Will there be homeless people in Heaven? Who cares? Whoa! A two-part question. And trick questions at that? The correct answers are yes/no and yes. Huh? The answers may very well depend on how you read the question. And how you view life – or don’t. Are you up for this?
Will there be homeless people in Heaven? Who cares? More
Predestiny and free will are two choices given to us by Christian denominations. By people, really. Those who influence what denominations believe about what God said. But are they choices given to us by God? You know, the One who gave the words to the people who actually wrote the books in the Bible? What if God’s words, not men’s words, say that predestiny is about the free will choices we make? We begin with Calvinist core beliefs.
Is predestiny about who we are or free will choices? Calvinist beliefs. More
Is everyone saved by Jesus’ death? That’s an idea that some people believe. Or at least want to believe. David appears to say everyone will be saved in Psalm 22. But did he really say that?
Psalm 22 – Is everyone saved by Jesus’ death? More
This segment of our look at Advent focuses on Old Testament prophecy announcing Jesus’ birth. We’ve seen prophecy about Jesus, but this is specifically about announcing His birth. As we progress through the series on the first Advent, we get more and more granular. It’s truly amazing that prophecies, written by various people, and across thousands of year, all combine together to bring us the person so many people were waiting for two thousand years ago. Jesus Christ, the Messiah and savior for all who believe in Him.
Old Testament prophecy announcing Jesus’ birth More
There’s no reason to think the actual beast in Revelation exists today. There are prerequisites, events that must take place before the antichrist makes his or her appearance.
So why go through all this if the beast doesn’t exist yet? Well, because it matters. If we can be deceived today, what hope do we have when the events in Revelation start to unfold?
Given that we’re so easily deceived today, it’s critically important that we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit. In church-speak, to be able to discern the difference between truth and lies. Not on our own, but with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s look at a few examples of things that deceive Christians, even today
As I said, these examples are important. The things that deceive Christians today are from “ordinary” people. In other words, they aren’t from the antichrist. Not from the beast in Revelation.
Will the beast in Revelation be able to deceive Christians? More
When we say, “our thoughts and prayers go out to you”, who are we sending them out to? Do we actually believe someone’s listening to them? Assuming the answer’s yes, do we also believe that someone can / will do something about them? The answers to those simple questions matter. If we can’t honestly answer “yes” to both of them, then it’s just words. Presumably good intentions, but with no expectation of any results. Essentially, without belief in some sort of response to our thoughts and payers, it’s wasted breath on our part. And a meaningless gesture to the recipients.
Our Thoughts and Prayers Go Out … More
Tears of God? I can’t imagine there’s even one second when someone isn’t doing something to make God cry. Maybe someone who hasn’t been saved – dies – and is forever lost. Could be someone who hasn’t been saved yet – but will be. Or someone who has been saved – but even then we still continue to sin and hurt God.
While proponents of predestiny would say the difference between offered to all and accepted by some is because God predetermined who would accept – does that not mean God / Jesus lied when they said the offer was for all?
The problem of predestiny More
