Norma, there are some unscrupulous religious leaders who try to control other believers, usually for monetary gain. However, Christianity (the only religion I can speak for) is all about freedom. I am not required to do anything to be a Christian, except for accepting Jesus Christ into my heart. My heart changed when I did that and I now see things differently than I did before. I now have a desire to be more like Him. It is a relationship between me and God, not me and a minister or pastor. I'm not controlled by any religious leader and neither are any others I know personally, although certainly many are.

Daisygirl

Norma, you are so right. Young people need to know that there are good people in this world who they can depend on and trust. I want my kids to BE one of those people others can trust and count on.

There is a lot of stuff going on in our world but the Bible says that where iniquity abounds, grace does much more abound and I'm so thankful for that!!

I appreciate your opinions and your cheerful outlook. What a nice lady you must be.

Bluebird,
After your post, I looked up the Maitreya Bodhisattva and found that he is the future Buddha in Buddhist eschatology.

Seems they believe he will eventually appear, if he isn't here already, on earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma.

He'll be the successor of the historic Sakyamuni Buddha, (the fat, smiling one with arms lifted...)

He will be a World Ruler uniting those who he rules over and his coming will be marked by a mumber of physical events like the oceans shrinking enabling him to traverse from country to country freely.

Supposedly he will bring an end to death, warfare, famine and disease (and rebirth) as well as the ushering in of a new societ;y of tolerance and love.

L. Ron Hubbard of Scientology has also claimed to be the fulfillment of Maitreya prophecy in a poem called Hymn of Asia.

Very interesting stuff. If I were going to try and keep the truth from someone, one of the tactics I would use would be to baffle em with BS or camoflauge the truth, or I would dilute it by adding so many 'truths' to the pot that unless you studied and could recognize the absolute truth, you wouldn't be able to pick it out of the rest.

Jesus said, "I am the good Shepherd. My sheep recognize my voice and follow me." If you know your shepherd, you do recognize his voice and all the other 'shepherds' are easy to recognize for what they are.

Well there is a group called Share International that claims he is here already. He is lving in London in a Pakistani community. There's a man named Benjamin Creme who channels a spirit known as The Master, who tells him stuff about Maitreya. I have been reading about this "world teacher" for years now, thorugh the online magazine for Share Int'l. The teachings sound wonderful at the beginning but as they go on, it goes into the whole "You are God" stuff.
I like to keep my eyes and ears open because I truly believe I will be alive during the antichrist's reign. Scary, but exciting.

As far as recognizing the absolute truth - do you know how they teach people to recognize counterfeit money? It's not by showing them counterfeit bills and making them study them. They make them totally familiar with real bills, then they are better able to recognize the fake ones. That's exactly what we have to do, in order to recognize all these fake Christs when they come on the scene.

Daisy, i think the wonderful freedom you speak of does come from God ... God's love is forgiving, encouraging, understanding, merciful and gentle .... it does not include fear .... love begets love and freedom ... for me, some of the clearest words descriping the 'way' of 'life', are in the words of paul as he speaks of love in his letter to the corinthians ....

Number 5, thank you for that nice compliment...
if truth be told though, i have no option but to believe in a most wonderous God and in the good outweighing the bad on earth and beyond .... because the alternative is too awful to for me to accept ..... whether it was true or not ....

have an excellent day each of you .... life is good !!

Here is an interesting and addictive site on
endtimes....

http://www.raptureready.com

Interesting reading no matter who we are or what
we believe.

Daisy, every morning I read from the good book, journal and add people to my prayer folder.

I read and learn every day, but it always ends with my desire to be more like HIm and less like me.

It's all so very simple.

More You,
less me.

Dotsie, I need to be more disciplined in my spritual life and maybe I could be more like Him. But He doesn't force me to do it and He still loves me when I don't. He accepts me at whatever level I am now.

Todays news headlines show protestors in Pakistan vandalizing a Ronald McDonald figure and burning U.S. businesses there. Windows were broken at a Holiday Inn and Pizza Hut while hotels, a Citibank and KFC were burned. It is supposedly the worst violence Pakistan has ever seen. Thousands of people rampaged through two cities on Tuesday. All of this ocurred because of the cartoons published in a Danish newspaper back in September.
I can't seem to find out who actually drew these cartoons. Were they originally drawn by Americans or is this just an opportunity seen by some as a reason to protest the U.S. and our presence in their land?