fredlott63

Heaven and Earth
First read Psalm 103:11 and then Isaiah 55:6 – 9. How much larger is heaven compared to earth. Time and distance is measured on earth in miles per hour. The more time you have, the greater distance you can travel. Space is measured in light-years, which is how far light travels in a year. Light travels at 185,282 miles a second, or about 5.878 trillion miles in a year. A trillion is a million- million. Comparing this earth with the rest of outer space would be like comparing a grain of sand with an Olympic size swimming pool. Outer space (heaven) is tremendously larger than earth. There are no boundaries to this universe. God’s mercy is that great. God has been forgiving sin and pardoning iniquity for thousands of years. Read 2 Peter 3:9 and Ecclesiastes 8:11. God has mercy on us because He is wiser than us. He will not throw out the baby with the bathwater. That’s why Jesus started His ministry preaching repentance. You can live a life contrary to God’s will and turn around. You can overcome your past and transcend your circumstances. Let him that stole steal no more is Ephesians 4:28. I can guarantee that to get anywhere, you are going to go through trials and tribulations. Jesus says in John 16:33, “in this world you shall have tribulation….be of good cheer I have overcome the world.

susanblange Loc: USA

There is a Heaven and Hell, but they are not as Christians, Jews, and Muslims perceive it. All three of those faiths believe you have to be a member of their faith to go to Heaven and all of their members will go to Heaven. Only the righteous meek who love the God of Abraham will go to Heaven. Hell was created for Satan, for the enemies of God, and for the wicked. Hell is a black hole and it is darkness, freezing cold, hyper gravity, and a bottomless pit. It is not forever however, eventually your spirit will be snuffed out (drowned) and you will cease to exist. We are all judged when we die and death is permanent.

mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

Before I ask you my next question, what is the definition of a Christian?

With that being said, would you please show me book, chapter, and verse in the bible where it says that you have to be a member of the Christian faith to go to Heaven and that all Christians will go to Heaven?

susanblange Loc: USA

To me, the definition of a Christian is one who believes in Jesus as the messiah and the son of God. I'm not an expert on the NT, I've only read it three times and I do not consult it on issues of theology. The basic message of Christianity and the NT is what I stated, that only Christians and all Christians go to heaven.

mwdegutis Loc: Illinois

I see…everything is according to YOU…



Before I go on about what a TRUE Christian is, I’m going to address your statement, “…there is some truth in all religions.” There is only ONE TRUTH…JESUS CHRIST! John 14:6 (emphasis mine) – Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

As for your statement, “The basic message of Christianity and the NT is what I stated (again you're the authority), that only Christians and all Christians go to heaven.”

Matthew 22:34-40
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

What is a true Christian?
According to Acts 11:26, the followers of Jesus were first called Christians at Antioch. Why were they called Christians? Because they were “followers of Christ.” They had committed their lives to “walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6).

Other Scriptures explain how a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ and begins this relationship. For example, Ephesians 2:8-9 reveals that a person becomes a Christian by faith, not by following a list of rules or good works: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” A true Christian has faith in Jesus as the Savior.

Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” A true Christian is unashamed to say Jesus is Lord and believes Jesus was resurrected from the dead.

First Corinthians 15:3 says this message of the resurrected Jesus is of “first importance.” Without Jesus’ resurrection our faith is “futile,” and we are “still in [our] sins” (v. 7). A true Christian lives by faith in the resurrected Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:13-14).

Paul writes, "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. . . . The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8:9, 16). A true Christian has God’s Holy Spirit living within.

The evidence of a true Christian is displayed in both faith and action. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). James says, “I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). Jesus put it this way: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). A true Christian will show his faith by how he lives.

Despite the wide variety of beliefs that fall under the general “Christian” label today, the Bible defines a true Christian as one who has personally received Jesus Christ as Savior, who trusts in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone for forgiveness of sins, who has the Holy Spirit residing within, and whose life evinces change consistent with faith in Jesus.

susanblange Loc: USA

@ mwdegutis: I do not consider the NT to be scripture, defined as writings that are holy in nature. Jesus is prophesied in the OT not as the Messiah, but instead as the modern day idol of Israel. You cannot use the NT to prove the NT, it is circular reasoning. Jesus is Lucifer, Satan's counterfeit messiah. The name means "morning star" and that is who Jesus claims to be. Revelation 22:16. He has also been reincarnated and will be the leader of the "sons of darkness". The NT is the doctrine of Satan who has always wanted to be God, and thru Jesus he is worshipped as God. Job 31:35. "...behold: my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book" Satan means "adversary". When the Messiah comes he will abolish the idols in Israel. This time, Jesus will burst into flames along with all of his remaining followers. Ezekiel 28:18, Zechariah 14:12.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

May I ask, what religion are you? You have an interesting view of religion.... a reasoning I have not heard of, so please be so kind as to tell me of your religion as I would like to do research. Many thanks

susanblange Loc: USA

I practice my own flavor of Judaism, Penny. My holy book is the Hebrew bible and I believe it to be the word of God. When the Messiah comes, it will be literally and completely fulfilled. My God is the living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I take the scriptures at their plain, literal meaning.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

Thank you for your reply. You may know, I am one of the three (that I know of) Hebrews on OPP. You now have my interest and I wish to discuss your thoughts. I do not wish to argue but have an open discussion. If you are willing, then I assure you that I will respect your opinion even if we may disagree.

Again, thank you for your very polite and civil response. We do not see many of your caliber on OPP.

susanblange Loc: USA

I am open to discussing anything you would like to, Penny. Most Jews are not interested in my theology because I am not ethnically Jewish. Most are also not interested in eschatology, which is my strong suit. I look forward to conversing with you.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

I am Hasidic and that means that we do not think like the Jew-lite you find in the US. Not that there is anything wrong with their beliefs, they are just simply different. Within my faith, you do not need to be connected by blood... after all, G*d made provisions for converting. And those who think all the folks that followed Moses out of Egypt were noting but Hebrews, they have not read the Torah. So, in my mind you are just as much a Jew as I am as long as you believe in the One G*d, our creator.

So, would you want to do this by PM or are you comfortable in the open forum? Makes no difference to me. I guess the best way to begin is introductions and why we came to our beliefs. My Papa, may G*d give him rest, was a Rabbi and a very special kind. His job was to produce a new Torah or scroll. He was well into this when I was born, so when I began to show interest, he put me to work in translations. First was Hebrew to Aramaic, then Hebrew to German, then Hebrew to Greek, then Hebrew to Latin. And vice versa. All languages used in the time of the writings.

I was first attracted to the poetry, as you probably know we do not just read the words, it is almost sung. And then the stories, how vivid the prophets painted the lives and times, then the words became alive... I became hooked for life.

I was born into the faith. Now, how did you become interested? If that is too personal, then I will beg you to start in any direction you please.

susanblange Loc: USA

Discussing this in the open forum is fine with me, Penny. I officially became Jewish 32 years ago when God called me and I've been reading and meditating ever since. The scriptures are fluid in my mind and everything fits together like the pieces to a jigsaw puzzle. I lean more to Conservative Judaism and am not Orthodox mainly because of their attitude toward women. As you may know, I believe both the Messiah and God is a woman and that is the "surprise". I believe the Messiah could come at any time now and should come by October, 2016 but I'm speculating, nobody knows for sure.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

Thank you.

It is funny when I talk to Christians, they always think of G*d being a male. Which strikes me, and all Rabbis I know as simply incorrect thinking. We do not see G*d as male or female. A couple hundred years ago this was discussed in depth and the conclusion was "G-d has no body, no genitalia, therefore the very idea that G-d is male or female is patently absurd. We refer to G-d using masculine terms simply for convenience's sake, because Hebrew has no neutral gender; G-d is no more male than a table is." We also believe that the first Adam was both, male and female and only separated after creation.

We see woman as special, having or being endowed with more binah, (meaning more intelligence, intuition, and understanding) than men. You see, women were built rather than formed. And logically, when you build something you take time to consider all parts to include past mistakes. It is also interesting that the Hebrew word for build has the same foundation as binah...

We honor our matriarchs; Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah and many of my faith believe that their prophecy was superior to those of our patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And it is implied that woman may be closer to G*d ideal creation for the reason that He built us and we are not easily led astray, remember who worshiped the golden calf, look at the names.... it was not the women.

The Ten Commandments require respect for both mother and father. Note that the father comes first in Ex. 20:12, but the mother comes first in Lev. 19:3. Why would it be reversed... to show that both, mother and father are equally important.

Although some Jew-lite have discouraged women from higher education, this is untrue of the Hasidic Jew, we offer caution because women are closer to G*d that they do not become so absorbed that they neglect family and home. It is almost like we think women can become too spiritually devoted. We do not have nuns (the idea of such a life is contrary to G*d), and no woman or man is intended to be alone.

To encourage you further in your search and understanding, did you know that women have had the right to buy, sell, own property, make contracts and the like from biblical times. These rights were only given to modern American women some 100 years ago. Take a look at Jewish marriage ceremony, Proverbs 31:10-31 which is read at our weddings. You will be pleasantly surprised. We even have a holiday... Rosh Chodesh, the first day of each month, it is a minor festival. On this day, men are to think about what women offer, and their importance in the home and community. In other words, we are waited on and any reasonable request we make can not be denied. We also control the checkbook for the home and are the primary teachers for our children and grandchildren.

Okay enough of that. Anyway, I find it interesting that you think that the mashiach will be a female. May I ask why? The word "mashiach" does not mean "savior." The notion of an innocent, divine or semi-divine being who will sacrifice himself to save us from the consequences of our own sins is a purely Christian concept that has no basis in Jewish thought. Unfortunately, this Christian concept has become so deeply ingrained in the English word "messiah" that this English word can no longer be used to refer to the Jewish concept. His arrival, well as I said he will not be a god or demi-god, but a real person. We do not try to predict his arrival for one good reason, if we make a mistake it could and has in the past caused people to become discouraged and turn away from G*d. We say, he will come at the appointed time, as G*d has a plan and all things (to include people) are part of that plan. Do not misunderstand, your guess is as good as anyone's. Now this brings me to another question, if I may. In your belief, what do you think will happen when the mashiach arrives? And how did you arrive at the date? Just curious... do not be offended, as I said I am open to learning and you may very well be on the right path and I may have too many years living as a Hebrew and have ignored or misunderstood teaching where you have a new and un-obscured view.

:thumbup:

susanblange Loc: USA

It has always been God's intent to live on earth. That was the purpose of the construction of the Tabernacle and later the Temple. It was where God would live. God created us because he was lonely and it is very clear to me that the Messiah is God incarnate. Moses asked God what his name was, and God replied "I AM". God does have a human, given name but if we knew what it was we would also know God is a woman and God wanted people to believe she is a man. If we knew the Truth, Israel would've been weakened by it. Elohim is plural, and God is a husband and a wife, and they are one flesh. Genesis 2:24. Energy is the husband and the Messiah is the wife. Isaiah 54:4-5. There are a lot of scriptures that identify God as a woman. When the Messiah comes, he will bring everlasting peace and righteousness to the earth. There is no fire in Hell, the fire is going to be on earth. There will be three judgments by spontaneous combustion. First the enemies of God, second the wicked, and third all remaining Christians.

susanblange Loc: USA

Dearest Pennylynn: I haven't heard from you in a while and I hope all is well with you. I think I may have offended you by my statement that the Messiah is God incarnate. But I sincerely believe that and I think the Christians are right about that. God is not perfect (nobody is), Psalm 119:96. "I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad". God is only human and we were all created in his image and likeness. God is "melech ha olam", and he will reign on earth forever. He will be executed, but will conquer death and be resurrected on the mount of Olives along with the entire heavenly host. Zechariah 14:4-5. "...and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee".