acemona

The Question is ultimately - "how can you judget the heart of any sinner, homosexual or otherwise." How do you know that Elton John does not have a relationship with the Risen Savior? You can't know that, and yet you would say that he has not repented and is going to hell b/c he continues practicing homosexuality and outwardly. I envy every day, am I going to hell. My son a 9 year old is selfish every day - is he going to hell? Elton John is Gay - every day, of course he is going to hell (irony). GODS LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL "IN THAT WHILE YOU WERE YET A SINNER I LOVED YOU" Our love should be unconditional as well.

At what point will you turn your back on your children and send them to hell? That is what you are assigning to Jesus/God/Holy Spirit. That at some point Jesus will reject his teaching to Peter and quit forgiving. Was Jesus' instructions to Peter meant just for Peter and they did not apply to Jesus himself? You are allowed to do whatever you wish - the Bible even says it, "Everything is permissable, but not everything is beneficial." I think you show a better WAY by how you live, not by condemning the way someone else lives.

In your own words, JESUS DID IT. The holy spirit convicts not "man." It is not my job to convict anyone but to SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS Jesus accepted everybody btw. He did not say go get sinless and then come to me, he said come to me. You still have not told me what I edited in my message, what did I leave out? Do YOU convict people of their sin, or does JC/Holy Spirit. By convict I do not mean immediately send them to hell but to make them aware of what they are doing so that they can have a choice to repent. Where does JC tell us to go to the mountain tops and PREACH that Homosexuality is wrong? NOWHERE. JC exhorts us to take the GOOD NEWS OF GOD'S GRACE TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD. He expressly forbids us to judge others.

So then, If I believe that JC will act as the hound of heaven and will forgive infinitely, AS HE TOLD PETER to do, then I am editing God's message? Am I editing his message when I choose NOT to point out someone else's sin b/c JC tells me not to in him messages on judgment and casting the first stone. I might be like Paul and try to hold my christian brothers accountable - if they have asked, but according to the message I read, it is not my job to point out the sin of others. A loving rebuke is different than a condemning threat. Lets take the Celebrity Elton John for example. I don't know him from Adam so it would not be beneficial (spiritually) for me to tell him from a pulpit or anywhere that he is going to hell as a result of him homosexuality. I don't even see JC or Paul or Mark or John or anyone saying that in the Bible. If I had a relationship with him however, I could talk about the wonderfullness of JC and God and then let the HOLY SPIRIT convict - according the word I read, it is the HOLY SPIRIT that convicts not any person. Is all this editing, or is it simply how I read the scripture through JC and what the Holy Spirit has revealed it to me?

Yes they were, and he said that they were to be used to point someone to the Creator. They were not meant as a litmus test for a just life, and those that broke them were not meant to be condemned by the community. Ladies, Which is healthier: "Repent and follow Jesus or you will end up in Hell" or "Man, I have this awesome relationship with JC and he will accept you right where you are and love you warts and all" Salvation is NOT Fire Insurance it is a relationship and should NEVER be entered into out of fear.

Any christian denomination that does not talk more about the grace, mercy and love of JC than it does about condemning those who sin should be banned. How would you feel if my Christianity was the one that was being held up as the right way to live? I don't want the 10 Commandments posted in schools, I want the Beatitudes - 1. Blessed are the POOR 2. Blessed are those who mourn 3. Blessed are the MEEK 4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness 5. Blessed are the MERCIFUL 6. Blessed are the pure in heart 7. Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS 8. Bleseed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness I also want what JC called the Greatest Commandments posted in the schools: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments All children must also memorize Matthew 7: 1-6 before they are allowed to graduate. Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and the you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Everybody must forgive someone 7x70 before they sue or take action against them. Every 50th year (The year of Jubilee) all debts that are owed must be forgiven . Anyone earning over 150,000.00 a year must recite Matthew 19:16--30 Any taxpayer who complains about their money going to welfare recipients that do not deserve it must memorize and recite daily Matthew 25: 31-46

I didn't see where Elton John said to Ban Jesus or God, only organized religion. Is it not possible for him to love God, but not love the Southern Baptists. Heck, I struggle loving the Southern Baptists and I am baptist. Oh wait, he is Gay so he can't possibly love God, only straight people can love God.

i believe you are wrong on this. The Speaker of the House must come from the Body b/c that person is third in line for the presidency and must come from a populary elected group. But, I could be wrong as well.

Does that mean that a majority of South Dakotans support murder?

But for you, that stance is a litmus test for congressional candidates, and yet they have very little say . . .

Abortion is a big issue for many voters in election - however, when was the last time there was a vote in either house of congress on the issue. Most times it is now Ballot issues (one was defeated in Monatana - I think) and not true legislative issues. So why does it matter where one stands on the issue, unless you think there is going to be a Constitutional Ban - and we all KNOW that is not going to happen.

You apparently have never been to an 11th region tournament. Especially the one held at The Frankfort Convention Center last year. AWESOME. Best playing facility in the state.

My church just began an outreach emphasis. We started with a small group (10 or so) and worked to develop 10 startegies that we thought would attract people to our church (focusing on the unchurched). here are some of our ideas. 1. Church Promotions Team (we have a 15,000.00 budget for next year for advertising/promotion) 2. Consistent local mission work that involves many members of the church community. 3. Praise service early on Sundays 4. Revival 5. Sponosr local youth sports teams 6. Bible school off of church grounds - go where the kids are. These are the ones I can remember off of the top of my head.

Dong, dong, dong (Again, i will not point out any similarities but allow you to make the connections yourself) AMAZING

We pulled out before we beat the North Vietnamese into submission and while the South "fell," Vietnam is now one of the strongest market economies in SE Asia. I would submit then that the premise was wrong - McNamara has admitted as much. Also FWIW - Ho Chi Minh was western educated and not married to the Russian Economic System (it certainly was not communism btw), but b/c he did not bow at the Altar of the "Open Market" he was considered a threat. Pol Pot I would think was more of a threat and we, for the most part, left the Khmer Rouge alone - odd. dong dong dong (I will not point out the similarities to modern conflicts, you can discern them for yourself)

How does the Church change the mindset to have people not seek abortions? I hope that it is not by simply telling someone it is a sin and that they should not do it. Is it by creating an environment that reduces the # of unwanted pregnancies (sex ed., that includes abstinence and birth control) and eliminating the socio-economic conditions of the group that is most likely to have abortions (poor white women). You see, as a general rule here is what a poor white woman hears from the Christian right (not you necessarily, but what THEY hear) is that A) What a sinner you are for getting pregnant out of wedlock - B) You are only having babies to collect more Welfare -C) you cannot have an abortion because that is a sin, but we are not going to help you with the means to raise the child. D) You should really just carry the baby to term, fall in love with it, make it a part of your life, and then give it away. You know there will be no social repercussions from your immediate communty who will look down on you for giving a baby away. Why do wealthy white women have fewer abortions than poor white women - do they have less sex? I doubt it. I think you are wanting the government to take care of a sympton and not a root cause.

How could the CHURCH have solved the practice of institutional segregation. It could not have unless it made it illegal. Explain to me how the church CURES poverty. Not, how does it help (a very few) those who are poor, how does it get rid of poverty? How does the church provide health care to 10 Million uninsured children (I will use HHS #s, I think my 46 million was total population and not just children). The Church cannot solve those, so it should work through the government to cure them - just like you want it to with Abortion.

Again I will ask - why then are you wanting to use the government to fix abortion and not poverty and suffering. The church should fix the abortion issue. You say the church cannot, I say the church cannot fix the institutions and policies and systems the create poverty, the church can only help alleviate the symptons - the Church cannot cure poverty, the government can create plans that lesson it. If the government is good for one, it is good for both. By the way, AGAIN the government does not create abortion it ALLOWS abortion. IF WE CAN PASS LAWS THAT SAY ALLOWING ABORTION IS A SIN THEREFORE WE WILL BAN IT, LETS PASS A LAW THAT SAYS ALLOWING POVERTY IS A SIN THEREFORE WE WILL BAN IT. NO MORE ABORTION, NO MORE POVERTY, NO MORE PEOPLE WITHOUT HEALTH CARE. You say, but people make decisions to be poor, I say people make decisions to have abortions. And you say it is not okay to have an abortion, and I say it is not okay to be poor. But you say abortion kills another human being, and I say hunger kills human beings, as does the cold of winter as does no healthcare. I have answered your question over and over again - Jesus left it to his people and in our country, the government is the PEOPLE. I am sure that you would not have voted for John Kerry even if he had not said that. the reason many feel that they have to leave the Christian faith behind when they enter politics is b/c so many have such a narrow view of the christian faith and its values. You should leave proseltyzing and evangelizing behind, but you can never the leave the love of God behind and a Christian nations policies ought to reflect the love of Jesus - in everything not just Abortion.

God has granted us authority. All authority belongs to God, but he has put human beings on earth as caretakers. What is task? According to Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20m we are to go out and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey God in EVERY area of life. This includes politics. We must desciple people to make Godly decision about government, and promote the efoorts of those who are already doing so. We need to stand against evil (poverty and social injustice). St Augustine said those who are citizens of God's kingdom are best equipped to be citizens of the kingdom of man. The alternative is unthinkable. In the 20th Century, because of poor governments 170 million men, women and children have been brutally murdered - by the governments. Historian John Hallowell "Only throuogh a return to faith in God, as God revealed Himself to man in Jesus Christ, can modern man AND HIS SOCIETY find redemption from the tyranny of evil." It is Christian involvement through the government that has given us hospitals, civil liberties, abolition of slavery, modern science, the elevation of women, regard for humn life, great works of art and literature, a workable system of justice, education for common people, the free-enterprise system, and much more. Obedience to authority demands good citizenship. The Apostle Pual in Romans chapter 13 clearly states that we must obey government leaders because all authority comes from God. HERE's the CATCH: in America, the PEOPLE are the LEADERS!!

The dems are saying nothing about rolling back the child tax credit (that is yoru misinformation) they are talking about rolling back the tax breaks that went to wealthiest 5% WHILE WE ARE AT WAR. War in and of itself is a economy booster (see Great Depression and WWII) why were the ones least inconvienced by sacrifice actually given more money in a time when that money should have been going to the military instead of the gov't borrowing that money on the back of my 9 year old.

Either # works for the sake of discussion. If 1% has 34% of the wealth should they pay 34% of the taxes?

Huh?? i am just saying that the top 1% of the wealthy control 95% of the wealth in the country. should they not pay 95% of the taxes?:confused:

Check and see what percentage of the wealth of the country is controlled by the top 1%. Don't base your question on what percentage of the taxes they pay, ask your question based upon what percentage of the total money they control.

Show me anywhere in the scripture where it says anything about democracy and freedom for the people. The government of the USA is us. it is made up of PEOPLE we elect, it is not some abstract substance that cannot be defined. the government does our bidding - regardless of how cynical we are. Acts 6:1 Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. And the 12 called together the whole community of the disciples and said, "it is not right that we should neglect the word of God n order to wait on tables. Therefor friends, select (vote on, elect??) from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom you may APPOINT to this task. while we devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.

They called for the PEOPLE to do this Churches are People Government is People (of, by and for . . .) Again, why is it okay for Gov't to fix abortion, but not poverty, poor health, and social injustices?