflict has forced Israel to form a great army. The Israeli Defense Forces (I.D.F.) has had to become the superior military in the Middle East as a matter of national survival.

In my book, Isralestine, The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East, I devote an entire chapter to the existence of today’s I.D.F. in fulfillment of bible prophecy. In addition to Ezekiel 37:10, prophecies written in Obadiah 1:18,Ezekiel 25:14Zechariah 12:6, and elsewhere also seem to identify today’s I.D.F.

Based upon the above premises, the remainder of this article discusses the debate among scholars as to whether or not Ezekiel 37:10 describes an exceedingly great army or not. Some bible teachers, like Joel Rosenberg and me, believe Ezekiel describes an army, whereas other’s like Dr. Thomas Ice and Ray Gano believe Ezekiel is predicting a great multitude or host will emerge out of the dry bones.

Point 1 - The Hebrew word Ezekiel uses in verse 10 for army is, "chayil" and it is used 12 times elsewhere by Ezekiel and over 225 times throughout the Old Testament. All of Ezekiel’s usages and many Old Testament renderings clearly depict it as either an army, or riches acquired via the spoils obtained by an army, in the aftermath of a war. Nowhere else in the book of Ezekiel can it possibly be translated as a multitude or host. This establishes precedent that an army rather than a multitude is being described by Ezekiel.

Ezekiel’s 12 specific usages of the word “chayil” are as follows:
  • Ezek. 17:17 – describing Pharaoh’s army,
  • Ezek. 26:12 – depicting the Babylonian army taking “riches” or spoil from victory over Tyre,
  • Ezek. 27:10-11 – alluding to the armies of Tyre,
  • Ezek. 28:4-5 – picturing the riches acquired by the ruler of Tyre,
  • Ezek. 29:18-19 – describing Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army,
  • Ezek. 32:31 – alluding to Pharaoh’s army,
  • Ezek. 37:10 – describing Israel’s “exceedingly great army,”
  • Ezek. 38:415 – predicting the coming armies of Gog of Magog.
Point 2 - Further supporting the proper interpretation being an army, the following Bible translations interpret chayil to be an “army”: King James Version, New King James Version, American Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, and The Living Bible.

Conversely, the Revised Standard Version translates the word as “host”. The New Revised Standard Version calls it a “multitude”.

Conclusion - Obviously the above reasons overwhelmingly favor the interpretation of Ezekiel 37:10 as an army rather than a host or multitude.

Isralestine points out that the purpose of this army is to protect Israel from its surrounding enemies who someday confederate in a final attempt to destroy the Jewish State of Israel according to Psalm 83.

In light of the 2011 "Arab Spring," I believe the Psalm 83 Arab-Israeli war could occur soon, and that today's I.D.F. is fit for the challenge.

 

 

Prophecy Devotional: "Crying Out For Jesus To Return" -Joseph Chambers

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Crying Out For Jesus To Return

Friday, May 20th, 2011

Can you imagine looking up and seeing Angels by the millions lead by the Altogether Lovely One descending from above. The Bible teaches us to anticipate, even “Hasting” to the Day of the Lord. Christians are constantly encouraged to look with joy to the time of Christ’s return.

Peter stated,“Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. (II Peter 3:12-14) This is the kind of Truth the Christian Church of our day has no time to discover. If you love the world you cannot love the coming of the Day of God.

If you believe its alright to live in known sin or to sin everyday and repent every night over the same sins you cannot rejoice about Jesus coming.

 The Bible says plainly, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” ( I John 2:!5-17) 

You cannot under no circumstance, love the Coming of Jesus Christ and love this filthy world at the same time.

He’s coming for that person or those persons that are looking (LONGING, YEARNING, EVEN CRYING OUT) for Him to come.

Can you imagine looking up and seeing Angels by the millions lead by the Altogether Lovely One descending from above. At the same moment you will begin to rise, As the world recedes the city of Heavenly Jerusalem will appear in the distance.

Suddenly Jesus will appear to give you a personal welcome. It’s almost over!


 Yes! Jesus is Coming!