Quote:

Imagine this. -- You are God. Would you use your power to instigate suffering after life? If so, … for what? You who are all mighty,…you the creator of all things,….why would you want to create a hell for people to burn in forever? Why would you, almighty God, even need it?



Hannelore, I can't even begin to imagine the mind of God. For all I know, we may all just be an experiment in the mind of God. What I DO know is that He can and will do whatever He wants. We are His creation and this was originally His world.

Not the earth is ruled by Satan. God intervenes in the hearts and minds of the people He created, but God, as Father and Creator loves and doesn't want to be loved by force. He wants us to freely choose to love and obey and serve and worship Him. He is Holy and all who worship Him must do it in Spirit and in Truth.

I don't think we have to attend a church to have an intimate relationship with Christ. I think it helps US to be connected and interact with other believers.

My dad is and was a pastor all his life. He didn't need the church to support his family of 7. He was bi-vocational. I've never known a more sincere and loving and devoted and sharing and giving man in my entire life. His church wasn't about money. It was about sharing what we had, about lifting up our church family members in prayer, about visiting them in the hospital, about baby showers and weddings and funerals. My dad has brought more children into the world, dedicated them and buried them of old age than many of us can imagine.

I know a multitude of good men who pastor churches and their families go without food and clothing that the other families have. Many times we had no money, but people brought us produce and a chicken or a goose or a rabbit.

One Christmas my dad didn't have any money so he and mom put IOU's on the CHirstmas tree. After he got his check from the railroad, they made the iou's good.

Let me ask you a question. Did you just let your kids run around the neighborhood stealing, raping, sleeping with the same sex, pillaging, lieing, cheating on their tests and taking drugs? Well, why would a loving Father do that anyway? Just as a loving father corrects his children for their own good and so they will feel loved and taken care of and like "somebody's" in charge, so God corrects and chastized his own children.

Hell was created for Satan and his demons, not for people. Because we have free will and free choice, we can decide for ourselves (1) who we will serve and (2) where we will spend eternity. It breaks the heart of God for a person (not necessarily His own) to opt for service to Satan.

Thank you for the pearl box, but Hannelore, I'm happy and at peace. I WASN'T for a lot of years. I was depressed and had anxiety issues, but now I know what it's like to feel at peace and to have my future on solid ground.

I don't have to waver with every wind of doctrine that blows. My feet and mind are on a solid foundation and there is a lot of peace and contentment in that. God gave me grandchildren and my youngest daughter back. He supplied 30,000 from the sale of a house I'd given back to the bank so that I could buy this one and have a place for my family to live. He brought me back from the dead and has given me such liberty to grow and mature in Him. He's given me His own wisdom and His ability to love.

Why would I need a box. Look at the trouble a box got Pandora. Christianity is rock solid and has been since....well, let's see, from Christ, maybe?? lol

Jesus IS Lord to the glory of God the Father. Mohammed's bones are petrified. The bodies of all the prophets can be found and identified. The body of the risen Christ, will never be found because it was glorified and He sits at the right hand of the Father to make intercession for us, and believe me, we need it.

He's a cheap lawyer, go figure..? My husband and I are polar in our differences and beliefs, but he tells me he respects me more than he ever has any woman in his life. I love him with the love of CHrist and he tells me he's never been loved that way before. You should try it. Its all good.
_________________________
Aarikja Ann