Your eternal soul is at stake

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Your eternal soul is at stake. Your choices in this world determine where
you'll go for all eternity.

-----
You are a sinner. You were born with original sin (spiritual death), and
you have since been fooled by Satan through your flesh to where you yourself
have committed many sins.

God is perfect and holy and righteous and He does not allow sin to dwell in
His presence. There is one punishment for sin: Death. And for an eternal
being, the only way to have an eternal being die is to have an eternal place
of confinement, which is why Hell was created.

-----
The "good news" message (the "gospel" message) is that none of us need to go
there. Even though we're all guilty, Jesus Christ has made a way out for us
to be saved.

You can have your sins forgiven, and you can enter in to eternal life.

This message is important. If you have not already considered it, please do
so now, because you are not promised tomorrow.

Best regards,
Rick C. Hodgin

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Christians beheadings, crucifixions. Brave souls standing up for their
faith in outreach ministry to the very end:

http://archbishopcranmer.com/christian-missionaries-aleppo-crucified-beheaded/

"While we drink our Fair Trade coffee and pray for the recovery of our gay
pride flags, our brothers and sisters in Christ are risking everything to
share the gospel with those who are being lost. They suffer hell on earth
to keep people out of hell for eternity. What experience of Jesus have
they had which we do not? What God-consciousness do they possess which we
have not? What inner life fires them to such certainty, peace and the
assurance that to die is gain?"

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Listen to the song's lyrics:

Refining Fire - Michael Sykes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aOc-gzzU0g

"I'm dying to myself 'cause that's what you require.
I'll walk through your refining fire."

The Lord leads from within. The drawing we have comes from the born again
nature, the spirit nature, and it is invisible on the inside, not from a
book, not from a list of rules, but a new nature placed atop the old man,
supplanting the old man with the new man.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

I'm the Clay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZspVv223YBA

If you really are the gentle wind,
let me feel your slightest whispered breath.
If you are the smallest drop of rain,
let me feel the moisture on my skin.
If you are a silent soothing voice,
let me hear your every single word.
If you walk down Heaven's golden streets,
let me sense your stirring in my heart.

[chorus]

You are the lover of my heart.
I am the dear devoted child.
You are the master of my mind.
I am the captive meek and mild.
You are the light to guide my feet.
I am the pilgrim on His way.

You say the word and I'll be there.
You are the Model, I'm the clay.
The clay.

If I have to sell all that I own.
If I have to give up all I have.
If I have to open up my hands.
If I have to wander the unknown.
If I have to wait 10,000 years.
If I have to suffer through the pain.
All my joy will come from knowing You,
the Hand that wipes away these tears.

[chorus]

Mmmmm-mmm-mmm.
I'm the clay.
Mmmmm-mmm-mmm.

-----
http://biblehub.com/kjv/isaiah/64-8.htm
8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou
our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

I saw an amazing new series premiere tonight. "The Encounter" on
PureFlix. It's based on the 2010 movie of the same title, my
all-time favorite movie. In the movie, Jesus reaches out to
save three people. In the new series, He reaches out to
save the Earthly lives and eternal souls of some young men.

2010 Movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGdurzFWPPA

2016 Series Premiere:
https://pureflix.com/subscriptions/new?media_id=787629635622

[Melzzzzz]

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls000901468/

--
press any key to continue or any other to quit

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Why are some people believers, and some not?

"We cannot convince a man to believe any
more than we can raise the dead. Such
things are the work of God's Spirit. Men are
brought to faith only through the supernatural
working of God, and He has promised to
work-not through human wisdom or intellectual
expertise, but through the preaching of Christ
crucified and resurrected from the dead!"
- Paul Washer

What did Jesus teach?

http://biblehub.com/kjv/john/6-44.htm
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the
last day.

-----
Only an inner change by God will enable you to come to know the
truth, to come to faith, to come to see your sin, to come to repent,
to come to Jesus, to ask forgiveness and be saved.

Only Jesus can save us. And only those the Father draws will be
saved.

[jacobnavia]

Le 22/10/2016 à 05:09, Melzzzzz a écrit :
> press any key to continue or any other to quit

That looks like Mr Hodgin's "preaching". Any answer is the same
actually, he doesn't care about any answer and can't stop his compulsive
behavior.

But nobody can help him. He just doesn't listen.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

jacobnavia wrote:
> But nobody can help him. He just doesn't listen.

The same could be said for you, Jacob, and many others. The
only difference is if you're right and I'm wrong nothing will happen.
But if I'm right and you're wrong (which I am), you will burn in the
flames of Hell forever.

It's worth serious consideration, sir.

[Öö Tiib]

On Sunday, 23 October 2016 00:31:06 UTC+3, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> jacobnavia wrote:
> > But nobody can help him. He just doesn't listen.
>
> The same could be said for you, Jacob, and many others. The
> only difference is if you're right and I'm wrong nothing will happen.

Where did Jacob claim that nothing will happen? Most people know
that we do not know what will happen. Something will always happen but
we do not know what it is. Are they wrong?

> But if I'm right and you're wrong (which I am), you will burn in the
> flames of Hell forever.

People who claim they do not know the future are not wrong. However you
also are not wrong. You are lying. You also don't know what will happen
but you lie that you know. Did Jesus teach you to lie? No, He didn't.
Something or someone else taught you that.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Öö Tiib wrote:
> Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> > jacobnavia wrote:
> > > But nobody can help him. He just doesn't listen.
> > The same could be said for you, Jacob, and many others. The
> > only difference is if you're right and I'm wrong nothing will happen.
>
> Where did Jacob claim that nothing will happen?

Jacob has said previously he is an atheist.

> Most people know that we do not know what will happen.
> Something will always happen but we do not know what it is.
> Are they wrong?

They are correct in saying /they/ do not know what it is, but only
because they won't come to God and learn what He has taught us.
They remain in willful ignorance because they reject God.

> > But if I'm right and you're wrong (which I am), you will
> > burn in the flames of Hell forever.
>
> People who claim they do not know the future are not wrong.
> However you also are not wrong. You are lying. You also
> don't know what will happen but you lie that you know. Did
> Jesus teach you to lie? No, He didn't. Something or someone
> else taught you that.

I cannot know on my own what is coming, so God has told us so we
will know. He has revealed what is coming for all people, including
believers and non-believers. I repeat His teachings only so that
you too can know, and be saved from the non-believers' end.

----
For believers:

http://biblehub.com/kjv/john/5-24.htm
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life,
and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from
death unto life.

-----
For non-believers:

http://biblehub.com/kjv/revelation/20.htm

The Final Judgment

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it,
from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;
and the books were opened: and another book was opened,
which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books, according
to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death
and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they
were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire.

God cares about enough to guide us. His answers are before
us, readily known. But because of sin, readily dismissed as nonsense
by many.

[Juha Nieminen]

Rick C. Hodgin <rick.c...@gmail.com> wrote:

> The same could be said for you, Jacob, and many others. The
> only difference is if you're right and I'm wrong nothing will happen.
> But if I'm right and you're wrong (which I am), you will burn in the
> flames of Hell forever.
>
> It's worth serious consideration, sir.

What if it's you who is worshiping the wrong god, and it's you who
ends up in hell forever?

Also, quite a loving god you have there. That's what we call a psychopath.
What kind of loving father tells his children "either you love me, or
I will lock you up in a torture cellar I built myself, and torture you
there forever"? That's not a loving father. That's a psychopath. That
kind of father wouldn't deserve love and worship, but extreme contempt
and disgust.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ne...@netfront.net ---

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Juha Nieminen wrote:

> Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> > The same could be said for you, Jacob, and many others. The
> > only difference is if you're right and I'm wrong nothing will happen.
> > But if I'm right and you're wrong (which I am), you will burn in the
> > flames of Hell forever.
> >
> > It's worth serious consideration, sir.
>
> What if it's you who is worshiping the wrong god, and it's you
> who ends up in hell forever?

I have investigated Jesus Christ. I have tested Him and tried Him
and proved Him out. He is solid, and completely foundational. He
is God, and because of Him we have hope.

> Also, quite a loving god you have there. That's what we call a
> psychopath. What kind of loving father tells his children "either
> you love me, or I will lock you up in a torture cellar I built myself,
> and torture you there forever"?

You have it backwards. Sin blinds you to that reality, and twists your
thinking so you see it that way. Your thinking is actually evidence of
how much we need Him.

Sin destroys everything it touches. It does nothing else. Consider
the /one/ sin by Adam and Eve, and all the death, all the hate, all
the wars, all the killing, all the disease. This is the place we live in
right now. And if you examine your life closely, and compare your
daily actions to the call of God in the Bible (toward holiness), you
will conclude that nearly everything you believe and do today is full-
on sin. You are damaged goods because of sin. We all are. We're
all broken and do nothing but evil when our acts, thoughts, and
deeds are set alongside a holy, holy, holy God.

If a member of our society today did nothing but evil, hurting
people everywhere he went, he would eventually land in prison
with a life sentence without the possibility of parole. It's not
because we hate the person, but because all they are capable of
doing is harming others. If they had been able to be reformed, or
converted in some way so they stopped doing evil, they might
have not wound up in prison for life.

Sin is a disease. Once sin was committed by Adam and Eve, they
spiritually died. The original nature they possessed had been
altered by the transgression, such that because they disobeyed God
willfully, and because the punishment of sin is death because sin
is so harmful and destructive, they died that very day, even though
in their flesh they lived many more years.

Sin is so destructive, God had to build a special kind of super prison
to contain it, the place called Hell. There, the evil that is sin is kept
in check so that the worker of sin can no longer do harm to the
truly innocent in the rest of His Creation.

It's as the prisoner in prison for life. If that prisoner gets along
with people, obeys the rules, even helps out, he may get decent treatment, a few freedoms, some liberties, but it
will all still be within the confines of the prison system. But if he's
wicked, cruel to the other inmates, he'll be in lockdown, solitary
confinement, isolation, so that no one even sees him as food and
water are slipped through closed systems such that there is no
possible connection between him and the guards, let alone the
outside world.

God has established a system to contain sin appropriately.

Sin is so evil, so destructive, so heinous, so without any redeemable
quality, that not only must the prisoner be placed into prison,
into solitary confinement, secured with unbreakable chains, kept
in total isolation from the "outside world," but there must be an
ongoing occupier of the sinner's mind, being, and substance, to
prevent them from exerting influence on any other thing in God's
Creation.

We are powerful beings, Juha. More powerful than angels. God's
"security measures" take that into fullest consideration when
the extent to which isolation and mental occupation is required.

Remember ... one sin, and how much death? Every animal. Every
person. Every child with cancer. Every mother struck down in her
prime. All the result of one sin.

God would've been justified in ending His Creation with Adam
and Eve. To isolate them in prison (Hell), and be done with it.
But He would never have created you. Or me. Or the other billions
that were created. All of them would've been lost too.

We are eternal beings, beautiful and powerful. Sin has robbed us
of spiritual life and spiritual vision, so we don't see it. But God
has not abandoned us. He's watching each of us. He's putting
things before our paths on life to see how we respond. He's testing
us, not to discover what we'll do because He already knows, but
to provide a witness, the proof to us, to others, to the books being
written whereby we'll be judged.

He knows who will be saved, and who won't be. And the precious
nature of those who are forgiven of sin, the redeemed, are why
He didn't end mankind with Adam and Eve. Even from their
corrupt-with-sin seed are literally billions and billions saved, so
many they cannot be counted the Bible says.

God tries the reins of each person's heart. And those whom He
wills, and those who seek the truth, He draws to His Son for
forgiveness. Jesus still pays the full price of our sin in Hell, but
it is His gift to us to set us free from sin, and the eternal death
from sin.

> That's not a loving father. That's a psychopath. That kind of father
> wouldn't deserve love and worship, but extreme contempt
> and disgust.

He would be a psychopath if sin were not so pervasive and
destructive. But perhaps now you can see it in an eternal light,
recognizing what one sin by Adam and Eve caused, and how
much havoc one sin-loving being could wreak over eternity.

God is wholly justified in sending people and demons to Hell
because sin is that destructive.

The miracle and love of God is that He was willing to save any
of us, for we have all sinned and are guilty before Him. That
He would still make a way out for us ... what an amazing gift.

[Öö Tiib]

On Sunday, 23 October 2016 05:52:21 UTC+3, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> Öö Tiib wrote:
> > Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> > > jacobnavia wrote:
> > > > But nobody can help him. He just doesn't listen.
> > > The same could be said for you, Jacob, and many others. The
> > > only difference is if you're right and I'm wrong nothing will happen.
> >
> > Where did Jacob claim that nothing will happen?
>
> Jacob has said previously he is an atheist.

It does mean that he believes God that does not exist and that Bible
is similar fairy tale like Cinderella. It does not mean that he believes
that nothing will happen.

>
> > Most people know that we do not know what will happen.
> > Something will always happen but we do not know what it is.
> > Are they wrong?
>
> They are correct in saying /they/ do not know what it is, but only
> because they won't come to God and learn what He has taught us.
> They remain in willful ignorance because they reject God.

It is because there are no God to go to. None. Nowhere. Ordinary
people, totally mere mortals, rule this world and all Churches
in it and write books about God. People like Hillary Clinton and
Donald Trump.

>
> > > But if I'm right and you're wrong (which I am), you will
> > > burn in the flames of Hell forever.
> >
> > People who claim they do not know the future are not wrong.
> > However you also are not wrong. You are lying. You also
> > don't know what will happen but you lie that you know. Did
> > Jesus teach you to lie? No, He didn't. Something or someone
> > else taught you that.
>
> I cannot know on my own what is coming, so God has told us so we
> will know.

No, you simply don't know. Are you prophet? Do you talk to God?
Jesus suggested to look at fruits of prophets in your own Book.
Yes, Matthew 7:16. What are your fruits? No, you are not a prophet,
sorry. You have convinced everybody in newsgroups you post to.

> He has revealed what is coming for all people, including
> believers and non-believers. I repeat His teachings only so that
> you too can know, and be saved from the non-believers' end.

That is fraud called bait and switch. You call to God and then cite
some book written clearly by man citing other man. Where is God?
You don't know. Like all rest of us.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Öö Tiib wrote:
> [snip]

The Bible is the written word of God, and Jesus Christ is God. He
came here to save us from death through sin, and He accomplished
His goals at the cross through His death, burial, and resurrection. All
who put their faith and trust in Him are saved.

Your knowledge of the Bible is flawed, Öö Tiib . I urge you to seek the
truth and put away preconceptions because you'll find they're wrong,
and that they are doing you harm.

You can learn about God by seeking the truth, asking Him for help in
faith and understanding, and in reading the Bible. He will know if
you are serious in seeking the truth. If you are, He will open up your
understanding so you can come to know it.

You are a beautiful creation of God with tremendous value. Your
life was given to you with a plan by God to prosper eternally. You
are deeply loved. It's why He goes through these efforts to reach
you. He wants you to be with Him where He is forever ... in the
eternal paradise of God.

[Öö Tiib]

On Sunday, 23 October 2016 16:04:57 UTC+3, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> Öö Tiib wrote:

> > [snip]

Everybody are already convinced that you are rude person without
any manners so why to bother demonstrating it again?

[snip]

What are your fruits?

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Öö Tiib wrote:
> What are your fruits?

A fair question. Let me ask you: What would the fruits of a
believer in Jesus Christ be? What are some of the things people
could look for to know somebody was truly born again?

[Öö Tiib]

On Sunday, 23 October 2016 16:45:57 UTC+3, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> Öö Tiib wrote:
> > What are your fruits?
>
> A fair question. Let me ask you: What would the fruits of a
> believer in Jesus Christ be? What are some of the things people
> could look for to know somebody was truly born again?

I can attempt to answer but I may misunderstand the Christian
scripture, I am atheist after all. My impression is that nothing
ethereal is needed; the fruits (or lack of such) should be clearly
present in this world for everybody to observe. It was likely meant
that people should look at what such preachers have achieved or in
process of achieving, who follows them ... whom have they converted
and what have the followers done. So what are your fruits?

[Rick C. Hodgin]

You can google my name and inspect the things I've done and see
if you see any fruit if you want. If not, no harm no foul.

[Juha Nieminen]

Rick C. Hodgin <rick.c...@gmail.com> wrote:

>> Also, quite a loving god you have there. That's what we call a
>> psychopath. What kind of loving father tells his children "either
>> you love me, or I will lock you up in a torture cellar I built myself,
>> and torture you there forever"?
>
> You have it backwards.

No, I don't. According to your own religion, your god created
everything, including hell, and it's he who sends people to hell
for not loving him enough, to be mercilessly tortured for all
eternity, and once there, there is no possibility of redemption.

In other words, your god is a psychopath. And I'm not using that
just as a random insult. That's *exactly* the act of a psychopath.

Imagine there were a person who is an absolute monster, who has
done unspeakable evil to you, and you hate with every fiver of
your being. You hate that person so much that you would want him
to be punished and tortured in the worst possible way. But, there's
a caveat: You must witness that torture. 24/7, as long as it goes on.
You must constantly watch the torture and suffering.

No matter how much you might hate that person, no matter how much
you might enjoy watching the torture at first, if you are a normal
healthy person at some point it will be too much. Enough will be
enough. Be it weeks, months or years, but at some point you will
just ask for it to be stopped. If you have the alternative to just
make that person cease to exist, at some point you will ask for that.

Except if you are a psychopath. That's because psychopaths have the
inability to feel empathy. A psychopath could watch someone get tortured
forever, and they would never get tired of it, they would never empathize,
and they would never feel pity.

That's your god. He would watch people be mercilessly tortured for all
eternity, doing nothing about it. Not only that, but it was he himself
who created hell and sends people there. And he is ever omnipresent,
and can see and feel every second of that merciless torture being
applied to those people. And he just watches, for all eternity, without
ever stopping it.

Your god is a sick psychopath, and deserves utter contempt and disgust.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Unless you have experience being the God of the entire universe, including
those things unseen in our physical world today, unless you are a person
who has never made a mistake and knows all things, unless you are a person
who is able to know what it's like to be ruler over trillions and trillions
of living beings (man, angels), each of whom are the equivalent of gods
(lowercase "g" in their abilities and power, then would you please at least
leave room for the possibility that your few-decades of experience in this
wretched Earth with all its disease, hate, war, and death, could've possibly
tainted your viewpoint slightly to where you think you know things about God,
but that you don't really know and are simply seeing Him through tainted
eyes?

Is there room in your assessment of God, of man, of the universe, for the
remote possibility that you could be wrong, Juha?

[Melzzzzz]

Same question for you...

--

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Monday, October 24, 2016 at 8:17:48 AM UTC-4, Melzzzzz wrote:
> "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Is there room in your assessment of God, of man, of the universe, for
> > the remote possibility that you could be wrong, Juha?
>

> Same question for you...

When I believed as Juha did, I was convinced I was right. It took me
searching the truth, and God flipping that inner switch which allowed
me to then know the truth. And when I asked forgiveness for my sin and
was born again, the change occurred within me.

I now know for certainty who God is, who Jesus Christ is, and I accept
on faith those things He has told us because of the long list of things
I am able to test and prove out, He has proven Himself to be 100% correct,
and on the things I cannot prove out they are in line with what one would
expect in considering such things.

Consider this:

http://biblehub.com/kjv/hebrews/11.htm

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.

Through the born again nature, God Himself affirms things we cannot know
in the flesh. It's what I keep trying to teach you (that we are dead in
sin, that we cannot see spiritual things until God begins to draw us, and
until we are born again).

There is more to our existence than what our eyes see, and our minds think.
It goes far beyond that into invisible thing, spiritual things, and that is
the real life, the eternal life, whereas this life is only temporal.

[Juha Nieminen]

So you want me to believe in your clearly psychopathic, evil god,
just in the hopes that perhaps, maybe, not only does he exist, but
maybe he isn't so obviusly evil as your theology seems to imply?

Sorry, but no. Even if there were 100% certain proof beyond any
doubt that he existed, I wouldn't worship him. He's an evil psychopath
who not only causes endless suffering of people due to criminal
negligence, but moreover punishes people with infinite torment for
the simple reason that they don't believe in him, or love him in
the right way.

Luckily no such god exists, which is good.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

I want you to hold out possibility that you are wrong today, and
that something in your life may come about to change your thinking
in a way that today you could not imagine, but on the other side
of the change you'll stand there with your mouth hanging open and
say to yourself, "I would never have believed it if it didn't happen
to me."

Why do I ask you for this? Because it's exactly what happened to
me. It's exactly what happens to many people who were staunch
atheists before they came to faith. God changes a person such that
they then see correctly through spiritual eyes, and not natural
eyes.

It's why this song lyric exists:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I'm found,
Was blind, but now I see.

"Was blind, but now I see." God changes a person THAT much, Juha.
And it demonstrates how literally blind/lost we are BECAUSE of sin.

'twas Grace that taught,
my heart to fear.
And grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear,
the hour I first believed.

From the first hour, we see then our sin, we see then the grace God's
given us to keep from destroying us despite our wickedness. Not just
"man's wickedness," but our personal ongoing day-in/day-out wickedness.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come.
'tis grace that brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead us home.

God's been active in our lives day-in/day-out, even when we didn't
believe in Him. There's a movie about this you could watch:

The Encounter (2010):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGdurzFWPPA

And when we learn more about God:

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
as long as life endures.

Because Jesus died, and resurrected, we now will live with Him.

When we've been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise,
than when we first begun.

And it is eternal.

-----
The words of that song were written by a man named John Newton. He
was a vile slave trader who God worked on over many years to the
point where his life completely changed and he went back to England
trying to get the slave trade to end. He became a pastor and lived
out the remainder of his days in service to the Lord, even when his
body began to fail on him.

We are more than this flesh, Juha. We are also spirit. But because
of sin we are spiritually dead today. It's why Jesus teaches that we
must be "born again" (of the spirit, John 3). When we are born of
the spirit, then we are no longer flesh-only, and we receive the truth
of God through that spirit, and He then teaches us the truth our flesh
could not receive, because the truth of God is spirit, not flesh,
which is why you cannot know it today.

-----
We are more than this flesh, and it is within the "more" we don't
currently possess that the knowledge of God, and the surety of Him
comes from. We cannot know as we are born, but only as God enables
us by changing us from within to give us the drawing, and ultimately,
the born again nature.

Please don't just discount people who have had conversion experiences,
who have come to be born again. There are too many for it to be so
easily dismissed. Seek the truth, and you will find the truth of why
so many have come to faith in Jesus Christ, and proclaim His name even
today in this world we live in. It's not for nothing, I assure you.

[Öö Tiib]

Intelligent people among us know that we are ignorant and that we
are wrong. Also we know that same will continue in future. How can
finding out such simple truism be jaw dropping? It may happen that
this universe has creator despite that we believe there are none.
So you claim you were all-knowing unintelligent asshole? Can it be
that you have never stopped being one?

It won't be jaw dropping news. Yes, finding out that the creator
of this universe made it for torturing here someone for eternity for
whatever sin would be surprize to me. I can't love nor worship such
beings anyway. So I continue to believe that those perversions
are lies and ugsome fruits of sick fantasies of you and your ilk.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

The jaw dropping component was how I had known myself to be a particular
way for 34 years, and when I came to faith in Jesus Christ how much
everything changed.

Flowers were beautiful. Squirrels scampering were beautiful. And
whereas I had always thought they were beautiful, they were now beautiful
in a new way. It's as if the black-and-white imagery I had seen before
had now been turned up into full color, even though my eyes were still
seeing it the same way, there was something on the inside which saw
these things anew. It was stunning. It was breathtaking. And it was
totally jaw dropping. And it didn't happen all at once overnight. I
observed these changes for years, and still continue to do so 12+ years
later.

> It may happen that
> this universe has creator despite that we believe there are none.

> So you claim you were all-knowing unintelligent .. ? Can it be

> that you have never stopped being one?

I claim that I was very intelligent, well thought out, and that I had
a good handle on a great many things. I claim that I did not know
everything, and would tell people the same, but that I was also
convinced that a person didn't need God in order to live a good and
decent life. And I was convinced I was right about that because I
saw people do it every day ... from every faith ... from every walk
of life ... from every economic position. Some people simply "chose
to be good" in my book, and they made it happen.

What I couldn't see then was that even in my "goodness" I was still a
sinner. I couldn't see my sin as sin because I was just being like
everybody else (more or less), and I thought I was just an average
"good guy."

It took the eyes of faith to show me where I was horrid, and the
extent to which I was horrid. And most people wouldn't have looked
at my life and said, "Ooh, Rick, that's horrid." They would've been
doing the same things, and we would've been having fun doing them.
But through God's eyes, through His Holy Spirit living inside my heart
speaking to me from the inside out, I was able to see the heinous
things I was doing for what they were. And I repented. I ran away
from them because it was so obvious. And there were countless times
I stood in front of the mirror weeping, absolutely weeping like a
parent who had just lost their child, over my sin.

God gives you new vision to see things as He sees them, not as the
inertia of your former life has you believe them, or as society
would regard them, but as they truly are.

> It won't be jaw dropping news. Yes, finding out that the creator
> of this universe made it for torturing here someone for eternity for
> whatever sin would be surprize to me. I can't love nor worship such
> beings anyway. So I continue to believe that those perversions
> are lies and ugsome fruits of sick fantasies of you and your ilk.

You will stand before God in one of two ways:

(1) Forgiven, to which you have nothing to fear.
(2) Unforgiven, to which you will quake to your bones.

Ever been to the principal's office? Or in a court of law where the
judge has the authority to radically alter your life? The kind of
internal pressure you feel in such situations does not compare to
any sort of aspect of what it will be like standing before God ready
to be judged for the entirety of your life.

The Bible records there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. I
have always concluded weeping over the knowledge that it was all
real, and that you knew it in your heart but you denied it, and now
you see it and you know how beautiful God is, how beautiful eternity
is, and how you will never have a part of any of it because you
would not receive it. And gnashing of teeth over being so angry at
yourself for holding on to sin rather than following after the truth,
for holding on to Earthly things rather than considering eternal
things ... because on that side of death, when you stand before God,
you will be stripped of your sinful flesh, your sin nature, you
ability to lie and cheat and steal away against the truth. In that
state you will be fully cognizant of the truth, and it will burn
through you like a laser beam.

Nobody will strut before God. Every knee will bow, and every
tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, and all to the glory of
God the Father in Heaven. If you do so here on Earth you receive
salvation for your eternal soul. If you do so only in Heaven, then
you receive condemnation, such that after you bow the knee, and
after you make your confession, strong angels come and take hold of
you and carry you to the precipice of the lake of fire and toss you
headlong into it, such that the last thing written in the book of you
will be, "[Name] was then cast into the lake of fire."

http://biblehub.com/kjv/philippians/2-10.htm
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

God has exalted Jesus to this point for this purpose! He has exalted
Him to be Lord over all because of who He is, and to defeat the devil
who had come to destroy God's creation. He accomplished His goals,
but all of those who have defected and would not return to Him in His
Kingdom, they are now lost just as Satan is.

http://biblehub.com/kjv/revelation/20.htm

The Final Judgment

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was
found no place for them.

The Earth and Heaven were fleeing from His face. Do you think you
will be able to stand before Him? No. You will quake and shiver
like a scared-to-the-core little girl because you will know your sin,
and what it means eternally.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book
of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works.

We are judged by our own choices, our own actions, our own words.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and
hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works.

All people, past, present, future, up to the time of this final great
white throne judgment.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death.

There is a temporary death that holds people. The Bible describes it as
a sleep that comes over those who die before the endmost times. They "go
to sleep" and then time passes with them unaware, such that they then
wake up when summoned by name by God to answer for their life.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire.

This is the most frightening part. Nobody comes back from that casting
in. IT'S WHY I SPEND ALL OF THIS TIME TEACHING YOU THESE THINGS.

Nobody has to go there. Jesus will save EVERYBODY. All you have to do
is humble yourself, acknowledge your sin, repent of your sin, ask Him
to forgive your sin, and He does. There are no mountains to climb, no
valleys to cross, no feats of physical skill or intellectual prowess.
Just a humble acknowledgement that you are a sinner, and that you need
to be forgiven.

How could God make it any easier and still give you a choice? What more
could He do to give you the opportunity to save your eternal soul? He
only wants you to be aware of your sin, turn away from it, and ask Him
to forgive you.

It is the enemy of God, Satan, and all his demon imps, who are feeding
your mind with anti-God thoughts, anti-God sentiments, anti-God feelings.
It is that enemy who is the real enemy, as he is luring you to abandon
any thoughts of coming to Jesus Christ by an earthly enticement of sin
in some way. The sin of pride so that you won't admit you're wrong or
that you need a savior. The sin of being better than me, so that you
can think you're superior to my obvious stupidity in believing such a
thing. The sin of inertia in your life and not wanting to lose the
things you have because if you turn to Jesus Christ you'll have to cut
out this, and that, and the other thing, etc. And so many other sin
temptations.

Jesus is worth all we lose. And what we gain is so much more than we
lost. It's my testimony to you, and everybody here. There's even a
song people have written about it based on a Bible verse sung by the
angels in Heaven with a single voice:

"Worthy is the Lamb"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gae-n0Pb7Q

Jesus is called "The Lamb of God" because He took our pain and shame
away, and gave us His free gift of righteousness, and eternal life.

There is no greater gift ... and it is only the enemy who is tricking
you into believing lies about Him, such that you will then through
your own choices toward pride and sin, keep you from coming to Him to
be forgiven so that you too are lost just as his sorry self is.

There is victory in Jesus Christ. Real victory. Eternal victory.
The kind that never fades away, but rather lives in total triumph
eternally.

No greater gift.

[Öö Tiib]

The school principals I've met were all good people so I can't
compare them with evil god. I don't claim being saint but I have
never been accused in any crimes in court. I don't fear that I will
and won't panic even if I would be accused since I know I have
done nothing criminal and believe that good people will protect
me.
The only thing that I can fear is that some (religious or otherwise)
idiots may hurt or kill someone I love by accident or in desperation
to please their evil fantasy Gods or what not.

> The kind of
> internal pressure you feel in such situations does not compare to
> any sort of aspect of what it will be like standing before God ready
> to be judged for the entirety of your life.

What pressures? Who deserves life-time punishment for being
wrong? I can't still imagine that I love evil gods, sorry. It is repulsive!
I won't even make attempt to be hypocrite and to pretend that I
will.

>
> The Bible records there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. I
> have always concluded weeping over the knowledge that it was all
> real, and that you knew it in your heart but you denied it, and now
> you see it and you know how beautiful God is, how beautiful eternity
> is, and how you will never have a part of any of it because you
> would not receive it. And gnashing of teeth over being so angry at
> yourself for holding on to sin rather than following after the truth,
> for holding on to Earthly things rather than considering eternal
> things ... because on that side of death, when you stand before God,
> you will be stripped of your sinful flesh, your sin nature, you
> ability to lie and cheat and steal away against the truth. In that
> state you will be fully cognizant of the truth, and it will burn
> through you like a laser beam.

How sinister and evil you sound. Brrr. What you worship there?
The demons are indeed envious of flesh I've read. But that is also
mysticism. I have seen dead people. Their "sinful flesh" wasn't
carried anywhere to be "stripped". It was dead. Lifeless. On some
cases it was burned on some cases it was buried by other people.

>
> Nobody will strut before God. Every knee will bow, and every
> tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, and all to the glory of
> God the Father in Heaven. If you do so here on Earth you receive
> salvation for your eternal soul. If you do so only in Heaven, then
> you receive condemnation, such that after you bow the knee, and
> after you make your confession, strong angels come and take hold of
> you and carry you to the precipice of the lake of fire and toss you
> headlong into it, such that the last thing written in the book of you
> will be, "[Name] was then cast into the lake of fire."

Yes they toss me into lake of fire and sulfur but you will live happily
with your ugsome god on shore of that lake in paradise of pleasures
and glory. I feel sad that you have such fantasies but people are
different, sorry.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Jesus Christ is truth. The universe He build is founded upon Him, so it
is founded upon truth. All who reject Him reject truth, and are therefore
embracing and pursuing lies.

How can lies be tolerated in a universe built on truth?

The Bible teaches Satan is a liar, and the father of lies. It is he who
has rebelled against God. It is he who came in and destroyed God's perfect
and harmonious creation ... through the introduction of lies, which then
caused people to sin. And what harm has sin done to this world?

If you could be whisked back to see the Earth before sin entered in, you
would call it a paradise of paradises. Everything was "very good" by
even God's proclamation, and His standard is perfection.

What sin has done is bring this world to its current state. And what
people who will not embrace the truth, who will only hold on to the lies
of the devil, will do in eternity is destroy God's eternal creation by
the acts of destruction which alter that which is good into that which
is destroyed or diseased, just as we see in our bodies with cancer where
good tissue is replaced with diseased tissue, and just as we see in the
world where good resources are tainted into poison and death.

The prisoner example of someone on Earth. If a person is intent to only
and always only do harm, then they will eventually be caught by the
police, arrested, sent to prison, and ultimately wind up in a solitary
confinement cell without any direct contact with people because all they
do is do harm. These are earthly people with regular bodies who can
only do so much harm. But what could they do if they were gods? Because
the Bible teaches us that we are the sons and daughters of God, and that
we also are gods. What could a being with god power do to a perfect
harmony like Heaven?

They would do the same thing to Heaven we've seen sin do (through our
flesh) down here to the Earth ... destroy it. Introduce death. Entice
others to sin, and so on.

God has no choice but to bind people who reject truth, and embrace total
falseness, so that they cannot, through their eternal life, affect the
things of eternity.

If you can't see that necessity ... then look again because you're only
thinking temporally, and not eternally. You're only thinking of things
like we have here on Earth, and not of the requirements of unending life,
and true god-like powers.

FWIW, Hell was never created for man, but only for fallen angels. But
because of man's sin, pride, and arrogance in refusing to turn from their
sin, Hell enlarged herself to accommodate all who embrace the lie:

http://biblehub.com/kjv/matthew/25-41.htm
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels:

Those who are cursed are they who would not receive the truth.

http://biblehub.com/kjv/isaiah/5.htm
14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without
measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and
he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

It is only those who have defected from the truth to falseness who will
be consumed forever in Hell, and that is by their own free will choice.
Everyone who will receive truth will be saved. Every last one of them.

[Melzzzzz]

On Mon, 24 Oct 2016 05:23:06 -0700 (PDT)

"Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c...@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Monday, October 24, 2016 at 8:17:48 AM UTC-4, Melzzzzz wrote:
> > "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Is there room in your assessment of God, of man, of the universe,
> > > for the remote possibility that you could be wrong, Juha?
> >
> > Same question for you...
>
> When I believed as Juha did, I was convinced I was right. It took me
> searching the truth, and God flipping that inner switch which allowed
> me to then know the truth. And when I asked forgiveness for my sin
> and was born again, the change occurred within me.
>

In other words you were sober now you are drunk...

[Melzzzzz]

On Mon, 24 Oct 2016 07:56:05 -0700 (PDT)

This is because you don't live in Syria...

>
> Best regards,
> Rick C. Hodgin

Regards...

--

[Melzzzzz]

On Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:52:45 -0700 (PDT)

"Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c...@gmail.com> wrote:

>

> Jesus Christ is truth.

No. It's just a name.

The universe He build is founded upon Him, so
> it is founded upon truth.

What are you on? Even Bible does not says that.



--

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Melzzzzz wrote:

> "Rick C. Hodgin" wrote:
> > When I believed as Juha did, I was convinced I was right. It took me
> > searching the truth, and God flipping that inner switch which allowed
> > me to then know the truth. And when I asked forgiveness for my sin
> > and was born again, the change occurred within me.
> >
> In other words you were sober now you are drunk...

Well ... no. :-) We are called to be sober, and filled with the Spirit,
which is God's Holy Spirit. And that's what happens to born again
believers. They literally change. The old passes, the new is here.

http://biblehub.com/kjv/ephesians/5-18.htm

18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled
with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

I can testify that 5:19 actually happens. I find myself singing songs to
the Lord. New ones I make up on the spot. Songs that aren't a new lyric
applied to an existing melody, but even new melodies. Blows me away. I
do not do it. It just comes forth from within me.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Melzzzzz wrote:

> "Rick C. Hodgin" wrote:
> > Jesus Christ is truth.
>
> No. It's just a name.

What does the Bible say?

http://biblehub.com/kjv/john/14-6.htm
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

http://biblehub.com/kjv/john/18-37.htm
37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus
answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born,
and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear
witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth
my voice.

"Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."

> > The universe He [built] is founded upon Him, so

> > it is founded upon truth.
>
> What are you on? Even Bible does not says that.

What does the Bible say?

http://biblehub.com/kjv/john/1.htm
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing
made that was made.

That's the universe. But who is "the Word"? What does the Bible say?

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full
of grace and truth.
15 John [the Baptist] bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This
was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred
before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

"The Word" is Jesus Christ. He is the living Word given to us for this
purpose which, after Pentecost, now dwells within us through the born
again nature. It's why you cannot understand it ... it is spiritually
discerned. But if you set your sights on the truth, you will come to
know it (if it is a true and honest seeking of the truth):

http://biblehub.com/kjv/john/15-26.htm
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the
Father, he shall testify of me:

The very nature of God is truth. Everything He creates is founded upon
truth. It is the perversion of His Creation by sin that introduces
falseness.

-----
If the rest of your Bible knowledge is as errant as you've indicated, you
would do yourself a service to study to show yourself approved, a workman
who need not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth:

http://biblehub.com/kjv/2_timothy/2-15.htm
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

There is power in knowledge, and in knowledge of the things of Jesus
Christ there is life eternal.

[Melzzzzz]

On Mon, 24 Oct 2016 13:26:46 -0700 (PDT)

"Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c...@gmail.com> wrote:

What are you on? You interpret metaphors as they are description of
creation of universe ;)
Gospel of course emphasizes Jesus, but he is not even mentioned in Old
Testament ;)

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Melzzzzz wrote:

> "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c...@gmail.com> wrote:
> What are you on? You interpret metaphors as they are description
> of creation of universe ;) Gospel of course emphasizes Jesus,
> but he is not even mentioned in Old Testament ;)

The Messiah is the entire focus of the Bible. He is mentioned through-
out the Old Testament, and is identified in the New Testament as
Jesus. These progressive revelations fill in missing information from
the times before. We now know details which were not provided
to man before Jesus was made flesh. These revelations are for
us now, whereas those before went only by what they had.

Your interpretation of scripture and your lack of knowledge on the
Bible is causing you tremendous loss. And your teaching of falseness
is causing others to stumble, and will bring you even more loss.

You need to be teaching people rightly, otherwise you only
heap damnation increasing upon yourself.

[Chris M. Thomasson]

On 10/21/2016 9:00 AM, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> Your eternal soul is at stake. Your choices in this world determine where
> you'll go for all eternity.
[...]
> God is perfect and holy and righteous and He does not allow sin to dwell in
> His presence.

Then why would you be allowed to be in God's presence for infinity? You,
as you say, are full of sin! Oh yeah, you are born again and have so
sin... What a joke.

[Öö Tiib]

On Monday, 24 October 2016 19:52:54 UTC+3, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> On Monday, October 24, 2016 at 12:32:23 PM UTC-4, Öö Tiib wrote:
> > On Monday, 24 October 2016 17:56:20 UTC+3, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> > > Nobody will strut before God. Every knee will bow, and every
> > > tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, and all to the glory of
> > > God the Father in Heaven. If you do so here on Earth you receive
> > > salvation for your eternal soul. If you do so only in Heaven, then
> > > you receive condemnation, such that after you bow the knee, and
> > > after you make your confession, strong angels come and take hold of
> > > you and carry you to the precipice of the lake of fire and toss you
> > > headlong into it, such that the last thing written in the book of you
> > > will be, "[Name] was then cast into the lake of fire."
> >
> > Yes they toss me into lake of fire and sulfur but you will live happily
> > with your ugsome god on shore of that lake in paradise of pleasures
> > and glory. I feel sad that you have such fantasies but people are
> > different, sorry.
>
> Jesus Christ is truth. The universe He build is founded upon Him, so it
> is founded upon truth. All who reject Him reject truth, and are therefore
> embracing and pursuing lies.

This universe seems to be founded upon causality. Something that
happened before causes something that happens later and so we can
observe aftereffects of events long ago. Also if something did not happen
then it caused nothing and so we can not observe its aftereffects anywhere.
We can not observe everything and so what is truth we never know with
full certainty. You claim that you know everything and so we all know that
you lie. You are no God so you can not know everything.

>
> How can lies be tolerated in a universe built on truth?

People who don't tolerate your lies have kill-filed you to make your
existence tolerable for them. No one tortures you for that.

> The Bible teaches Satan is a liar, and the father of lies. It is he who
> has rebelled against God. It is he who came in and destroyed God's perfect
> and harmonious creation ... through the introduction of lies, which then
> caused people to sin. And what harm has sin done to this world?

We can not find truth by reading one book. Books are often full of fantasies.
Who made that Satan? The very same book. That way of reasoning is circular
and there are no way find any truth in circular reasoning.

>
> If you could be whisked back to see the Earth before sin entered in, you
> would call it a paradise of paradises. Everything was "very good" by
> even God's proclamation, and His standard is perfection.

Our science claim there are neither archeological nor genetical evidence about
such "very good" era. There is evidence that this planet has been here for
billions of years and most of that time the life on it consisted of microbes.
Do most scientists of all nations lie but you alone know and talk the truth?

>
> What sin has done is bring this world to its current state. And what
> people who will not embrace the truth, who will only hold on to the lies
> of the devil, will do in eternity is destroy God's eternal creation by
> the acts of destruction which alter that which is good into that which
> is destroyed or diseased, just as we see in our bodies with cancer where
> good tissue is replaced with diseased tissue, and just as we see in the
> world where good resources are tainted into poison and death.

You clearly hate this world and "flesh" in it. It is imperfect, yes, but most
of us try to live here and to stay decent. Perhaps it is your hatred that causes
your lies.

>
> The prisoner example of someone on Earth. If a person is intent to only
> and always only do harm, then they will eventually be caught by the
> police, arrested, sent to prison, and ultimately wind up in a solitary
> confinement cell without any direct contact with people because all they
> do is do harm. These are earthly people with regular bodies who can
> only do so much harm. But what could they do if they were gods? Because
> the Bible teaches us that we are the sons and daughters of God, and that
> we also are gods. What could a being with god power do to a perfect
> harmony like Heaven?

Yes, when some people do harm others then we protect others. Being
imperfect we sometimes kill the wrongdoers, or keep them in prisons.
We do not do that to torture anyone since we are not evil.

>
> They would do the same thing to Heaven we've seen sin do (through our
> flesh) down here to the Earth ... destroy it. Introduce death. Entice
> others to sin, and so on.

No. You talk about eternal torture. That is because your story is made by
evil people whose fantasies are full of eternal tortures and other such
sick things.

>
> God has no choice but to bind people who reject truth, and embrace total
> falseness, so that they cannot, through their eternal life, affect the
> things of eternity.

You are lying again. You have no capabilities to judge what choices God
has or does not have. You have only book that is full of self-contradiction.
It is written by people.

>
> If you can't see that necessity ... then look again because you're only
> thinking temporally, and not eternally. You're only thinking of things
> like we have here on Earth, and not of the requirements of unending life,
> and true god-like powers.

I can see that you blame me not accepting your pointless torture? That
is so. I can never accept it. It is fruit of sick and perverse minds for me.
Even if I have to kill alive being to protect myself or to feed myself in
this imperfect world I avoid pointlessly torturing it.

>
> FWIW, Hell was never created for man, but only for fallen angels. But
> because of man's sin, pride, and arrogance in refusing to turn from their
> sin, Hell enlarged herself to accommodate all who embrace the lie:

Who *made* those devils and angels in your story? Again same, sick minds.

Fortunately we, atheists, are not made as golems of someone, we are born
by our mothers. We descended from big apes that way.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Öö Tiib wrote:
> [snip]

What I am trying to teach you is that there is more to our nature
than we're born with. We observe the universe through natural
senses only, and it gives us a limited perspective. But, because
it's all we know we think we have things figured out.

What I am trying to teach you is that because of sin, the true nature
of our existence has been altered. We are three-fold beings, just
as God is: soul, body, spirit.

When man sinned, he died spiritually. That disconnected us from
being able to understand God, and eternal things (spiritual things).
What Jesus Christ does is take our sin away. When we no longer
have sin, we are then alive again spiritually in that very instant.

When we are alive spiritually, it's like a new sense and a new mind
coming online. It gives us a new perspective on all things, and it
confirms and affirms things our flesh could not. It gives us confidence
in understanding our flesh could not. It communes with God to
know truth directly in a way our flesh could not. And God dwells with
us to guide us continually to truth.

The flesh limits our nature and ability to understand things. It's
why Satan targeted us with sin. Our flesh is moved by stimuli
from the world around us, and spiritual beings can inject artificial
stimuli into our flesh. They do this everyday to get us to sin, and
to get us to move in the directions they want us to, to wrap us up
in bondage and harm, to ourselves and others.

People without the born again nature are slaves to sin because they
have no discernment over the cause of their bodily influences. All
things enter in to their senses, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and
they think it's just them feeling or being a particular way. It
isn't. It's artificial, the result of demons manipulating lives to
cause God's greatest masterpiece, man, to be lost to eternity
because of sin, and judgment and death through sin.

Demons are eternal beings. They are judged, and when Jesus returns
it's over for them. Their only goal now is to get as many of us to
die in sin, unforgiven by Jesus Christ, so we too will perish in Hell,
thereby causing loss and harm to God, and to each of us.

Jesus Christ was manifested to undo the work of the devil. And He
succeeded. His free gift of eternal salvation is now available to
all people worldwide. What has happened with sin is that some
people desire it. They like sin more than they desire the truth,
so they continue on in pursuit of sin, ignoring warnings from
men and women like me who teach them about God, sin, death,
and life through Jesus Christ. They won't hear the truth, so they
remain untouchable, lost to sin.

Jesus has defeated Satan, death, Hell, and the grave. He has
gifted the fruits of His labor to us so that all we have to do to
be restored is acknowledge our sin, repent, and ask forgiveness.
All who do are forgiven, because God loves you enough to take
the punishment you deserve away when you acknowledge your
wrongdoing.

If you seek the truth, God will open up your understanding to
receive all of this, to recognize it as truth, to come to His Son,
repent, ask forgiveness, and be saved.

It's all I can do: teach you. I can't make you believe or receive,
much as I might want to. God honors all of our personal choices,
even those which lead to judgment, and death.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Here is a sermon from 2010 which explains the invisible things
happening in the spirit world which we see manifested in the physical
world. It's from the book of Job in the Old Testament, which describes
events that happen to people and Earthly things which are the direct
result of spiritual battles taking place in Heaven:

The Invisible War -- Steve Lawson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDVWvOQvlK8

-----
In the natural world, which Satan preys upon, our flesh is manipulated
so very easily into all manner of sin and harm. But in Jesus Christ
we are given the faculties necessary to completely defeat Satan's
attack and influence upon our lives, and to go out and teach others
how to receive the same.

Satan has done a job in soiling the concept of religion, causing sinful
men and women to go out and do heinous things in the name of religion,
or under the guise of being led by Jesus Christ to do so, etc. But
those things are not Jesus Christ, and they are not part of His true
teachings or desirings for us as His followers.

We are called into holiness, and into teaching. We are called to pick
up our cross and follow Him daily, and let me tell you that crosses are
heavy. There isn't much more you can do with your life when carrying a
cross. It requires your ongoing full attention, lest you drop it. And
that is the life of a true Christian: focusing on walking the walk, and
in teaching other people the same.

Spiritual attacks come through people. Demons they've let into their
life fill their mind with thoughts and cause their voice to open with
railings of hate and words of death, those which lead people into more
sin, more condemnation. Many of the hateful things non-believers say
to true born again Christians do not even come from them, but only
through them by the evil spirit's influence attempting to cause them to
respond in the flesh, so as to be back into the arena where Satan has
rule. But those who remain above the flesh, focused on an active and
ongoing pursuit of God's Holy Spirit and of all things spiritual, will
not be overcome by those promptings, and will remain on point, focused,
and teaching.

The words of Jesus Christ are life. They lead us away from falseness
and into truth, and within that truth He is found such that we are called
out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

It's why only Jesus Christ makes it possible. Not Allah, Buddha, or any
other name for god, because none of them have the authority or ability
to take our sin away and restore us to the spirit nature, to eternal life.
Only Jesus Christ can do that, and only by His willing sacrifice at the
cross where He became sin for us in our place, so that we could be set
free from death through sin.

I pray that each of you come to know this. Eternal life is one choice
away for all of you. And with eternal life comes the restoration of those
things of the spirit we lost through sin, and they provide an augment to
our lives that is completely up-ending. We are changed in every possible
way, made alive, made better, so that we are focused on using our talents
for God and God's wishes, which extend naturally outwardly to all of our
fellow man upon this Earth.

In Christ, fighting ends. Wars end. Death ends. Famine and pestilences
end. He overcomes all things because He has already overcome all things.

We are now on this end of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And although
Satan has tried, and will continue to try, to render Jesus as nothing
more than an impotent punchline, the fact remains that Jesus is not in
any way limited, and that He has life to give to all who come to Him and
receive it.

Jesus remains in fullest authority today. He calls out to all people
continually today. He speaks to their hearts, and through men and women
like me who go out and teach the truth of God. He tries the reins of
every person's hearts to see who will believe the truth, and all who will
will come across the path of someone who will teach them about Jesus
Christ. And where such a coming across is not possible, as by isolation
from others, then He Himself will make the conversion because He sees
straight through all people to their heart and He knows exactly who are
His.

-----
I pray you come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and that when
you do you also pick up your cross and follow Him, teaching the people
of this world the true path of Christ, that He is not a religion, but
that He is a living God who has dwelt among us, and remains now in each
of our hearts continually for all those who believe. He has not left
us to abandonment even in our worst sin, but has come here to this
wretched sinful Earth to receive us back unto Himself. He stepped out
of eternal paradise, put on a body, and did what needed to be done here,
and followed through with what needed to be done after leaving here
where He took the full punishment of all of our sin in Hell.

His love for us cries out to us by His demonstration of that love. And
all who will be saved will come to Him and ask forgiveness and be saved.
I pray you are one of them.

[Daniel]

On Sunday, October 23, 2016 at 6:17:47 AM UTC-4, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
>
> I have investigated Jesus Christ.

What you haven't done is familiarize yourself with any of the massive amount
information that is currently available about ancient religion, from which
biblical religion emerged. You don't know about the the extra biblical sources,
especially the Ugaritic texts, and the pictorial art that have been discovered
in the last half-century. You don't how the ancients understood their deities,
myths, and rituals, independently of the biblical polemics that disparaged
them. You probably don't know that biblical monotheism emerged from polytheism,
even though the signs of polytheism are apparent in the biblical texts
themselves, as scholars have long recognized, and which you can find in your
bible. You don't know about the parallel myths in ancient Ugaritic texts that
reappear in the later biblical texts.

My invitation to you is to learn. Take a course in the religious studies
department at a university. Or read. I would suggest the Origins of Biblical
Monotheism by Mark S. Smith. Or Stories from Ancient Canaan by Michael D.
Coogan and Mark S. Smith. The story of ancient religion is fascinating, and
you're missing out on most of it. What are you afraid of?

Best regards,
Daniel

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Daniel, you're listening to demons try to take your eyes off the truth.
They purposefully cloud the way of knowledge, muddying it up with man's
learning, and even false things.

Study the Bible. Seek to learn the truth about Jesus Christ the man, and
about Him being God. You too will come to know Him as He is ... if you
seek the truth:

Gospel of John (English)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mgUPt2KI08

[Daniel]

On Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 2:30:29 PM UTC-4, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
>
> Daniel, you're listening to demons try to take your eyes off the truth.
> They purposefully cloud the way of knowledge, muddying it up with man's
> learning,
>

Relax :-) If the scholars in our departments of religion and divinity schools can
put their faith aside as they study the historical context of the biblical texts,
you can too. If learning leads you to a point of crisis, well, that point has
already been long since passed in most intellectual circles in the west.

Be well,
Daniel

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Daniel, there are demons teaching people things. What most people who
study such things fail to realize is that God has not been overcome by
Satan. All of the attempts at destroying the true and correct knowledge
of God have not borne fruit, because Jesus said the gates of Hell would
not prevail against it.

God is still in control of all things. And God the Father draws those
who seek the truth to His Son so they can be saved.

It's not a knowledge thing that is a seeking of the truth, it is a heart
thing. And there are plenty of avenues which can fill the mind with all
manner of teachings, but none of them will lead a person to faith in
Jesus Christ, and all of them (except a study of the Bible itself, and a
pressing in to pursue His Holy Spirit guidance) will lead a person away
from faith in Christ.

There are polls compiled by Answers in Genesis which reveal how damaging
our bases of scholarly learning are to faith. More than half of the
people who enter universities who would describe themselves as Christians
before entering lose their faith within the first year of indoctrination
into the teachings of this world through those institutions.

It's not because the people were mistaken in their faith, but because
there are literal demons working through professors and those in higher
positions teaching against God, inventing things which seem to disprove
God, and then every one of those "nuggets" is glommed on to so they can
be taught to university students, the sole purpose of which: destroy
their faith in God, keep them distracted by man's "knowledge" and his
reasoning, rather than pursing knowledge of God through the spirit.

If you really want to learn about Jesus Christ, do not look to man and
man's teachings. Do not go to public institutions of higher learning
for "religious doctrine." Pick up a Bible and start reading. Ask God
to help guide you into truth through prayer and fasting. Seek to know
the truth through study and you will be amazed at what His Holy Spirit
brings to your knowledge.

But for those who will not seek the truth, all of that knowledge will
be forever hidden behind a veil such that they cannot see it, cannot
know it, and it will be to their destruction.

Seek directly from God. Pick up a Bible and pursue the truth. You
do not need to go to other sources, except possibly a 1600s dictionary
to learn what some of the words meant then because several of them have
different meanings today compared to back then.

[Öö Tiib]

On Tuesday, 25 October 2016 14:22:05 UTC+3, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:
> Öö Tiib wrote:
> > [snip]

Oh? How rude. You will perhaps never learn to respect anyone.
So you will be never respected.

[snip]

[Daniel]

On Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 3:12:17 PM UTC-4, Rick C. Hodgin wrote:

> there are literal demons working through professors and those in higher
> positions teaching against God, inventing things which seem to disprove
> God, and then every one of those "nuggets" is glommed on to so they can
> be taught to university students, the sole purpose of which: destroy
> their faith in God, keep them distracted by man's "knowledge" and his
> reasoning, rather than pursing knowledge of God through the spirit.
>

I'm not saying this is true in your case, I'm not qualified to do so, but I see
a great similarity between these words and text messages I once received from a
member of my social circle, from a Chinese woman, who had come to believe that
all of the Chinese members of the group were out to harm her. She was later
diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it
hard for a person to tell the difference between what is real and what is not.
The good news is that, with treatment, a person with Schizophrenia can
lead a relatively normal life.

If I could make one suggestion, it would be to think less about saving souls,
and more about the teachings. Judge not, lest ye be judged. Why beholdest thou
the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her. All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to
them.

Do a random act of kindness for a stranger. Do something nice for your wife.
Answer a question on comp.lang.c++ :-)

Peace,
Daniel

[Melzzzzz]

On Tue, 25 Oct 2016 14:12:08 -0700 (PDT)
Daniel <daniel...@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 3:12:17 PM UTC-4, Rick C. Hodgin
> wrote:
>
> > there are literal demons working through professors and those in
> > higher positions teaching against God, inventing things which seem
> > to disprove God, and then every one of those "nuggets" is glommed
> > on to so they can be taught to university students, the sole
> > purpose of which: destroy their faith in God, keep them distracted
> > by man's "knowledge" and his reasoning, rather than pursing
> > knowledge of God through the spirit.
> I'm not saying this is true in your case, I'm not qualified to do so,
> but I see a great similarity between these words and text messages I
> once received from a member of my social circle, from a Chinese
> woman, who had come to believe that all of the Chinese members of the
> group were out to harm her. She was later diagnosed with
> Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it hard
> for a person to tell the difference between what is real and what is
> not.

Then all religious people are schizophrenics. eg Revelation of John is
surely product of schizophrenia.

The good news is that, with treatment, a person with
> Schizophrenia can lead a relatively normal life.

In Soviet Russia they treated religious people as lunatics...

>
> If I could make one suggestion, it would be to think less about
> saving souls, and more about the teachings. Judge not, lest ye be
> judged. Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but
> considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? He that is without
> sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. All things
> whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.

He said that, then he flew in the sky after walking on water and being
killed. Tell me about schizophrenia...

>
> Do a random act of kindness for a stranger. Do something nice for
> your wife. Answer a question on comp.lang.c++ :-)

C++ is at a least something that can be used as a treatment ;)

>
> Peace,
> Daniel

[Daniel]

On Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 5:24:20 PM UTC-4, Melzzzzz wrote:
>
> Then all religious people are schizophrenics.

I don't think so. But let me digress.

I grew up in a protestant family. I learned from my Frisian mother how Spanish
Catholicism unleashed a reign of terror upon Dutch Protestants. I learned that
the Catholic had cults of saints and miracles, and believed that infants had to
be baptized or they wouldn't go to heaven. I concluded that Catholics were
nuts.

Then I started reading up on Protestantism, and learned that some protestants
also felt that it was necessary to burn heretics and witches, that John Calvin
backed the burning of Michael Servetus at the stake for denying the trinity,
and the Salem Witch Trials. I learned that the protestants wanted to go back to
the original teachings, but by the time the earliest texts were written, the
original teachings were already lost in the mists of time. I learned about the
deep divisions about how to be saved, whether through faith alone, or a
combination of faith and good works, or that it was all predestined and nothing
could be done about it. I concluded that protestants were nuts.

Then, still in my formative years, I read Marx and Engels's Communist
Manifesto, and thought it all made sense. Sometime later, I realized that I had
been nuts.

I finally concluded that we're all nuts. And that it's okay, as long as we
don't feel excessively compelled to convert everyone else to our own flavour of
nuttiness (or kill them.)

>
> In Soviet Russia they treated religious people as lunatics...
>

There's an interesting book called The City of Man by Pierre Manent. He argues that religion took it's purest form at the very beginning, when it was indistinguishable from the authority of the ruling class, and that every evolutionary step in religion involved a departure from that, the Hebrew prophets for example would challenge the rulers, until with the arrival of Christianity it became possible to imagine a world without religion. In the case of Soviet Russia, I think the authorities were less concerned with the mental health of their citizens than with the challenge of religion to the authority of the Party.

>
> C++ is at a least something that can be used as a treatment ;)
>

Just so.

Daniel

[David Brown]

On 26/10/16 00:38, Daniel wrote:
> On Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 5:24:20 PM UTC-4, Melzzzzz wrote:
>>
>> Then all religious people are schizophrenics.
>
> I don't think so. But let me digress.
>
> I grew up in a protestant family. I learned from my Frisian mother how Spanish
> Catholicism unleashed a reign of terror upon Dutch Protestants. I learned that
> the Catholic had cults of saints and miracles, and believed that infants had to
> be baptized or they wouldn't go to heaven. I concluded that Catholics were
> nuts.
>
> Then I started reading up on Protestantism, and learned that some protestants
> also felt that it was necessary to burn heretics and witches, that John Calvin
> backed the burning of Michael Servetus at the stake for denying the trinity,
> and the Salem Witch Trials. I learned that the protestants wanted to go back to
> the original teachings, but by the time the earliest texts were written, the
> original teachings were already lost in the mists of time. I learned about the
> deep divisions about how to be saved, whether through faith alone, or a
> combination of faith and good works, or that it was all predestined and nothing
> could be done about it. I concluded that protestants were nuts.
>
> Then, still in my formative years, I read Marx and Engels's Communist
> Manifesto, and thought it all made sense. Sometime later, I realized that I had
> been nuts.
>
> I finally concluded that we're all nuts. And that it's okay, as long as we
> don't feel excessively compelled to convert everyone else to our own flavour of
> nuttiness (or kill them.)

The key thing to remember about "being nuts" is that it is not a binary
feature. Most people are a bit "crazy" at times in their lives -
without it, you'd live a fairly boring life. Falling madly in love has
very strong psychological similarities to bipolar disorder (manic
depression) - fortunately for the survival of the species, it usually
passes over into a long-term love that is psychologically a type of
addiction. And almost everyone has stories of the "crazy" things they
used to do or think in their youth.

Strong religious feelings are associated with a number of psychological
conditions, including bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia.

As you say, this is all okay - as long as it is within limits and kept
under control. A little "madness" can be a good thing - you get the ups
as well as the downs. But too much, and when the "madness" takes over
and you lose your normal life, it is a problem for you and all those
around you.

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Daniel, it's good that you recognize all of these mistakes made by those
who operated under the name or banner of Jesus Christ. Jesus doesn't
call people to be like that. He calls them to serve Him rightly, in
compassion, true love, true service, not harming others, but seeking to
guide them to His Kingdom, to the fruits of a life in pursuit of growing
faith after His spirit:

http://biblehub.com/kjv/galatians/5-22.htm
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

You will not find any of the guidance of the teachings of the Bible in
the actions of sinful men who simply used the name "Christianity" or
"Jesus Christ" for their sinful cause.

Learn of Jesus Christ so as to follow Him properly. And gently teach
others when they err from the faith. And if they are wholly wrong in
their actions, rebuke them with force, and if they won't hear it, then
shake the dust off your feat and pray for them (Revelation 22:11).

[Rick C. Hodgin]

Or "feet" ... your choice. :-)

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 5:13:45 PM UTC-4, Daniel wrote:
> Do a random act of kindness for a stranger.

Your comment implies I don't already. You do not know me, Daniel. You
cannot make that assessment.

> Do something nice for your wife.

Ibid. :-)

> Answer a question on comp.lang.c++ :-)

I've answered a few. My knowledge of c++ is lacking significantly because
I don't really care for c++ in whole, just in part. I think it gets to be
too complex and the source code looks like gobbly-gook when people code too
deeply in c++.

I've currently mapped out a new programming language called CAlive which is
designed to inject some new life into C. It introduces the class, and some
new things I've created.

I'm here mostly to learn more about c++ as I do have interest in it, just
not as much as other things. And, I do use a c++ compiler to compile my
C code, which really seems to offend some of the people in the comp.lang.c
group. But, I prefer the stricter typing, and relaxed syntaxes of c++.

[Juha Nieminen]

Rick C. Hodgin <rick.c...@gmail.com> wrote:

> You do not know me, Daniel. You
> cannot make that assessment.

We know you quite well. You are a dishonest self-righteous hypocrite
who thinks that his magical incantations will influence people over
the internet.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ne...@netfront.net ---

[Rick C. Hodgin]

On Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 2:19:24 AM UTC-4, Juha Nieminen wrote:
> Rick C. Hodgin <rick.c...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > You do not know me, Daniel. You
> > cannot make that assessment.
>
> We know you quite well. You are a dishonest self-righteous hypocrite
> who thinks that his magical incantations will influence people over
> the internet.

Juha, how do you conclude "self-righteous hypocrite?" I admit that I am
a sinner in need of a savior. I am not saying, "Look to me, for I have
it all figured out (as if on my own)," but rather I point you to the One
I have found and ask you to "Seek the truth and learn of Jesus, for His
is the way of forgiveness and eternal life." I ask you to test my claim
for yourself.

It's not magic. It's a real process:

1) We all have sin, the result of Adam and Eve's fall.
2) We have also all sinned on our own.
3) We are three-fold beings, soul, body, spirit.
4) Because of sin, we are spiritually dead, but bodily alive.
5) Jesus came to the Earth and had no sin, and died on the cross.
6) When Jesus died, since He had no sin, He was able to transfer
our sin onto Himself and die with it. The price of one sin is
death, as is the price of a trillion sins, before a holy God.
7) Jesus was able to take on all sin for all who would believe in
Him because He had no sin of His own, and in so doing die with
our sin on His account.
8) His taking our sin away left us sin-free, which means we are
then alive again spiritually. The Bible calls this "born again."
9) Once we're alive again spiritually, we begin to have a new sense
we didn't have before. New input into our being, and it is that
new input which changes us from within.
10) In Christ, all things are made new. Sin is forgiven, the spirit
nature is alive again, and we are new creations that are not like
the old. It is a literal rebirth.

It's not magic. It's the system God setup to allow for this contingency
should man sin. He made a way out so that we could be saved. The Bible
even teaches that Jesus was "the Lamb slain before the foundation of the
world," meaning God had this plan in place before He ever created us, to
save us should we fall, while still maintaining fullest law and order in
His eternal Kingdom.

It's all there, Juha. It's easy to understand. Logical to follow. It
has real depth and information, and it's free to all who will receive it.

Jesus saves souls from Hell by restoring them to eternal life (spiritual
life). The body is an outward vessel. Here we have our bodies, but when
we get to Heaven we will be shed this sinful body and be given an
incorruptible body:

http://biblehub.com/kjv/1_corinthians/15.htm

The Resurrection Body

35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what
body do they come?
36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall
be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed
his own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh
of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another
of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the
glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial
is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another
star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption;
it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in
weakness; it is raised in power:
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul;
the last Adam [Jesus] was made a quickening spirit.
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is
natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord
from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is
the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly.

It's not some mysterious thing impossible to see. It just requires
an honest pursuit of the truth, and some research. Everything in the
Bible aligns with reason, and is well explained through study.