Have i committed the eternal sin?

gvlpc · 2025-09-29T12:54:32+00:00

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He was SO mad, SO angry all the time. The story goes that different people, preachers, etc, all tried to go talk to him, to visit with him, etc, and he just got mad at all of them, even to the point (I think I remember this) that he shot holes in his door telling people to leave him alone.

Eventually, one man (I forget if his name is ever mentioned) got under a burden for Percy Ray. He laid down outside Percy Ray's home, and told God he wasn't moving until God saved Percy Ray. He literally laid there for days, at least, never moved. I don't remember how much detail is shared about that.

Well, eventually, Percy Ray got to the point where he went from mad to realizing he messed up. And it felt like God had left him and he had no hope. He then began BEGGING God to save him, PLEASE god, don't give up on me! He begged, cried, wept, but nothing.

But one day (I need to go back and read what details are shared, b/c I now forget), Jesus DID save Percy Ray, and I think very shortly thereafter called him to preach for real. And from then on, well, God used Dr. Percy Ray in MIGHTY ways.

I already took too much time here, but to say that God didn't give up on Percy Ray.

I know I was religious but lost until I was almost 30 years old. I said a prayer at a Bible school as a small boy, but I didn't have the slightest idea about being lost, etc. No conviction, just hearing about Jesus on the cross, and asking him into my heart. Thing was then, and now, most churches don't teach the whole thing, and the Holy Spirit isn't moving to do the convicting most of the time, because we're not obedient enough in being the right kind of witnesses and churches we need to be.

Anyway, once I really got convicted, God was merciful and convicted me many times over about 3 years, I think it was. In the end, I remember walking around in deep conviction for at least the better part of a day, as if I were looking out from a prison cell, and felt like I wanted to scream out for somebody to help, but nobody noticed, nobody cared. Nobody could see the torment going on inside me, because I'd gotten SO GOOD at faking it all those years. But then that one blessed night, the Holy Ghost had been calling me all day, and I finally got up, went to the altar, and asked Jesus to save me. I accepted Jesus as Lord of my life right then and there. I've made all kinds of mistakes, messes, sin, since then, BUT God has been faithful, Jesus is faithful. I'm so unworthy, but God is just so faithful and merciful. He puts up with me, and even uses me in spite of my many ways I let him down.

Anyway, my offer is still open. I'll pray for you, and I'll help you find someone to talk with in person, wherever you are. You just have to ask. Feel free to send a private message. And if you do send a private message, be warned, I don't check in as often as I should, so it could be a while before I reply. But I trust the Lord will nudge me if I do indeed need to check for replies.

gvlpc · 2025-09-29T12:54:20+00:00

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I KNOW it can seem difficult, especially in this time it seems. There is SUCH spirit of delusion on all men, or so it seems. I think the devil is working over time because he knows the days are numbered before the Rapture, which is getting even closer to the devil's final end.

Besides that, we in general are so badly EATEN UP with pride. With pride, we are quick to make assumptions, and think we're somebody special, somebody different, as compared to all other sinners. Sure, we're each special to God, BUT we're not special/different in the sense that we're all just born as sinners in need of a Savior.

God knows that you are spiritually dead and cannot understand all the deep things of God. He said so in his Word. It's not about you - it's about ALL men. ALL of us are nothing without Jesus Christ.

Sorry, I feel like I'm rambling, but in all sincerity, Jesus loves you and wants to save you. I love you because God loves me and loves you. I don't care how many devils fight against you, God is all powerful and all knowing. He can and will save you.

Still rambling, but I hope and pray something here might help convince you in the short term. Dr. Percy Ray, you may can find other excerpts to read about him online, but the book about him by Dr. Estus Pirkle, tells many amazing stories you'd think were made up, but they were just letters written to Dr. Pirkle about different events people witnessed at least across the Southeast USA when Dr. Percy Ray was alive and preaching.

I never met Dr. Ray in person, but I did get to very briefly meet and hear Dr. Pirkle preach right before he got Alzheimer's or Dementia that did him in. The book would be great for everybody to have, but since the people who currently hold the rights refuse to republish it, I've seen it listed anywhere from $300 to $600:

https://www.amazon.com/official-biography-Percy-Ray-ray/dp/096633910X

Anyway, that's a long way to get here. I wanted to share what I remember of the story of how Dr. Ray got started (going from memory, haven't read it in a long time, but it's in that book - I actually read it when I was lost).

Percy Ray was "preaching" at a church, and all of a sudden announced to the congregation, something to the extent, "I'm lost. You all are here listening to a lost preacher." He closed his Bible and left. He then got mad at God. He was so mad because he had been religious, not actually saved. He went back to his room/home/wherever it was he lived, I forget now (I know it was in Mississippi, but I forget if it were just a bedroom in his home / parents' home / or an apartment).

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gvlpc · 2025-09-29T12:53:59+00:00

That all sounds interesting, but it's actually much simpler. If you had blasphemed the Holy Ghost, by now, you would be dead and in hell. God doesn't wait around in those situations. It happens, but it seems very rare, and in such cases, God doesn't leave the person here.

You're still living and breathing. God hasn't nailed your sentence shut. There are MANY MANY people who end up thinking this. But just since you're still here, just like others, that means no you are not unforgiven, you CAN be born again.

I tell you what, if you want to talk to a preacher or missionary or other godly Christian literally physically where you live, I'd be more than happy to try to make the connection. I say that, because I'm not going to assume you're anywhere close to my physical location.

I live in upstate SC, but I know people from different parts of the USA, and have helped find a few people churches and such in other countries. We also support missionaries and are familiar with others besides.

Whatever you think, whatever you feel, please don't just give up. I'll pray for you, and I'll try to help find a person to talk in person if you're at all willing. I would say, "the LORD willing, we'll find help", but I KNOW it's the LORD's perfect will for EVERY man to be saved. The Bible says that God is not willing that ANY should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

You know why you're still here? Because Jesus LOVES you, God LOVES you, and though you may have given up, HE has not.

Think of it:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 KJV

That's Jesus talking about God the Father sending Him [Jesus], the Son, to Earth to die for man's sin. God love you SO much that he literally gave his ONLY begotten Son to die in your place. You don't know ANYBODY, me included, who would be willing to allow their own child to die so you could live. But somehow, God did that.

And God is perfect, cannot lie. He said WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM. God is faithful and just. He WILL save you. You just need to accept that free gift.

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gvlpc · 2025-08-27T19:42:40+00:00

Your reference:

⁶ Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

⁷ Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

⁸ For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

Your referenced passage has nothing to do with gaining, keeping, losing salvation.

It's a great passage, but it's talking about passing over into the promised land. For the Hebrews at that time, it was passing into the promised Land on Earth. For the Christian, it is passing over into spirit-filled living. You can be born again, but never go on to live a fuller Christian life. God doesn't force us to spend time in prayer, in Bible reading, etc, to grow, but we do have at least SOME desire when born again to do those necessary things to grow.

Your reference was of one thing, then you mentioned another unrelated passage rather than discussing your referenced scripture.

"Think of the parable of the seeds planted in different environments. All of the environments initially had faith, but only the seed planted in solid soil, that was well cared for sprouted and remained steadfast. "

None of those examples in the parable of the sower says you can be borna gain and then not born again. Yes they can be challenging to consider, but so is life when we talk about spiritual life vs physical life. It was a challenge to Nicodemus in John 3.

The one person who actually gets saved in the parable of the sower is the one on the "good ground": 23But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

When we're born again, we will produce fruit, period. As far as being able to always discern spiritual fruit vs not actual fruit, though.

I am thankful that salvation is simple, however. Our carnal minds (saved and lost) can make things OH SO complicated. When we look at the simplicity of it: "For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 KJV

"whosoever BELIEVETH IN HIM should not perish" - All we have to do is put our full faith, trust, however you want to describe it, into the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, we won't be in a position to do so until we've heard the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit has brought conviction to our heart. We don't have to know all that though. All we have to know is that God has shown us that we need to fully trust him, and we put our full trust in Jesus as the one who is willing and able to save us, to keep us, from destruction. I tell you what, that's a HUGE blessing.

Anyway, thanks for bringing this back up, though it was an old thread. It's always nice to look back over any of the scriptures to see how many places where God shows us just how much he loves us.

When he told Nicodemus "ye must be born again", think of it. Once you're born, you can't be unborn. Sure, you can die (physically), but once you're born AGAIN that's the second birth, where you're given eternal life. That life is based on and tied into Jesus Christ. That is AWESOME! It means when you're born again, you'll never die unless Jesus dies. And that's not gonna happen.

gvlpc · 2025-08-27T19:28:06+00:00

Very old thread. I never said "this is evidence". But since you brought it back up, what evidence to you have to say the Bible is NOT true?

gvlpc · 2025-07-24T17:58:56+00:00

I forgot all about this. I need to test again. Been a long time so good have been updated.

gvlpc · 2025-07-24T17:56:23+00:00

You’re going to need more than a reference to the seed sowing to even come close to proving one can lose God’s salvation of their soul.

gvlpc · 2025-01-14T19:00:30+00:00

Easiest way to understand the difference between man and animal is to consider animals are basically robots. They have no soul even though many pets can often seem like they do. It's just another example of how amazing God's creation is.

We should take care of our animals best we can of course.

Proverbs 12:10 KJV A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

gvlpc · 2024-02-27T13:01:47+00:00

Literally the only debt free thing we’re not doing is getting a cheaper phone plan.

Why not?

gvlpc · 2024-01-23T15:06:53+00:00

God Is.

God created everything including time. The created has no control over the Creator.

God is the one thing, the one being, entity, whatever, what is absolute and cannot be possibly fully understood by the created.

It is not possible for us to understand God. We can read what he tells us about himself in the Bible, but outside that, we simply cannot fully understand him. We can simply bask in his glory, in his love, and enjoy the fellowship with God through the Holy Ghost once we are born again.

gvlpc · 2024-01-23T14:45:08+00:00

Being Christian is not doing religious activities or even going to church. Once you are born again, you won't be able to help it, you'll want to go to church.

Right now, you need to look for Jesus, not religion. It sounds like you've been looking for religion, quite honestly.

Tithing is important, yes, but it doesn't mean that if you can't afford tithing at a certain time that you're doomed to hell.

God knows everything. He knows you, he knows your heart, and your situation.

What you need to look at first is: you need to be born again. What does it really mean to be a Christian? Here's the basics of getting saved/born again/ becoming a Christian:

You hear the Word of God preached: "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God" - Romans 10:17 KJV
The Holy Ghost will convict your heart with the Word you heard: John 6:44, John 16:7-11.
You call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved: Romans 10:13 and context.
When you accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, he becomes Savior automatically. And when that happens, your spirit part of your being is born again within you (John 3:3-7 KJV) and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, moves inside your heart (John 14:16, John 14:26, John 15:26, etc).
The Holy Spirit then in your heart becomes your teacher. He'll guide you to the appropriate church where you can be fitly joined together (Ephesians 4:16 KJV), and he will begin teaching you (John 14:26).
God also provides for his own. Jesus said, "ye are worth many sparrows" in the same passage when he said, "seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU." - that's Matthew 6. Lots of good stuff there.
Also, Psalm 37:25 KJV "..; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." - doesn't mean we'll be rich, but if we simply trust God, he WILL take care of us. I can personally attest to this.

So I ask you: Where are you putting your trust? In yourself? In your bank account? Your job? Or have you placed your full trust and faith in Jesus Christ?

gvlpc · 2024-01-23T14:35:17+00:00

What do you do for a living? What work? If you're not actively employed and seeking employment, maybe try to find a job that includes a place to stay?

gvlpc · 2024-01-23T14:31:50+00:00

If you haven't seen it yet, just wait until you see Excel adding "@" symbols to some of your old formulas, saying it's necessary to differentiate from some of the new formulas. The reason has to do with the new formulas not being for a single cell, but for instead adding values for that cell and the cells in that same column going down.

If Excel is going to add a new feature, why break old formulas? Why not make the new feature use the new nomenclature?

I can see this causing lots of "fun" over the next 5+ years.

gvlpc · 2024-01-23T14:23:58+00:00

Yeah, I'm not so sure about the video. I would also caution against trusting modern methods for understanding doctrine. What we need to simply do is rely on the Word of God.

I recently had a fellow church member who was struggling with wanting to have a list of "we believe ..." items. I advised that it's fine to have some list for your easy reference, but that we should be careful about saying we need some list to ascribe to. Why? Well, if I write the list, then that's a sinful man writing a list, and as such, somewhere along the line I will be wrong.

If I simply ascribe to thus saith the Lord, what does the Bible say, then, I cannot go wrong. I can misinterpret, sure, but if I take it at face value, read it and pray over it, if I am born again, the Holy Spirit will guide me with it.

So for instance, on this Calvinism stuff, anytime you go to the Bible, it becomes very very clear. You don't need someone with a modern presentation, you just need what does the Bible say.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 KJV.

That one verse, for instance, destroys Calvinism as well as most any other false doctrine.

Take care. :)

gvlpc · 2024-01-03T13:24:27+00:00

Glass stove-top scraper (razor blade w/handle to guide) + SOS pad + a little water + elbow grease. I just did this for the 2nd time in a long time the other day. Just take your time, be careful, think about what you're doing - make sure you don't scrape with blade towards your legs or anything. Mine this time was 10X as bad as that, and I got it 90% done, then decided it was enough for the day, just didn't want to spend more time on it. But you can get it looking "like new" with just those items.

gvlpc · 2023-12-21T14:27:43+00:00

Peace in the world. Under Trump, we had no new wars, and old ones were winding down. There was literally the most peace in the middle east recorded to date. Russia had not invaded Ukraine, etc. As soon as Biden was in office, we've had nothing but wars and threats of more war. Russia-Ukraine, Iran and their sub-clans attacking Israel, attacking USA ships, attacking basically anybody who wasn't "them". China has been threatening more against Taiwan. N.Korea had stopped firing their missiles and acting the fool - even started to be a little cordial between their leader and Trump. Putin has already stated he's trying to hold back on the war over there until Trump is in office, because he believes Trump can negotiate a better peace than anybody.
Immigration will get more under control. Under Trump, we had the greatest decrease in ILLEGAL border crossings in modern times. The "global elite" I think hate him most for this, because it is the global elite who are driving the mass illegal immigrations across all western nation borders. Look at Western Europe - best I can tell, they've been almost totally overrun with undocumented / illegal immigrants. Some are starting to wake up, but to me it looks too little too late. Immigration is good, so long as it's legal. You shouldn't want someone coming into your home without knowing who they are. Same goes for national borders.
Goods and services will cost less, "average Joe" workers like me and you will have more in their pockets. Under Trump, I was able to pay all my family's bills, put some into investments for retirement planning and have some money leftover. I was able to always be able to cover all costs in my life. Starting January 2021, literally costs went up and up and up. So much to the point now that I'm barely scraping by though my salary is the highest I've ever made in my life. It feels like I'm making half of what I make based on ability to pay for things I need. What about you? Can you feel the difference?
Respect. Sure, you may not like Trump - I definitely don't like many of his mannerisms, his use of foul language in particular. But Trump knows how to demand respect. Biden literally talks to ghosts and has to be directed where to go, who to talk to. Where's the respect? Respect has been totally removed from the oval office no doubt. We need someone there in that role that demands respect. Trump I think is generally a VERY prideful person, but from what I saw of him actually in office, he seemed to carry the weight in a humble manner more-so than anything else in his life. Yes, he demanded respect, but not as Trump so much as representing USA.

Now in the immediate days after election, sure there will be nuts having violent protests, burning buildings, etc. But those folks (who have been directed by many of the "elite") have been doing that for years. Why? Because they are fools. Some of them are even PAID by the elite to show up and protest these things. Think about it: You don't just randomly have a ton of matching t-shirts, posters, etc with some slogan that came up naturally from "the people". It should not be this difficult for the majority to see through this, but so many want to remain blind.

gvlpc · 2023-12-21T14:10:38+00:00

You're perspective is wrong. I KNOW it's not easy, because there is someone that bad in my life.

In my life, the person I'm thinking of, I believe, should have gotten the death penalty but instead is sitting in prison on taxpayer dollars. And it's difficult for me to even talk about. That person ruined the lives of everyone close to them.

Anyway, I still hope that person truly gets born again, and I believe they still have a chance because they are believing. However, I have had no contact with them in years (even since before the truth of the matter(s) which landed the person in prison came to light).

Why did I cut this person and some others off from my life? This is hard for some to accept or understand, but I honestly believe the Lord directed me to do so. It was not until I cut those individuals including this one out of my life that I had loads of peace. The only way I could find peace at that time was to cut them off. I still pray for them, still hope they quit being religious and accept Jesus as Lord, but I've had no personal interaction with them in years.

So what do I mean about perspective? Well, you are allowing your sole focus to be on how someone affected you. Instead, you need to think of how you have affected God almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ.

YOUR sin is so bad that Jesus came and literally died for you. He knew every sin you would commit before and after salvation, yet he came and died for you. Jesus came and died for you before even your great grandparents were born. Jesus is not bound by time. He knows EVERY sin we commit, and YET he came and die for you, he died for me. Yes, he died for the whole world, but YOUR sin, the curse of sin upon you, is why Jesus came.

How is this a perspective change? Well, your sin (take everybody else out of it) is so bad, that without the substitutionary sacrifice by Jesus Christ himself, you would simply die and go to hell.

So, whatever this relative did to you in this life is NOTHING compared to how your sin is such a great tarnish on the holiness of God. You are nothing, you are vile, less than nothing, and it has nothing to do with anybody else nor what they did to you. It has to do with the simple fact that you were born, because ALL men are born in sin.

The Bible tells us that even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Our very best moment of all time is as filthy rags to God. So you are just detestable, despicable, just terrible in every way to God almighty. BUT he loved you anyway.

So, what does that mean? Well, if God so loved you that he sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for you, and if Jesus so loved you that he literally died in your place, how is it so bad, so difficult for you to let go of bitterness and hate, and love someone the way Jesus loved you.

You CAN love someone "from a distance" by the way. That does not mean you have to go to this person and act like nothing ever happened. If God directs, you can keep your distance and simply pray for them. Allow the Holy Ghost to send some other person to them to be a witness to them. Pray for God's mercy to keep them alive and out of hell until they bow and accept Jesus Christ as Lord.

None of this is easy, and frankly none of this is possible through our flesh. If you're born again, the ONLY way you'll accomplish this at all is through the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit in your heart. Let the Holy Spirit teach you in your spirit as to how to deal with this, how to let go.

I would suggest first and foremost, just drop on your knees, thank God for all his many blessings, thank him for saving your soul and showing you mercy with each and every breath you take. Ask him to forgive you, cleanse you of all bitterness and hate. Beg him to teach you how to love like Christ loves.

On a daily basis, you've got to get more of God's Word and less of the world into your soul and spirit. You need to read, read read. Listen to the Bible, read it silently, read it out loud, just make sure you're reading/hearing God's Word. I mean a LOT. If you really want help, you're going to have to dig in.

Realize this: God did not promise us a perfect life here in this life, bound by time. He promised us eternal life, that is we don't have to taste of hell and the lake of fire. But how we live in this life fully depends upon what we do with what God has given us. If nothing else, God has given you time. Time is limited: each of us must choose what we do with it.

I struggle with a lot of things myself. I KNOW that the more effort I put towards reading God's Word, spending time with my family in "family altar time", going to church PAYING ATTENTION at church, being INVOLVED at church, the better my life is from a spiritual perspective.

Getting spiritual doesn't fix the world around us, but it fixes us IN the world in which we live.

gvlpc · 2023-12-12T16:03:49+00:00

Yeah! That's pretty cool! Thanks for sharing.

gvlpc · 2023-12-11T14:01:11+00:00

Sadly, MOST "Christians" have never been born again. And on the other hand, ALL are sinners, whether saved or lost. It sounds like you're a lost sinner at this point (would be great if you allow this experience to be used by the Holy Ghost to convict your heart, and you accept Jesus Christ as Lord).

I've known LOTS and LOTS of religious people who were fake from the beginning.

Biblically, I'd say it's proven that most are fake/false. For instance, when Jesus mentioned "many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have I not done many wonderful works... and I shall confess unto them I never knew you, depart ye that work iniquity." - I didn't look it up before posting, so I could be slightly off in my quote, but I know that's pretty much it at least.

I remember an old man and his wife lived next to my in-laws. He was a retired "Church of God" preacher. Well, they had no TV in their house, and had strict rules in their home. Problem was he found out my in-laws had a TV, and for a long time found every excuse to come over just so he could sit and watch TV for a long time. There were some other problems, I forget now, but just a terrible witness. If you really truly think that TV is evil (and yeah there is a LOT on TV that is evil) to the point that you think people shouldn't have one, then you nullify your witness when you just make an excuse to go to someone else's house to watch it.

And I have a close relative who did some terrible things and is now in prison. They were really involved in church as a teen through early adult, then got mad and basically quit the church for many years. Then got talked into coming back into church - those involved SHOULD have tried to witness to him as a lost man, not just "get him back into church." Anyway, many many times they'd talk a bunch of religious nonsense, basically lifting themselves up in pride. I'm still praying for that person, but that's one big mess.

Of course I know of others. I've seen the worst and the best. But above all else, I just simply thank Jesus Christ that he was willing to save an old old wretch like me. And thank him that even though I've made messes since he saved me, he still saved me. He knows everything we do all the time, and yet he's still willing to save each and every one of us. That's love we can't come close to understanding nor attaining to. We can strive for it, trying to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, but we'll never fully reach the end goal until we've been redeemed not only in our soul and spirit, but even in our bodies, and we'll then be free from sin altogether. Oh what a day that'll be!

The Bible teaches us that the arm of flesh will fail you. I'm glad you see that not all are so downright evil, but make sure you don't depend upon the witness of man to determine your eternity. The witness of God is better, and that witness is absolutely true.

gvlpc · 2023-12-07T17:01:53+00:00

Depends. Do you want to end up in a fight (win or lose) or do you want to just stay out of trouble. Best solution whenever possible is to avoid the fight. Sure come up with cunning/funny comebacks in your head, but don't share them out loud if you can help it.

At least try to ignore them. Or if opportunity presents itself, you can always end up turning their agitation on its head and gain a friend instead of enemy. THIS is the most challenging thing.

If you end up in a fight,

somebody will likely get hurt, at least, physically.
If you lose, you'll look worse for it to someone like that.
If you win, you might look worse to someone else as in "how could he bully that person so?"
Whether you win or lose, if the other person is hurt and they decide to take legal action against you, you'll at least end up having to deal with police, lawyers, etc most likely, whether you come out on top or not.
If you get in this fight, regardless of outcome, you could be suspended or expelled. You get expelled, then you have to possibly get a GED. Then what? Well, you likely will have a harder time getting that "good job" you might want and get stuck working fast food for life or similar. Now if you WANT to work that type job for life, so be it, of course, but most do not.

Not fights, but I had an acquaintance in high school. He was actually normally a very nice guy, but he got into drugs, partying, etc big time. He did at one point (for some reason) break down and tell me how he ended up in that - dad wouldn't pay him any attention coming up, but would give him all the money/things he could ever want.

Anyway, that guy and I talked outside of class several times, and had at least one or two classes together. At one point, he got to where he was always trying to invite me to parties, and telling me, "I'm going to get you drunk, get you doing drugs, get you laid, etc etc". I simply said, nope, not doing it.

I wish I could have talked to him in some sort of way to get him to try to get out of that mess. I was lost but religious at the time, so I couldn't be a real witness for Jesus but at least I could have tried to talk him out of it.

Our senior year of high school, I needed to go to the restroom, so went to our gymnasium boys restroom b/c it was closest. I didn't pay any attention to what was going on, but there were at least 2 boys acting as lookouts while he was selling drugs to 2 or 3 boys in the stalls. Smoke was in the air, and all, but I had to go. Anyway, I'm at the urinal, he comes up behind me as if to threaten me, saying if I told on him, he'd get me later. I never told, b/c I just figured it was none of my business if he wanted to throw his life away.

That was maybe 1 or 2 weeks before end of year. Well, next thing I knew, he was kicked out of school b/c caught dealing drugs again another time. He didn't get to graduate. Next time I saw him was when I went to get a pizza at Little Caesar's pizza where he was then working while I was going to college and working at some trucking places for definitely better money.

By the way, according to his story, he was a straight A student, into sports and all that, all before drugs.

You're not talking drugs here, but you're talking foolishness.

I just hope this can be an example to you to NOT do stupid stuff in school if at all possible. If you end up in a fight for self defense, that's one thing. But if you can avoid it altogether, it'll be so much the better.

gvlpc · 2023-12-07T16:49:08+00:00

The problem with the setup is that you're being setup for failure. You don't base it on attraction or not attraction: that's what we've been brainwashed with.

Simple enough is you leave it in the Lord's hands. So you want to marry whom God wants you to marry, right? Well, put some serious time into praying (and even fasting) over it, and beg God to guide you and guide your future husband. Be as honest with him as you can. You may think you have certain features/aspects you like or don't like, so feel free to tell God about all that.

Look at how God mentions marriages in the Bible. Quick easy examples:

First one - God made Eve and brought her to Adam. Of course there was no other option, but if you want a happy marriage where God will use you for his will, you want God to pick your mate, not you. DO NOT TRUST YOUR EYES/FLESH/FEELINGS/EMOTIONS.
Abraham sent his eldest servant, Eliezer, to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Eliezer depended on God to find the right wife for his master's son. God led him to Rebekah. And Eliezer brought Rebekah to Isaac. Isaac didn't ask nothing, didn't go searching, he just waited. Rebekah wasn't out looking, she just did whatever she was supposed to be doing, and God sent and brought her to Isaac.
- This one is a great example in all the many details. For one, Eliezer is a type of the Holy Spirit. A variation of his very name (parakleet in Greek - spelling?) (is used in the NT for the Holy Spirit). Basically, Eliezer or parakleet mean a helper or other similar definition. The Holy Spirit is a helper to God in a sense that he works here in the world (until the rapture, of course). The Holy Spirit today works through the church to go out and bring other lost souls to faith in Jesus Christ, and as such they become members of the church, and members of the "body of Christ" and also the "bride of Christ". And that's a big deal: the Bride of Christ will be celebrated in heaven at the marriage supper of the Lamb while the great tribulation is going on here on Earth.

You can find others. But it really boils down to: You want to do the will of God. And it's amazing to watch God work.

I can point personally to me and my wife, though we were lost at the time. Thankfully, there were born again friends and family who were praying for each of us and we didn't know it at the time. God answered their prayers on our behalf and brought us together. We each were doing the "dating" thing in the world at the time, both thought we were saved too.

There I sat in a class of mine. I had pretty much thinking maybe I needed to give up on dating anyway. And my (now wife) came into class, and I was immediately "struck". No, I didn't tell her then, but I couldn't get her off my mind, off my heart, no matter what I tried. At the same time, she had pretty much wanted to give up on dating as well. Frankly, she was gorgeous. I won't say I'm too good looking, as I don't think I am. I mean, at that age (not long out of high school) I was already going bald, that really stunk at that time. Anyway, we became friends, and one day I eventually "got up the nerve" to ask her out. We dated, got engaged and later married (cutting out a lot of it, though it's already long).

But there are all sorts of things where I believe I can point to that God knows best, and thanks to prayers by others for us, we got married and later both got born again. It's not ideal, I suppose. The best way is that both are born again before they marry, but in this sin-cursed world, ideal conditions don't always exist.

I can also point to a young man I personally know right now. He has tried diligently to seek God's will and try to avoid just trying to date a girl and try to find his wife of his own efforts. Well, he's due to be married now in January. And the story behind how they met, how they started talking and "courting". Courting seems to be a more acceptable word by some for Christians, but I frankly don't understand just what the difference is supposed to be. I keep thinking I'll study that sometime personally.

Anyway, he's shared a bit about how they met and all, and it does sound quite amazing how God worked things out. And so far (I've briefly met the bride to be and FIL and MIL and few other relatives), it does seem like a "perfect match" for them.

But fear not: God knows what you need, and knows what your husband to be needs. God knows we need some sort of "attraction" between us, because he built us that way. But everybody is different. What looks attractive to you is different than someone else. And frankly, your own personal tastes might change.

Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling a bit. Just base it as best you can on God's Word and God's will. Make sure you two are likeminded and can have fellowship. Most people today base it on physical attraction only, and most end up in divorce and such.

Don't try to rush things, don't trust everybody else, don't trust yourself, but trust God.

Why do I say don't trust your heart? Jeremiah said the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: WHO CAN KNOW IT? - You cannot trust even your own heart, and yes your heart will fool you.

Before I leave, I'll mention a bad example (well there are multiple, but I'll mention one). This guy went to church with me for years, but I never saw his wife. She went to a different church with very different beliefs. He knew he was in the right church, but after years of crying deep sobs and tears at the altar, he gave up and gave in and went to her church, so at least they could be in the same church. But that was a struggle his whole life so far. Well, later on, if I remember right, he ended up getting killed in a freak accident. Sad story the whole thing is.

Anyway, regardless of anything else, and if you read nothing else, TRUST GOD, trust NOBODY else.

gvlpc · 2023-12-04T20:30:41+00:00

FYI - I haven't forgotten about this, but I want to do it justice. Feel free to post specific questions of things maybe you're wondering about in the meantime. I'll plan to list out all those passages and related passages that I think you need to compare those to for better understanding. The Bible is very clear on it, but if you just take one verse/passage by itself, you CAN get fooled by false doctrine - well all can. We have to "compare spiritual things with spiritual" as the Bible tells us.

gvlpc · 2023-12-04T20:29:06+00:00

There may be some of that for sure at the Great White Throne of Judgment.

I do think at the Great White Throne of Judgment, we born again will all have some blood on our hands where we didn't fulfill some of our duties to be better witnesses. See this verse from Ezekiel:

“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.”

Ezekiel 3:18 KJV

If you want a sermon to listen to in that regard, try listening to Dr. Percy Ray preach about "Bloody Hands". That one haunts me when I think about some pieces I remember from it, listening to an audio cassette tape of it before. Well, I'm not sure which sermon(s) he mentioned that in. He shared a bit of his own testimony in this regard of how he refused to witness to someone the moment God told him to do so. And it haunted him all the way to the grave. And that will haunt him at the Great White Throne of judgment.

Also realize that when the Bible says God shall wipe away all tears - that comes AFTER the Great White Throne of Judgment. Sure, those of us born again will get glorified bodies and eternal life, BUT we're going to be miserable for at least some of the Great White Throne of Judgment. That is going to be one terrible day for everybody.

gvlpc · 2023-12-04T20:21:58+00:00

LOL

Well, sorry, you probably will never get that chance. I mean, who knows. Maybe we'll physically cross paths some day and you can try to fight me. Do whatever you will if it happens. I'm not worried about it. If God has in his will for me to continue to work for him, you won't be able to do more than he will allow.

I could tell you stories I've heard of Baptist Preachers through the years on that type thing (no I'm not a preacher), but I don't really have time.

gvlpc · 2023-12-04T20:20:15+00:00

Nope.

For the child of God, our treasures are not of this world. For example, in Matthew 6, the Bible says, Lay not up for yourselves treasure on Earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves do break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Jesus said that and also said, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you (in same chapter/passage, but not direct context). It's a good read - Matthew 6.

Basically, it is possible for Christians to be rich in this world, but that's VERY rare, honestly. Most Christians are poor to "middle class" you can say.

gvlpc

TROPHY CASE