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Fri, Dec 25 2009
Romans
5:12 shows that Man inherited death as his legacy because of the 'sin
of one man, (Adam).' 'That is why just as through one man sin entered
into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men
because they had all sinned.'
It CAN be, but is not necessarily the case, consider both the above and the following:
Consider
a perfect computer program that does it's job perfectly (don't think
about Windows ;). Each day it loads up and renews itself, it loads
antivirus when booted, etc. Now imagine a virus that gets past that
protection, this causes a glitch. The computer may still work, but it
does not work perfectly anymore with any number of 'sicknesses' that
may not actually stop it although eventually it may well become
inoperable (such as by a Trojan) or it may simply be eaten up by worm
viruses over time that stop or inhibit attempts to fix it, perhaps even
disabling the antivirus program itself. Being rather insidious, it
cannot be removed except by an outside source (an administrator). So it
goes with us. We have been 'infected' with a glitch in our own DNA and
bodies that will cause us to sicken and die.
Sheol
(Hebrew) or Hades (Greek) is the Bible term for the 'place' (though it
doesn't technically exist except in intelligent minds and memories)
used in the Bible for those born on earth. Even Jesus, a perfect man,
'tasted death' because of the role he plays in relieving Man of the
burden of death. Revelation 20:13, 14 shows that this 'place' is
emptied of those qualifying for what the Bible terms a 'resurrection.'
Such would not be necessary if Man didn't truly die. It states: 'and
the sea gave up those dead in it, and Death and Hades gave up those
dead in them and they were judged individually according to their
deeds, and Death and Hades were hurled into the lake of fire, this
means the SECOND DEATH, the lake of fire. Furthermore, whoever was not
found written in the book of life was hurled into the lake of fire.'
So
death CAN be permanent according to God's choice in the matter as
expressed through his Son, Jesus. Note that even professed Christians
can lose out as Paul shows further in Hebrews 10: 26, 31, 'for if we
practice sin willfully after having received the accurate knowledge of
the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice for sins left. (and vs 31),
it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.' (those
deserving the punishment of eternal destruction)
This
particular death is what the Bible terms Gehenna (or Valley of Hinnom).
This was a place where unfaithful Jews practiced child sacrifice as
well as a public dump in Jesus' day that was used for discarding the
bodies of those not deemed worthy of a resurrection or dead animals,
etc. It was kept burning by the addition of brimstone to enhance the
burning and make sure it was complete so that disease did not spring
from the place. The smell, of course, was horrible. It was the same in
Isaiah's day, when he wrote that 'their worm dieth not.' (KJV). It's
not that the worms had some type of eternal life, but that they are
there to completely consume those who refuse to honor Jehovah God and
his authority. (The same goes for the 'fire' as well.) It is not some
'eternal flame' other than the fact that it is eternally available to
God to 'consume' his enemies entirely and make sure they don't 'come
back' to cause any further damage.
So the real
question is, is OUR death, should it occur, permanent, and that
question can only be faced by our actions and attitudes toward God and
His representatives (NOT the clergy of Christendom who do not represent
Him). We have to continue a careful consideration of Bible verses and
study of such to make a firm determination in our own case. As the
ancient Beroeans, we shall do the same: 'Now the latter were more
noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word
with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures
daily as to whether these things were so.' (Acts 17:11) Mon, Dec 21 2009  Baltimore American 04/23/1910 The first thing that we need in any Biblical discussion of death is 'legal definition.' Various religions and viewpoints define death in different ways; however, the Bible is very specific in it's definition. Eccesiastes 9:5, 6, 10 states the following:
5 For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all, neither do they anymore have wages, because the remembrance of them has been forgotten. 6 Also, their love and their hate and their jealousy have already perished, and they have no portion anymore to time indefinite in anything that has to be done under the sun. 10 All that your hand finds to do, do with your very power, for there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in She'ol, the place to which you are going.
That definition completely nullifies ancestor worship, for example. It also nullifies the idea of some soul 'floating off' into a nether region to live on and play harps. At this point, you shouldn't need much more proof if you accept Jehovah God at His word. But further clarification is welcome because some might say, 'what about thoughts? What happens at the point of death?Let's read Psalms 146: verses 3,4 which clearly state:
3 Do not put YOUR trust in nobles,
Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs.
4 His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; In that day his thoughts do perish. This then shows that THOUGHTS END at death. All of them. If a person were dead a trillion years and came back to life, it would seem but a moment because the brain tracks time even when we sleep and we stir from time to time to shift, etc. while still alive.
So that is what happens AT death, and what precedes it. It's not mysterious, metaphysical, or debatable, it is a simple fact of our lives and we cannot stop the process as one wag said, 'health is simply the slowest possible way to die.'
However, some will bring up the idea of the spirit or soul. These are separate discussions that will appear in the next few threads. I like to use only 3 or 4 Scriptural reasoning points because many people are so indoctrinated with false ideas of what death is from both religious or nonreligious sources, that confusion can set in. This is the direct result of Satan's indoctrination of the human race with his lies and misrepresentations. We have to accept God's Word as it truthfully is. As I tell my kids in English classes, a word or phrase only has meaning in the context in which it is used. This is especially true in the Bible. Think of the word giraffe. You usually only think of the animal. However, the word monkey takes its meaning from the context in which it is used, who said it, when, where you are, events going on, etc. If you are at the zoo across from the cage, your brain will tag the animal. If you are watching some kids, someone might say they are 'monkeying around,' possibly up to no good. Now think of the word 'spirit.' In the Bible, this word can have 7 or more meanings and the same is true of the Hebrew word 'neshemah' or the English word often translated to 'soul.' It can mean a life of a human or animal, or it can be directly translated more accurately as 'life.' These are all other discussions we will consider later. Questions then arise: Is death permanent? What are the kinds of death? What is a resurrection? The Bible provides satisfying and complete answers that you really need to know, in fact, that knowledge is critical to ALL of our lives.
Turn/Turn/Turn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHvf20Y6eoM
Thu, Aug 27 2009  Are you as exhausted as these? is the one that will be saved. Living in the 'time of the end,' we sometimes may feel as these poor guys, yet we have to endure and endure and endure, never give up! The picture is of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Click on this or any picture I submit to enlarge it. Tue, Jul 28 2009 THIS IS WHAT JEFF FOXWORTHY HAS TO SAY ABOUT 'LIVING IN OREGON ! ' If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Oregon. If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Oregon. If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someonew ho dialed the wrong number, you live in Oregon. If you measure distance in hours, you live in Oregon.. If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Oregon. If you have switched from heat' to 'A/C' and back again in the same day, you live in Oregon. If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both doors unlocked, you live in Oregon. If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Central, Southern or Eastern Oregon. If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over 8 layers of clothes, you live in Oregon. If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph--you're going 80, and everyone is still passing you, you live in Oregon. If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow and ice, you live in Oregon. If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Oregon.. If you actually understand these jokes, forward them to all your OREGON friends, who live or have lived in Oregon.
And from me (as a former resident):
If the forest you once enjoyed the view of is gone, you live in Oregon.
If you 'smell something' in the air in the fall, it's 'that moss.'
If your 'golden' hills turn yellow from Scotchbroom, you live in Oregon.
If you have 5 chainsaws and no trees, you live in Oregon.
If you don't think of 'Ford' as a car, you live in Oregon.
The 'real' State plant is poison oak.
If you know what 'elk' are and have probably seen them, you live in Oregon.
If half your money is 'income-taxed' and then you pay the rest out in property tax, you live in Oregon. Tue, Jun 16 2009
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Been teaching myself this using Greasemonkey (love that little guy!) This is a wonderful Firefox addon.
Go
to your Greasemonkey under Tools, then use 'Manage User Scripts'
option. Click it. Then choose an application (I chose Profanity
Filter). The program (if you haven't already done so) will ask you for
an 'editor.' (I chose Notepad which is an original, no special
characters added/deleted (simple text) and GREAT for this). This little
program is actually found in the first layer (in XP) of your Windows on
your C:\ root directory (the primary one). It will be listed AFTER the
K-Security updates listed and is found in alphabetical order. Click on
it. The script will then open in a Notepad window. (Choose 'Open') It will automatically remember this unless, like me, you change computers frequently or are in places where you use others'. (for that I use Firefox Portable) which is basically traceless when operated from a remote or flashdrive.
For
the purpose of this instruction, I wished to add 'certain' words that
weren't already listed in Profanity Filter that weren't being filtered.
Pick a spot in the middle of the listed words and then type your new
ones using the EXACT same format and spacing--in this case ,'yourword',
'next word', etc. (the comma is what we call a 'delimiter' and is a
special character). Beware of special characters like that used in
scripting language. In the 'var' section there is the replacement ***
(Profanity Filter substitutes that for disliked words) and I chose to
use 'bleep' like the old tv shows.
You can then--if you feel
qualified--tend to other script addons and make minor changes, deletes,
and additions. I'd suggest you keep in touch with someone who knows
what they're doing or you'll have to simply uninstall and then
re-install it. (if you kept a backup Notepad file as I mention later,
you'd be fine.)
The last thing you then need to do is simply use
'save' in the File menu in Notepad (Notepad 'remembers' where it came
from so it will save in the proper place). You can use 'save as' for
your backup copy which--like when you edit pictures--is the VERY FIRST
thing you should do and then once it's working for you properly, you
can delete it. You can keep archived copies as well if that's what you
want.
I'm sure the more experience whizzbang power users here
can do even better but this might get you started. I just don't like
degraded language which seems to 'infect' people's ordinary
communications more and more so this is a great workaround for me
personally. I figure if someone can't say it using good language
patterns, then I don't need to read it. (I'm a licensed public school
teacher and in my classrooms foul language is not allowed nor is it in
most public school systems in which I've ever been.) As a Christian and Bible reader, such foul language just doesn't interest me.
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Mon, Apr 6 2009 How to wash a toilet...
This was simply too much of a time saver not to share it with you
1. Put both lids of the toilet up. Then add 1/8 cup of pet shampoo to the water in the bowl.
2. Pick up the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.
3. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close the lid. You may need to stand on the lid.
4. The cat will self agitate and make ample suds. Never mind the noises that come from the toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.
5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a 'power-wash' and 'rinse'.
6. Have someone open the front door of your home. Be sure that there are no people between the bathroom and the front door.
7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift the lid.
8. The cat will rocket out of the toilet, streak through the bathroom, and run outside where he will dry himself off.
9. Both the commode and the cat will be sparkling clean. (Photo provided)
Sincerely,
The Dog
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