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Thank you for your reasoned contribution to our discussion, and I agree with you.>

Obviously, he wants us to love one another. He was very careful to avoid entanglement with the political affairs of his times, and I believe if he were to walk our planet today, he would still avoid those entanglements.

As a resposible voter, the best I can do is use Jesus’ teachings as guidelines for deciding what issues I should support. Jesus said not to judge others, so that’s what I’m aiming for.

Therefore I conclude that a woman’s right to choose bearing a child, or not, is between her and God (and perhaps the father, and maybe her family), but it’s certainly not the business for the rest of us. There is also a viable question as to when a fetus actually becomes an individual instead of being an extention of the mother’s body. Another thing to take into consideration is this. Giving a woman the freedom of choice means that she can make a whole-hearted choice to have the baby, rather than just accept that she’s pregnant and there’s nothing she can do about it. I think that can make a lot of difference in the prenatal environment she provides, as well as how she feels about her baby after s/he is born.

I’ve heard those who are against this freedom use the commandment, thou shalt not kill, as the reason they believe abortion is wrong, yet most of the ones I’ve heard support the war. How is that consistant?

Another issue centers around gay people’s rights. This is another issue that must be decided personally. I can’t judge whether a gay person has merely chosen to be gay, or if he (or she) is following a natural orientation. Studies have suggested that homosexuals have a different chemical balance that heterosexuals. In several versions (i.e., King James, New English, and Phillips Modern) of Luke 17:34, it says “on that night there will be two men in one bed, one will be taken, the other will be left…” on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. I take that to mean that each man’s soul is considered, not his physical orientation.

I believe with all my heart that we would do more good to love all those we think need ‘fixing’ than trying to use legislature to mold them into what we think they ought to be.>

Isn’t God’s grace awesome! When we realize that grace is a gift and let go of our paralyzing guilt, what a burden is lifted! Personally, I believe we ofen place too much emphasis on God’s justice and too little on his grace.
An earlier poster stated: “Let me hear of your love for Jesus, of your love for His word, the bible, and of your undevided devotion to him; then you have earned a position and authority to talk about morality and politics.”

I don’t think we have to “earn” God’s grace. It is my belief that Jesus would rather us display our love through our behavior and actions than through our words. He certainly desires our love, but talk is cheap. As the Bible shows…

John 21:15-17. When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter: Simon do you love me? Simon answered: Yes, Lord, you know I love you. The Jesus said to Simon: Feed my sheep.

Jesus asked a second time: Simon do you love me? Simon answered again: Yes, Lord, you know I love you. Jesus said again: Feed my sheep.

Jesus asked Simon a third time: Simon, son of John, do you love me? Simon Peter was frustrated that

Jesus had asked him yet a third time: Do you love me? Simon answered the Lord a third time: Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you.
Jesus answered Simon: Then feed my sheep.

The Pharisees talked a good game, but some of Jesus’ harshest words were reserved for them. It was the unbelievers, searchers like us, who, out of their brokenness and despair, encountered Jesus and followed his Way. It transformed them.>

Personally, I don’t like “too much” emphasis on politics. As I read the New Testament, our instructions seem to be to share the good news of God’s forgiveness available in Jesus Christ, to help each other on the journey to become more and more like Jesus each day.

In the end, politics is about grabbing power. And Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world.

All human styles of governing will all fail for the same reason – they are all made up of us humans! And we all go our own way and don’t love God or our neighbor. We just each express that differently.

But…now having voiced my reservations that “interest in politics” not become our main focus – I am not opposed to “an” interest. Just opposed to an “all-consuming” interest in it – to the point where we forget the stuff the New Testament tells us to focus on.

And so….just advocating for a “balance” there.

I sure would appreciate being able to talk about politics from a Christian point of view with others with honestly open minds to – “What do the Scriptures really say?”. All my Christian life (since I was 18) I’ve had right wing Republicanism forced down my throat. It never made sense to me Scripturally (Okay….SOME of it did. But the rest of it was in contradiction to most of what I was reading in the New Testament). It was amazing the fancy contortions people would concoct to “explain away” the sum total picture of the New Testament.

I spent so much of life feeling like I must be secretly crazy. I stuffed so much inside.

Nice to find a place where others have their misgivings as well.

At least we’re ALL “crazy” now?

Just being lighthearted, here.>

I was moved by your post on the 20th, but got a little distracted by some of the posts after it. The quote you gave was especially inspiring, and worth repeating: “where there is relationship, there is grace; where there is no relationship, there is judgement.

Grace is probably the most amazing ‘high’ this life has to offer, and I feel sorry for those who don’t know that grace is what they’re craving, when they try filling it with all those addictive materials. Drugs, food, overflowing closets, too many cars, sex, thrills, all those pathetic (and sometimes dangerous) attempts to fill their souls with grace. Dogmatic beliefs are just another attempt to fulfill that craving for feeling ‘right’. Only God’s grace can give us that, and remarkably, it is a gift. It has more to do with what we release to God in our hearts, than what we reach out for in the material world.

I’ve often thought that fundamentalists are following the same dark path as the Pharisees took when Jesus walked our planet two thousand years ago. What if Jesus would come today? I’d bet anything he would be just as challenging to the dogmatic religionists of today as he was to those before.>

1. Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul.

2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Therefore I conclude: to love is to know God, and also, to know God is to love.

>

Papal Advice to New Bishops: Pray

Proposes a Path to Avoid Falling Into Activism

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 21, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI advised a group of new bishops about the great need for prayer in order to avoid the pitfall of “exaggerated activism.
“The total gift of yourselves, which care of the Lord’s flock calls for, requires the support of an intense spiritual life, nourished by assiduous personal and community prayer,” the Holy Father said.

The Pontiff, recommended that “a constant contact with God” should characterize their days “and support every one of your activities.”

Benedict XVI told his audience: “To live in profound union with Christ will help you to attain that balance necessary between interior recollection and the necessary effort required by the many occupations of life, avoiding falling into an exaggerated activism.

“Through prayer, the doors of your heart open to God’s plan, which is a plan of love, to which he calls you, uniting you profoundly to Christ with the grace of the episcopate.

“Following him, Shepherd and Bishop of your souls, you will tend ceaselessly to holiness, which is the fundamental objective of the life of every Christian.”

Open spirit

In regard to pastoral style, the Pope recommended that the bishops become “everything to everyone, [ ] proposing the truth of faith, celebrating the sacraments of our sanctification and witnessing the charity of the Lord.”

“Receive with an open spirit those who knock at your door,” the Holy Father counseled. “Counsel, console and support them in the life of God, trying to lead all to that unity in faith and love of which you must be the visible principle and foundation in your dioceses by the will of the Lord.”>

I know you love Yeshua, and I love the Way of Jesus. Our different faiths, whatever we choose to name them, as long as they reject fear and hate, and accept all into their fellowship, reflect the grace of God, who is love. Though we follow different paths, I feel certain that God hears our pleas and knows our hearts. These things alone will suffice to join our spirits in the reconciling love of God.>

Test all spirits, do not believe me. If you do not test the spirit, scripture says: you can follow false teaching believing they are right and be lost forever.>

So now you’ve got to decide , God or Satan ,,,right or left ,republican or democrate
Yes its that simple !!!
So now decide ,, its your choice
Which will it be?”
David

So then Bush was lying to the UN when he said?

“My country desires peace. Extremists in your midst spread propaganda claiming that the West is engaged in a war against Islam.

This propaganda is false and its purpose is to confuse you and justify acts of terror.

We respect Islam, but we will protect our people from those who pervert Islam to sow death and destruction.

Our goal is to help you build a more tolerant and hopeful society that honors people of all faiths and promotes the peace.”>

Larry, if Truth is living, then it must be changeable so that It can meet every believer where he or she is. The definition of ‘living’ implies changes, movement, and adaptation.

Like any loving parent, God embraces his children. As Jesus said, in order to enter the Kingdom, one must be like a child. Trust God!

If God is Love, then we must be Loved, for we are part of God in the most basic, profound sense. After all, we are created in His image!

God is the root of every sub-atomic particle. Everything we see, hear, touch -this whole physical realm- is basically an ocean of atoms.

Take a moment to think about this: Since we are surrouned by all these atoms (actually saturated in them), God is hugging us at all times! Isn’t that a wonderful realization?>

If you believed as a Christian, you wouldn’t be Jewish. If I believed as a Jew, I wouldn’t be Christian. So you look at things through the lens of Judaism. As a progressive Christian, I believe that God approaches his Creation from different angles. One being Judaism, another being Christianity, among other ways. God doesn’t play favorites in my way of believing.>

Everyone wants to start their own religion using the Word of G_D as their proof. Their proof comes from head noises they say is from G_D.G_D is the only author , if G_D did not say it first, it doesn’t count. No one has the authority to change the word of G_D. Yeshua said “every word I speak comes from the Father”, Yeshua said” The Prophets told the truth”.

Give an aka scripture proof directly from G_D and they will find a lesser authority in scripture to prove G_D ,changed, made an error or the reader does not understand because……..????. Aka’s use misdirection, tap dancing or false transferable concepts: using ” a lie is the truth if you can get some one to believe it” they believe this is their prove they are G_D’ly.

Every parables in scripture does not include names of people, scripture says “man” or “they” called them Christians, G_D does not have a family called Christians, the Romans called completed gentiles and Jews who followed Yeshua “Christians”, G_D, Yeshua or the Prophets never called aka’s Christians.

About 312 AD; Constantine of Rome needed to unify the aka’s and he branded them with the name the Romans gave them earlier :Christians”, then forced all Romans to convert with the understanding they were to drive out of the country or kill all Jews.

Aka’s know little about the Jewish people beyond they replaced them or put them #2 from G_D.

Jews will continue as G_D’s #1 people; even if every aka Christian becomes a Muslim.

If every Jew stopped being a Jew, G_D’s plan for salvation of the world would never happen and G_D would be a lie.

Scripture must prove scripture or G_D is false, scripture is 100% true or 100% a lie, 99.9% truth is a 100% lie.

Until aka’s know they are not aka’s but Spiritual Jews grafted into the one family of G_D, they will NEVER understand scripture and continue to market G_D for fun and profit.

How can you be saved from the Law if you were never under the law as a Jew.

Tough question for aka’s:
1)How many Laws of Moses (Jewish Laws) are aka’s told to honor. 14 can you find them. 2) Yeshua calls everyone who is not a Jew a gentile (Rev.11-2) 3) Where does Yeshua say; “Your salvation is of the Jews” 4) How many times does Yeshua tell Jews to stay Jewish 5) Yeshua said: He did not come for the “Righteous”because the “Righteous do not need a doctor” He came for sinners. Who are the “Righteous” (if you call the “Righteous” the self righteous then they are sinners and Yeshua came for them.

The list of questions could continue because when G_D says something aka do not want to hear, they ignore what G_D said. Find out what G_D says to verify what you believe a Disciple said.

Yeshua said(”no one comes to the Father unless the come through me, Except those G_D calls His “RIGHTEOUS” )(Abraham,Moses,Elijah,King Daved..etc.)

How can you understand G_D, Yeshua, the Prophets and Disciples if your don’t understand scripture as a Spiritual Jew!>

I think there are many paths up the one mountain. Surely God in his mercy made paths for Muslims, and Buddhists, and every other religion.

As for gay marriage . . . What is it that makes a marriage sacred? It is the bonds of love. This is what God has joined. It can occur between any number of individuals.>