Do you understand what's at stake?

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Do you understand what's at stake?

If you do not let Jesus Christ take away your sins, then you will have to
pay for them. And before God there is only one punishment for unrepentant
sin: AN ETERNITY IN HELL FIRE!

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Jesus is meeting you today at the point of forgiveness.

When you see Him on the other side of death, there will only be judgment
if you didn't accept His free offer of salvation here.

Are you so hard-hearted that you cannot see you are a sinner in need of
forgiveness? Take the test. God's standard for the bell curve is set by
His Son, i.e. perfection: Have you ever told a lie? Even one? That
makes you a liar. Have you ever stolen anything? Even once? That makes
you a thief. Have you ever taken the Lord's name in vain? Even once
(used God's name as a cuss word)? That makes you a blasphemer. Have you
ever committed adultery? Or as Jesus states, even "looked at another with
lust in your heart," because you've then committed adultery with that
person in your heart?

You ARE a sinner. We ALL are. It's why we need Jesus.

Don't listen to the lies that have been spread about Him, or the horrific
things people who claim to be His followers have done.

LOOK TO HIM!
LOOK TO THE CROSS!
LEARN OF WHAT HE DID AT THAT CROSS ___FOR YOU___.

None of us are promised tomorrow. Do this today, and enter into eternal
life. Leave the condemnation which is ALREADY hanging over your head
(everybody's so familiar with John 3:16, "For God so loved the world..."
but have you ever read further, to John 3:18? It says "ALREADY
CONDEMNED").

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Jesus is offering you the ONLY "Get out of Hell Free"
card you'll ever receive. Please, with everything in me I'm begging
you ... find out why!

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

 

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:02:49 PM UTC-4, John Speth wrote:

Rick-
How is this crap relevant to FPGAs?

It's a good question. It has nothing to do with FPGAs. However, this is
part of my field of interest, so I am here.

I am a Christian, and there is a judgment coming for all who do not repent
and are not saved. I would prevent anyone from being judged by giving
them the knowledge and opportunity to repent of their sin, to learn of
Jesus Christ, and to avoid that fiery end in Hell.

I care about people too much to ignore the needs of their eternal soul
just because people will call me "a flake."

> Your reputation is now that of a flake.

That's fine. I am also a sinner. But I differ from other sinners in this
world in that I have received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and I
have been saved. It is the same for all Christians who are born again.
And you will know them by their fruit: If they teach about Jesus Christ,
and of salvation. Those are the ones who are His disciples, who are in
pursuit of His Holy Spirit, doing as He commands us to do in this world,
which is simply this: To teach others of Him, so that they too can hear
the truth and be given the opportunity to come out from the deception,
from the sin, from judgment, and repent and be saved.

Jesus will save everybody no matter their sin, no matter their past. He
asks us to come to Him and ask for forgiveness, and then to take up our
cross and follow Him. All who do are secure in eternity. The rest will
perish in Hell.

There is an urgency in the air about this. As the many attacks of the
enemy spirits are gaining strength in this world, so is the urgent call
of the Lord upon the hearts of His faithful. More and more will reach
out as I have done. Listen to them. They are leading you to the ONLY
path of salvation against what's coming.

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

 

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:08:14 PM UTC-4, rickman wrote:

On 4/22/2016 1:02 PM, John Speth wrote:
Rick-

How is this crap relevant to FPGAs?

Your reputation is now that of a flake.

Yes, it is so different from before...

I suspect this is what Rick H does when he is disturbed by something or
someone. I don't begrudge him his beliefs just because I don't share
them. If he is hurting in some way and his response is to post
religious stuff here, I'm not going to ask him to stop. I see groups
that have a much worse signal to noise ratio.

Better to make a single relevant post than to curse the irrelevant.

I have interest in this area in my life. Because I am here, I raise my
voice to those around me. I do the same in all areas of my life. You
happen to see this one here, but if you follow me online you will see
the common theme.

I am a Christian. I have been saved by Jesus Christ, and I am born again.
I have His Holy Spirit guiding me in my life, which is why I behave in a
notably different fashion than other people in this world. His Spirit
guides me to truth and life. The enemy's spirit leads people to sin and
death.

I urge you to seek the truth, Rick. Learn of Jesus Christ. Look closely
at why He went to that cross. He could've ended it at any time, and
summoned legions of angels ... but He remained there on purpose.

Nails didn't hold Jesus to the cross. Love did.

Learn of that love, and learn who Jesus Christ is first-hand, without
the clutter of other people's influence. Taste for yourself and see
that the Lord is good.

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

 

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:29:56 PM UTC-4, Les Cargill wrote:
> Welcome to my bozo bin. This ain't the place fer it.

Shall I go to the churches and preach the message of salvation to the lost?
Or shall I go to where the people are? What does the Lord ask us to do?

http://biblehub.com/matthew/28-19.htm
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Teach all nations. He remains with us in this labor. It is a labor of
love for those who are lost. And it is to be spoken of in all places.
It is only the enemy who steps forward and says, "You must separate the
'religion' from the other stuff." The truth is God needs to be at the
head of all things in our life. We have the world we do today because
God has been taken out. But for those who will seek God, He will save
them and restore them to His purposes, which is why born again Christians
behave so differently from the rest of the world. It is the witness of
His Holy Spirit living inside of their hearts that they labor for Him,
and for the lost's souls, that some of those who are lost will be saved.

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

 

[Rob Gaddi]

Rick C. Hodgin wrote:

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:29:56 PM UTC-4, Les Cargill wrote:
Welcome to my bozo bin. This ain't the place fer it.

Shall I go to the churches and preach the message of salvation to the lost?
Or shall I go to where the people are? What does the Lord ask us to do?

[snip]

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

Frankly, Rick, you should take it where it's welcome. We're happy to
talk FPGAs, electronics, and all things related with you. But pure
religious proseltyzing is spam, the same as the folks telling us about
the evils of Islam, or ranting about specific Italian professors, or
promising to enlarge our penises while shrinking our mortgages. And if
you keep it up, folks will simply add you to their block list, which
doesn't discriminate based on topic.

--
Rob Gaddi, Highland Technology -- www.highlandtechnology.com
Email address domain is currently out of order. See above to fix.

 

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 2:40:48 PM UTC-4, Rob Gaddi wrote:

Rick C. Hodgin wrote:

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:29:56 PM UTC-4, Les Cargill wrote:
Welcome to my bozo bin. This ain't the place fer it.

Shall I go to the churches and preach the message of salvation to the lost?
Or shall I go to where the people are? What does the Lord ask us to do?

[snip]

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

Frankly, Rick, you should take it where it's welcome. We're happy to
talk FPGAs, electronics, and all things related with you. But pure
religious proseltyzing is spam, the same as the folks telling us about
the evils of Islam, or ranting about specific Italian professors, or
promising to enlarge our penises while shrinking our mortgages. And if
you keep it up, folks will simply add you to their block list, which
doesn't discriminate based on topic.

Consider your guidance, with God's guidance:

http://biblehub.com/matthew/24-14.htm
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

Jesus is giving everybody a chance. Even those who will reject Him.
His desire is that none shall perish, so He waits through all of this
for those last few who will be saved:

http://biblehub.com/2_peter/3-9.htm
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Repentance. Asking forgiveness. All who do will be saved.

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

 

[Tim Wescott]

On Fri, 22 Apr 2016 07:49:14 -0700, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:

Do you understand what's at stake?

If you do not let Jesus Christ take away your sins, then you will have
to pay for them. And before God there is only one punishment for
unrepentant sin: AN ETERNITY IN HELL FIRE!

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Jesus is meeting you today at the point of forgiveness.

When you see Him on the other side of death, there will only be judgment
if you didn't accept His free offer of salvation here.

Are you so hard-hearted that you cannot see you are a sinner in need of
forgiveness? Take the test. God's standard for the bell curve is set
by His Son, i.e. perfection: Have you ever told a lie? Even one? That
makes you a liar. Have you ever stolen anything? Even once? That
makes you a thief. Have you ever taken the Lord's name in vain? Even
once (used God's name as a cuss word)? That makes you a blasphemer.
Have you ever committed adultery? Or as Jesus states, even "looked at
another with lust in your heart," because you've then committed adultery
with that person in your heart?

You ARE a sinner. We ALL are. It's why we need Jesus.

Don't listen to the lies that have been spread about Him, or the
horrific things people who claim to be His followers have done.

LOOK TO HIM!
LOOK TO THE CROSS!
LEARN OF WHAT HE DID AT THAT CROSS ___FOR YOU___.

None of us are promised tomorrow. Do this today, and enter into eternal
life. Leave the condemnation which is ALREADY hanging over your head
(everybody's so familiar with John 3:16, "For God so loved the world..."
but have you ever read further, to John 3:18? It says "ALREADY
CONDEMNED").

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Jesus is offering you the ONLY "Get out of Hell Free"
card you'll ever receive. Please, with everything in me I'm begging you
... find out why!

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

I trust that when I die my soul will be taken up by His Noodely
Appendage, and set down next to a beer volcano amidst friendly pirates.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

 

[rickman]

On 4/22/2016 11:30 AM, Tim Wescott wrote:

On Fri, 22 Apr 2016 07:49:14 -0700, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:

Do you understand what's at stake?

If you do not let Jesus Christ take away your sins, then you will have
to pay for them. And before God there is only one punishment for
unrepentant sin: AN ETERNITY IN HELL FIRE!

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Jesus is meeting you today at the point of forgiveness.

When you see Him on the other side of death, there will only be judgment
if you didn't accept His free offer of salvation here.

Are you so hard-hearted that you cannot see you are a sinner in need of
forgiveness? Take the test. God's standard for the bell curve is set
by His Son, i.e. perfection: Have you ever told a lie? Even one? That
makes you a liar. Have you ever stolen anything? Even once? That
makes you a thief. Have you ever taken the Lord's name in vain? Even
once (used God's name as a cuss word)? That makes you a blasphemer.
Have you ever committed adultery? Or as Jesus states, even "looked at
another with lust in your heart," because you've then committed adultery
with that person in your heart?

You ARE a sinner. We ALL are. It's why we need Jesus.

Don't listen to the lies that have been spread about Him, or the
horrific things people who claim to be His followers have done.

LOOK TO HIM!
LOOK TO THE CROSS!
LEARN OF WHAT HE DID AT THAT CROSS ___FOR YOU___.

None of us are promised tomorrow. Do this today, and enter into eternal
life. Leave the condemnation which is ALREADY hanging over your head
(everybody's so familiar with John 3:16, "For God so loved the world..."
but have you ever read further, to John 3:18? It says "ALREADY
CONDEMNED").

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Jesus is offering you the ONLY "Get out of Hell Free"
card you'll ever receive. Please, with everything in me I'm begging you
... find out why!

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

I trust that when I die my soul will be taken up by His Noodely
Appendage, and set down next to a beer volcano amidst friendly pirates.

May the sauce be with you.

\|/
:=( )<
/|\

--

Rick

 

[John Speth]

Rick-

How is this crap relevant to FPGAs?

Your reputation is now that of a flake.

JJS

 

[rickman]

On 4/22/2016 1:02 PM, John Speth wrote:

Rick-

How is this crap relevant to FPGAs?

Your reputation is now that of a flake.

Yes, it is so different from before...

I suspect this is what Rick H does when he is disturbed by something or
someone. I don't begrudge him his beliefs just because I don't share
them. If he is hurting in some way and his response is to post
religious stuff here, I'm not going to ask him to stop. I see groups
that have a much worse signal to noise ratio.

Better to make a single relevant post than to curse the irrelevant.

--

Rick

 

[Les Cargill]

<snip>

Welcome to my bozo bin. This ain't the place fer it.

--
Les Cargill

 

[rickman]

On 4/22/2016 1:28 PM, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:08:14 PM UTC-4, rickman wrote:
On 4/22/2016 1:02 PM, John Speth wrote:
Rick-

How is this crap relevant to FPGAs?

Your reputation is now that of a flake.

Yes, it is so different from before...

I suspect this is what Rick H does when he is disturbed by something or
someone. I don't begrudge him his beliefs just because I don't share
them. If he is hurting in some way and his response is to post
religious stuff here, I'm not going to ask him to stop. I see groups
that have a much worse signal to noise ratio.

Better to make a single relevant post than to curse the irrelevant.

I have interest in this area in my life. Because I am here, I raise my
voice to those around me. I do the same in all areas of my life. You
happen to see this one here, but if you follow me online you will see
the common theme.

I am a Christian. I have been saved by Jesus Christ, and I am born again.
I have His Holy Spirit guiding me in my life, which is why I behave in a
notably different fashion than other people in this world. His Spirit
guides me to truth and life. The enemy's spirit leads people to sin and
death.

I urge you to seek the truth, Rick. Learn of Jesus Christ. Look closely
at why He went to that cross. He could've ended it at any time, and
summoned legions of angels ... but He remained there on purpose.

Nails didn't hold Jesus to the cross. Love did.

Learn of that love, and learn who Jesus Christ is first-hand, without
the clutter of other people's influence. Taste for yourself and see
that the Lord is good.

How do you know I have not been saved? Your perspective on life and
religion is not the only one. Many who have been saved don't feel the
need to climb on every soapbox they find to announce it to the world.

Your presence here is not so much about the Lord as it is your ego.

--

Rick

 

[rickman]

On 4/22/2016 1:37 PM, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:29:56 PM UTC-4, Les Cargill wrote:
Welcome to my bozo bin. This ain't the place fer it.

Shall I go to the churches and preach the message of salvation to the lost?
Or shall I go to where the people are? What does the Lord ask us to do?

http://biblehub.com/matthew/28-19.htm
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Teach all nations. He remains with us in this labor. It is a labor of
love for those who are lost. And it is to be spoken of in all places.
It is only the enemy who steps forward and says, "You must separate the
'religion' from the other stuff." The truth is God needs to be at the
head of all things in our life. We have the world we do today because
God has been taken out. But for those who will seek God, He will save
them and restore them to His purposes, which is why born again Christians
behave so differently from the rest of the world. It is the witness of
His Holy Spirit living inside of their hearts that they labor for Him,
and for the lost's souls, that some of those who are lost will be saved.

I'm not going to kill file you as others will be doing. But I am going
to mark this thread as to be ignored, so I it is unlikely I will be
seeing your replies.

--

Rick

 

[Gene Filatov]

On 22.04.2016 21:34, rickman wrote:

(snip)

How do you know I have not been saved? Your perspective on life and
religion is not the only one. Many who have been saved don't feel the
need to climb on every soapbox they find to announce it to the world.

Your presence here is not so much about the Lord as it is your ego.

TS's behavior is indicative of issues with recognizing one's own
borders. If anybody is seeking for religious counseling, it is alright
to give him/her appropriate advice. But talking about religion to people
not willing to hear about it actually makes them LESS inclined to follow
that religion. So, the TS does not serve the God, but his own ego.

The problem with border (ego) issues is that it's a huge "bug" which
makes you vulnerable to some nasty issues (like various sorts of
addiction, or people seeking to exploit your vulnerability). One should
be humble to avoid such issues.

Gene

 

[Anssi Saari]

"Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> writes:

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:29:56 PM UTC-4, Les Cargill wrote:
Welcome to my bozo bin. This ain't the place fer it.

Shall I go to the churches and preach the message of salvation to the lost?
Or shall I go to where the people are? What does the Lord ask us to do?

http://biblehub.com/matthew/28-19.htm
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Teach all nations. He remains with us in this labor.

I have been wondering. How is it possible that you seem to feel that
preaching here, to the very few people left on Usenet, somehow fulfills
your God-given duty to spread your faith? I seriously doubt God will
think much of your efforts. You need to really go out there and teach
the people. There is much work to be done in teaching the non-believers
in Asia, Middle-East, Africa for example.

 

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 10:10:55 AM UTC-4, Anssi Saari wrote:

"Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> writes:

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:29:56 PM UTC-4, Les Cargill wrote:
Welcome to my bozo bin. This ain't the place fer it.

Shall I go to the churches and preach the message of salvation to the lost?
Or shall I go to where the people are? What does the Lord ask us to do?

http://biblehub.com/matthew/28-19.htm
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Teach all nations. He remains with us in this labor.

I have been wondering. How is it possible that you seem to feel that
preaching here, to the very few people left on Usenet, somehow fulfills
your God-given duty to spread your faith? I seriously doubt God will
think much of your efforts. You need to really go out there and teach
the people. There is much work to be done in teaching the non-believers
in Asia, Middle-East, Africa for example.

I don't come here to preach. This activity is part of my life. Where I
am, I am speaking about Jesus so that those who have an ear to hear might
hear, repent, ask forgiveness, and be saved.

My life is like this in all areas. I'm a servant, and a teacher, of Jesus
Christ, because I speak what He spoke. My desires are to let people have
the opportunity to hear that which He spoke, and to know why He came here
to the Earth.

It's His calling for us in our lives (to do this in all walks of our
lives).

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

 

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 4:21:55 PM UTC-4, Evgeny Filatov wrote:

On 25.04.2016 21:45, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 10:10:55 AM UTC-4, Anssi Saari wrote:
"Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> writes:

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:29:56 PM UTC-4, Les Cargill wrote:
Welcome to my bozo bin. This ain't the place fer it.

Shall I go to the churches and preach the message of salvation to the lost?
Or shall I go to where the people are? What does the Lord ask us to do?

http://biblehub.com/matthew/28-19.htm
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Teach all nations. He remains with us in this labor.

I have been wondering. How is it possible that you seem to feel that
preaching here, to the very few people left on Usenet, somehow fulfills
your God-given duty to spread your faith? I seriously doubt God will
think much of your efforts. You need to really go out there and teach
the people. There is much work to be done in teaching the non-believers
in Asia, Middle-East, Africa for example.

I don't come here to preach. This activity is part of my life. Where I
am, I am speaking about Jesus so that those who have an ear to hear might
hear, repent, ask forgiveness, and be saved.

My life is like this in all areas. I'm a servant, and a teacher, of Jesus
Christ, because I speak what He spoke. My desires are to let people have
the opportunity to hear that which He spoke, and to know why He came here
to the Earth.

It's His calling for us in our lives (to do this in all walks of our
lives).

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin


Made me wonder. Is organized religion the adult form of an "imaginary
friend" thing? There are creepy forum threads about people twisting
their brains so that they lose a connection with reality and perceive
their imaginary friend as a real one (or at least they claim to do so):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa

I thing that religion (of any kind) is a soft way to lose one's mind
tolerated by the society. Just like alcohol is the soft drug which
causes addiction but still is tolerated by the society.

There are many forms of religion. Most of them are as you describe, a
way to make a person feel better about their life, etc. It's little
more than a social club to appease part of a conscience.

Christianity is different. You know it's different by reading the Bible
and learning who Jesus Christ is. Because He is truly God, the words on
the page are not like other words. They speak to you on the inside in a
way no other book can or does.

People will either be aware of this, or not, when they begin to hear
about Jesus Christ, and begin reading / studying the Bible. The words
on the page will either speak to them or not.

The message of salvation is only for those who can hear the message. For
the rest, it will never be understood because it requires a supernatural
depositing of knowledge and understanding by God to move from the flesh-
only understanding / reasoning to then also include spiritual things.

If you hear His voice in your inmost man, knowing that He is calling out
to you, do not harden your heart. He is calling out to save you from the
coming judgment, and Hell. He is calling out to restore you to eternal
life, and welcome you into His Kingdom.

It's not about a man (pastor, preacher, evangelist, or otherwise).
It's not about money.
It's not about status.
It's not about notoriety or fame.
It's not about anything, except for one thing: it's about hearing the
truth, and pursuing it. Him to us, and us to Him.

It is a personal relationship, not a religion, between us and Him. And
for each person it is independent and unique, but all Christians who are
born again experience the same general thing: knowledge of who He is,
His presence continually in our lives, along with the negatives: that
the people of this world who are not born again hate us, and criticize
us, and make fun of us, etc. We are also the targets of evil spirits,
who then rise up to do us harm in a multitude of astoundingly complex
ways in our lives, using even our good intentions and desires to help
people against us.

It's really quite amazing what happens to the born again Christian.
It's a work of God, not of us. All we do is hear Him, go to Him, and
obey Him (repent, ask forgiveness, and then live as He commands, because
we are able to then hear Him from that point forward because of the born
again nature).

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

 

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 4:35:03 PM UTC-4, Tim Wescott wrote:

On Mon, 25 Apr 2016 11:45:57 -0700, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:

On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 10:10:55 AM UTC-4, Anssi Saari wrote:
"Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> writes:

On Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:29:56 PM UTC-4, Les Cargill wrote:
Welcome to my bozo bin. This ain't the place fer it.

Shall I go to the churches and preach the message of salvation to the
lost?
Or shall I go to where the people are? What does the Lord ask us to
do?

http://biblehub.com/matthew/28-19.htm "Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Amen."

Teach all nations. He remains with us in this labor.

I have been wondering. How is it possible that you seem to feel that
preaching here, to the very few people left on Usenet, somehow fulfills
your God-given duty to spread your faith? I seriously doubt God will
think much of your efforts. You need to really go out there and teach
the people. There is much work to be done in teaching the non-believers
in Asia, Middle-East, Africa for example.

I don't come here to preach. This activity is part of my life. Where I
am, I am speaking about Jesus so that those who have an ear to hear
might hear, repent, ask forgiveness, and be saved.

Thereby implicitly calling into question the value of belief systems that
don't think you need to follow your specific way.

Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life.

If you think about it logically, Tim, how many ways do you need? Is one
insufficient?

How many true truths are there, for example? There is only one. "How old
are you, Rick?" There's only one correct answer to that: "46". Anything
else and I'll be either in a different frame of accounting (n units instead
of 46 years, in which case my original answer is still true, even though
they are other true answers as they all fundamentally relate back to the
save answer), or I'll be lying. There is only one truth.

And how many sources of life are there? Is one insufficient to do the job?

And then when you read the Bible and look at the life of Jesus Christ, you
conclude something along the lines of what Napoleon concluded:

http://www.stempublishing.com/magazines/bt/BT17/1889_319_Napoleons_Testimony.html
"I know men, and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a man.
Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the
founders of empires and the gods of other religions. That
resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity
and every other religion the distance of infinity.

"We can say to the authors of every other religion, You are
neither gods nor the agents of Deity. You are but missionaries
of falsehood, moulded from the same clay with the rest of mortals.
You are made with all the passions and vices inseparable from them.
Your temples and your priests proclaim your origin. Such will be
the judgment, the cry of conscience, of whoever examines the gods
and the temples of paganism..."

And also, incidentally, using exactly the same language as just about all
of the so-called-Christian right who use Christ's name to gain power over
their fellow human beings, and then use that power to do a whole bunch of
exceedingly un-Christian things.

Seek after Jesus Christ, Tim. Not men. Men are in sin. Men will do
sinful things. Jesus is not a man that He should lie, but He is God and
is THE truth. He can only tell the truth, do the truth, for He is literal
truth through and through. Anyone who hears truth, hears His voice. And
anyone who pursues truth, pursues Him, and Him alone.

This is the message born again Christians give people: Follow Jesus Christ.

It is personal, between Him and you. It does not go through a church,
through a spouse, through a pastor, through a believing co-worker. It is
in your heart, and you are known to Him by your heart condition.

So -- every time you get the urge to show us all what a all-around
superior being you are by publicly praying, re-read Matthew 6. Then keep
reading it until the urge to do EXACTLY WHAT JESUS TOLD YOU NOT TO DO
passes.

Seek after Jesus Christ, Tim. He will show you the way. And if you do
come to know Him, you will know why He commands His followers to teach
others about Him:

Hell lasts forever.
But so does Heaven.

For those who do not hear His call, and do not believe, the message is
not for them. They will find out soon enough the reality of who He is,
though it will be too late for them at that time.

For those who can hear His call in their heart, this message is for you.
It is Him reaching out to save your eternal soul from damnation in Hell
fire. He is rescuing you because you will hear and follow the truth.

Listen to Him, and ask Him to help you. If you set your sights on this,
He will do the rest for you. He'll do the things for you that you alone
cannot do.

Jesus is amazing like that.

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

 

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 4:47:53 PM UTC-4, rickman wrote:

On 4/25/2016 4:35 PM, Tim Wescott wrote:

Thereby implicitly calling into question the value of belief systems that
don't think you need to follow your specific way.

And also, incidentally, using exactly the same language as just about all
of the so-called-Christian right who use Christ's name to gain power over
their fellow human beings, and then use that power to do a whole bunch of
exceedingly un-Christian things.

So -- every time you get the urge to show us all what a all-around
superior being you are by publicly praying, re-read Matthew 6. Then keep
reading it until the urge to do EXACTLY WHAT JESUS TOLD YOU NOT TO DO
passes.

Why are you trying to turn the group into a theological debating forum?
Can you just ignore transgressors and let the group settle down to
something more useful? Provoking a debate will just prolong the
disruption.

I do not debate people. I teach them. There's a difference.

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

 

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 5:06:55 PM UTC-4, Evgeny Filatov wrote:

On 25.04.2016 23:40, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
[Christians] are also the targets of evil spirits,
who then rise up to do us harm in a multitude of astoundingly complex
ways in our lives, using even our good intentions and desires to help
people against us.

That's why I'm an atheist. Because believing in God implies believing in
the evil spirits.

The reason there's so much evil, greed, fighting, hate, lust, etc., in the
world is because of sin, and the natural man's inability to discern things
of the spirit. Without that discernment, without the "eyes to see spiritual
things," man is left knowing only what he can know by his natural senses.

The truth is the evil spirits play off of those senses, exuding thoughts,
feelings, emotions, into the flesh, tempting men and women in various
ways to do harmful things to themselves and people.

For the born again Christian, when these attacks come, they still affect
our flesh, but we are able to identify the attacks and then pray and cast
the evil spirits away. Because of this, born again Christians will not
be influenced to do the same things non-born again people will do, though
that temptation is always there.

It requires discipline, focus, a conscious effort to overcome. But, it
is possible, and it does require all of the Ephesians 6:10+ armor of God.

------
For anyone curious about the Bible, I would advise starting with the
Gospel of John, and then going to the book of James. The Gospel of John
was made into a full-length movie in the early 2000s, and can be viewed
here (a little under 3 hours):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hexhw3wWmE

You can see who Jesus is, the concern in His heart, the desire to teach
in His ways, and the reality of what He did by coming here, going to the
cross, and dying in our place. It is, simply, the most remarkable thing
imaginable. All other offerings of love of one to another pale by
comparison, and the best we can hope to do as followers of His is to give
back the fruits of that which He first gave us, which is what I'm trying
my best to do with the skills and talents I possess in the various areas
of interest in my life.

I fail a lot. But, I press on undaunted, and increasingly resolved
to do better.

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin