SOT
This is like a soap opera with you. You are cluttering up I wonderful thread with all your hot air. Please pray for forgiveness , everyone here has forgiven you.
Quoting: ParadigmShift Yeah....including me...go figure! :-)
Seriously, SOT, I've met your type before and all they did was preach hellfire and brimstone and THAT pushed me away from even wanting to have anything to do with God. Then I met someone who showed me how loving and understanding Jesus was and I confirmed it by reading the gospels...Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
It was then that I wanted to know Him, and ever since, things have been looking up and, now, I walk with Him and will never turn back.
So, what's the point here?
It's simple.
The Bible says, "By their fruits, ye shall know them."
Keep preaching fear, dread, and threats and see how much "fruit" you bear.
On the other hand, much fruit has been borne by the OP of this post and one of his fruits has been me.
Can you show us YOUR fruits, SOT?
Just sayin.....:-)
In the early 1700's in America, the nation had sunk
deep into sin. Fornication abounded, drunkenness and
disrespect was the order of the day.
Compared to America today which is as vile and wicked
as Sodom or Gomorrah, 1700's America was absolutely
devout, but THAT America had lost its Christian moorings.
Something happened. An outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
that was known at the time as, the "Great Awakening".
Perhaps the greatest preacher of that era was
Jonathan Edwards.
He preached fire and brimstone. It changed America.
Here is one of his most famous sermons.
"SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD"
[
link to www.jonathan-edwards.org]
The "feel good" christianity of today is saving FEW.
The fruits of this Church of Laodicea, are evident
EVERYWHERE.
There is NO true repentence. America is falling
headlong into absolute total moral corruption, and
financial ruin.
Some fruits, huh?
The so-called "fire and brimstome" preaching is
unpleasant to our itching ears today.
That same preaching put an evil nation back on the
narrow path, and if it hadn't we would have been
destroyed long, long ago.
God is Love, but he also is a God of GREAT WRATH.
Solomon said,
Proverbs 1
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge:
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Jesus said,
Matthew 10
28 And fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear him which is able
to destroy both soul and body in hell.
YOU CANNOT APPRECIATE THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL,
UNLESS YOU FIRST UNDERSTAND THE BAD NEWS.
The bad news is that the world WAS and IS headed
for eternal damnation.
But THE GOOD NEWS is that God had mercy on us, and
sent His Son into the world, that WHOSOEVER would
believe in Him, might not perish, but receive
eternal life.
Most people will reject the salvation offered by God,
and will perish. Jesus said so, but He still holds
out the offer to anyone who would receive it.
