Allan

Thanks heaps WW ! Ephesians 6 mentions 'wrestling' so I'm sort of going along with Twinkies explanation, with 'athletic' terminology being the predominant imagery and pretty much all of it being the good ol figures o' speech anyhoo :)....hey Twinks I'll pm you, we may be able to catch up in enzed !

how long for ? darnit, we going next month for 5 days...you may be shocked by the prices of accomodation there now !!

fair point, thanks waysider

Thankyou Twinks !! I was thinking along those lines as well...love and bless ya heaps and 'hoping' Brexit turns out well for ya'all !!! My God majority of politicians are evil aren't they ?!

Hi all, need some help here..pretty please ...forgive me if this has been addressed here but any thoughts on are we actually meant to be 'soldiers for Jesus' ? I vaguely remember fartindale sharing about Ephesians 6 expanded translation referencing athletic equipment but cannot reconcile it with 2 Timothy 2: 3,4 talking about us as 'soldiers for Christ' ?? Somewhere in the back of my bourbon and coke soaked mind I remember fartindale saying the word for 'soldier' used there was 'palak' (aramaic for endurer or laborer) BUT new testament was supposedly written in koine greek, not aramaic !! Wordwolf ? Mark S ? Twinky ? Anyone ??

Perhaps another interesting 'aside' to this is latest medical discovery that the brain does not necessarily die as soon as one's heart stops beating ! Medical scientists have 'discovered' that the human brain has a type of 'back up energy system' that keeps it functioning for as long as 4-6 hours after typical declaration of death. This could explain people seeing and hearing things after they had supposedly 'died'. Don't know if this is a particularly good thing ?!

Wayne Clapp also did a fantastic breakdown on this topic and zeroed in on the greek words for 'eternal' and 'everlasting'. In a nutshell, John 3:16...two options for mankind 1/ everlasting life or 2/ perish (be no more)...thanks Mark !

geesh, didn't even notice that ! I was probs still so peeved off with them trashing one of my fave carols

Please tell me you don't have these Uniting Church muppets over there ? Causing a firestorm here in Australia

I was sitting in a bar in Thailand 2 years ago. Next to me was a 10 year old, yes 10 year old boy having a beer and smoking a cigar...real gangster lol...there is no minimum age there. Twinky...mince n cheese pie :)

Also, languages/migration...in the pacific region there are indigenous people that have migrated across the seas as recently as 800 years ago and developed their own variations of their original mother tongue. I can see similar things happening very easily over 5000 years

I think that Rafs 180 degree from solid believer to non- believer is a great example of believing who Jesus Christ was/ is.... or not and....like some have said 'it will all come out in the wash' anyhoo...each to their own. I'd rather 'believe' and possibly be wrong. The whole 'snake' chit chat earlier on is interesting from the point of view that satan is called a REPTILE, not necessarily a snake. I've been reading articles and 'conspiracy theories' about demons actually being reptilian in appearance and nature....thoughts anyone ?

So, have I read this right ? R&R are just as bad as TWI was/are ? I know a leopard doesn't change it's spots BUT you'd think if it was given a chance at a new life it would certainly be out trying to source a bottle of bleach ?!

I also personally know of some girls who turned to prostitution after being sexually assaulted by leadership...I guess they figured might as well make some money out of it.

I don't think one can get more callous than to sexually assault women who have given their heart to the lord....and it was rampant, even in little old New Zealand. When we were in- rez we were phoned by the country co-ord and abused over the phone for the most ridiculous reasons, thousands of miles away. Realize now, he was 'grooming us' for our arrival after graduating...oirish git

with everybody on here $1200 is easy to come up with you tightar$es lol...I donated $500 last year without any thanks and I thought ok don't ask me next time BUT this site is important so more $ coming your way Pawtucket !!

'A leopard doesn't change it's spots'...we've all heard that one huh ? So it is with this group...where is the 'godly, sorrowful repentance' ?? A number of us on here were hurt, coerced, bullied, threatened by some in this RnR group. Do I expect an apology ? NO. Do I even want an apology ? NO. I just want them to keep the fudge away from myself, family, those I love. They may come across as sheep but lift the carcase and peek underneath.

One of my faves ! The lead singer of this band was once told by his father he would never amount to anything....

I believe he promoted an 'us versus them' ( mainstream Christianity )mindset, deliberately causing division in the body, giving cause for 'us' to never leave twi because, well, where else would we go ?!

Sorry, wasn't intended that way but if one was to listen to it ( I think still available on CFFM website ) it is great to see how a logical breaking down and 'putting together' of scriptures relating to any particular topic shows clearly the folly of so many 'teachings' n Christendom. People being tortured eternally in hell is one of many erroneously taught doctrines that put many off believing in A God and or His Word.

I think if one were to listen to Wayne Clapps post twi expose` on "Is hell a place of eternal torment" and his handling of the greek words regarding eternal, age long, cosmos and aeon it certainly throws 'new light' on current thinking.

Maybe Jesus emphasis is more on the vine as something that grows and climbs around, over things and keeps going ? As opposed to a stationary tree, the vine will keep moving, spreading. Blessed to be a branch !!

Someone once said "If people are allowed freedom, they will always choose freedom".

Let's see....he could start by calling out Islam for what it really is, an ideological, political force intent on enslaving the world ( would probably trigger a 'holy war' tho !! ) He could put an end to the church 'forbidding to marry' priests. He could sanction the use of contraception especially in third world countries. Heck, the RC church has enough money to supply the contraception BUT, they still have the same mindset as muslims...increase converts by breeding. This is just for starters.

He's ( o.k ) but his adopting the hug a tree mindset is just another example of 'virtue signalling' to the latest designer cause.