2016 Christian Random Thoughts

kanozas

se ven las caras pero nunca el corazón
Isaiah 2:11-12

The proud look of man will be abased And the loftiness of man will be humbled, And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased.

Isaiah 2:17

The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,


Isaias 66:2

All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

James 4:6-10

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
 

Laela

Sidestepping the "lynch mob"
July 22

Daniel 2:28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: (NKJV)

How many of you reading this believe God can still speak in dreams and visions? We have been taught to be cautious concerning these matters. Paul said: Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above anything that we can ask or think!" Who do you count on to bring your dreams to fruition? All you need to know is who gave you the dream! The faith demonstrated in the book of Daniel is confidence in the fact that God is ABLE no matter what He decides! If you read this chapter, you will find that Daniel told the king the answer would come before he even asked God! When you are backed into a corner and your life is hanging in the balance because of a dream, you have to know there is a God in heaven! When the king is unreasonable: there is a God in heaven. When none of the other "experts" in the field of dreams are capable: there is a God in heaven. Daniel praised God for revealing the secret. Daniel praised God for granting him wisdom. Then Daniel saved all the lives of the other Chaldeans even though they had no relationship with God! Can God trust you to praise Him before and after? -- Pastor S R Henderson
 

kanozas

se ven las caras pero nunca el corazón
Don't lose any hope, G-d hears our cries. He will bring down the haughty, the prideful and the violent ones. He hears the cries of the oppressed!

Psalms 18:48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.


2 Samuel 22:28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.
 

Maracujá

November 2020 --> 14 years natural!!!
Don't know how many of you ladies used to watch 'Sister, Sister', Tia and Tamera Mowry's sitcom from the 1990s. I used to love it so much to the point of recording every episode. One episode in particular has been on my mind lately and reminds me of how God operates:

Tia & Tamera were turning 18 I believe, unsure about the specific age, but I know it was their birthday. So in the morning their parents gave them each an envelope and told them to open it later on. Tia & Tamera went to school, got there and started regretting the fact that they even showed up. Under the notion of 'carpe diem' they said it would be better to skip school altogether and go have fun, 'fun' quickly became attending Boyz 2 Men's concert. Long story short: they went through a whole ordeal just trying to get to this concert and when they found themselves in another city, without any direction whatsoever, they decided to open the envelopes their parents had given them. In it were two tickets for the Boyz 2 Men concert and enough money for the fare. As Heather Lindsey often says: relax. Your days are pre-arranged.
 

Lucia

Well-Known Member
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/26/europe/france-normandy-church-hostage/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36892785
Click links for full articles


This happened in St. Etienne France

Name of the church and town St-Etienne-du-Rouvray. St Etienne is French for St Stephen one of the original apostles that was martyred.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Stephen

An 84-year-old priest was killed and four other people taken hostage by two armed men who stormed his church in a suburb of Rouen in northern France.

The two attackers, who said they were from the so-called Islamic State (IS), slit Fr Jacques Hamel's throat during a morning Mass, officials say.

Police surrounded the church and shot dead both hostage-takers. French media named one of them as Adel K.

One of the hostages is in a critical condition in hospital.

scene, in Saint Etienne-du-Rouvray, said the attackers had committed a "cowardly assassination" and France would fight IS "by all means".

Pope Francis decried the "pain and horror of this absurd violence".

UK Prime Minister Theresa May branded the attack "sickening" and offered her condolences to the people of France.

The suspect named as Adel K, aged 18, is reported to have been in custody and then placed under a control order, and had tried to enter Syria twice.

Police special forces raided a house in the suburb in the aftermath of the attack, and French prosecutors earlier said one person had been arrested.

The attack happened during morning Mass at the historic church, situated in a quiet square of St-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

A nun, who identified herself as Sister Danielle, said she was in the church at the time.

"They forced [Fr Hamel] to his knees. He wanted to defend himself, and that's when the tragedy happened," she told French media.

"They recorded themselves. They did a sort of sermon around the altar, in Arabic. It's a horror".

She said she managed to flee as they were preparing to kill him.

Elite police units, specialised in hostage-taking, surrounded the church.

President Hollande said the attackers claimed to be from the self-styled IS before they were killed by police as they came out of the church.

Three of the hostages were freed unharmed, but one remains in a critical condition, said French interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henri Brandet.


-----
This place wasn't chosen by accident or coincidence the attackers knew the significance of the town and its name.

Please pray for peace and an end to this terror.
 

kanozas

se ven las caras pero nunca el corazón
Is there some other spiritual significance to St Étienne du Rouvray because all of the apostles were tortured but only one survived martyrdom and lived to be an old man, St. John.
 

Lucia

Well-Known Member
Is there some other spiritual significance to St Étienne du Rouvray because all of the apostles were tortured but only one survived martyrdom and lived to be an old man, St. John.

There are many locations and churches named after the first martyred apostle St Stephan (or Etienne in French). I think the significance comes in because:

1 He was the first apostle to be martyerd for following and beleiving of Jesus Christ. The fact that this church is named after him and was built in the 16th century.
Acts 7:51-60

2 Every Catholic Church is built on Holy ground consecrated to God Father son and Holy Spirit, then the church and especially the tabernacle (the altar).

3. So these men have basically defiled a holy place on consecrated ground and committed a act a ritual sacrifice in a holy tabernacle.
This was done on purpose to strike fear into the hearts of Chrsitians world wide. The authorities found lists with this churches name among others sites on it.

Side note: this is how the Crusades got started unprovoked attacks on Chrsitians in the east then the western Chrsitians going to defend them.

They have a mosque nearby and it's going to be horrible cause these guys used to go to that mosque.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Stephen
 
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kanozas

se ven las caras pero nunca el corazón
Nothing what they have done is "new." It's old news. I was looking for something specific to that town and possible ancient Moor fights or something. They were dummies. There have been plenty attacks on churches, even in Europe and the Caribbean. Do you remember St. Lucie Island? The priest and nuns hacked to death well over 10 years ago? Yep. I mean, I have friends who lived 10 years underground in Beirut and their churches, priests, families were butchered for being christian. That is amplified in various other places. These little petty morons. Have they ever read history to know of the multitude of christians martyred for their faith outside the apostles? Tsk, tsk, tsk... they are all ignorant and that is why ISIL uses them. They have no religious sense of their own faith and absolutely none about Judeo-Christian beliefs at all. SMH. I know all churches are on consecrated ground, as well as graves and certainly comprehend the act within a church. Well, they are late yet again...look at the Maccabees and Antiochus IV, having a slain pig thrown into the Holy of Holies. Oh well....everybody is still here. LOL. They will never "win."
 

Lucia

Well-Known Member
@kanozas

Oh I know, you know. ;)

The tensions are high and France actually all of Europe has a well documented history of kicking people out of their country peacefully or violently.
Wait a Muslim rep will come on tv and say Islam is non-violent again but not address the Muslims who are violent or try to fix the problem within their communities.

check out this article

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/worl...-mount-in-town-after-priest-killing-1.2736590


France church attack: tensions mount in town after priest killing
From now on the small, terraced bungalow at 35 Nikola Tesla street will be known as “the terrorist’s house”.

After 19-year-old Adel Kermicheand an accomplice murdered 86-year-old Fr Jacques Hamel as he celebrated Mass on Tuesday, police cordoned off the working class estate where Kermiche lived with his parents. Relatives were escorted away, their hands held over the heads, for questioning.

On Wednesday the house was desolate, its metal shutters sealed, sacks of uncollected rubbish dumped on the dead lawn and a cannibalised car in the driveway.

When they ransacked the house, police found an identity card in the name of Abdel Malik P, also 19 years old, from Savoie. They believe he was the second killer.

A few houses away, a skinny black man called Baudry is mobbed by television cameras. He grew up with Kermiche and remains close to the dead jihadi’s older sister, Nissa. The two young men worked together as animateurs, government-subsidised youth organisers. Baudry says he knew nothing of Kermiche’s radicalisation.

Two churches
“I’m fed up with France, ” Kermiche told his mother when he twice attempted to reach Syria last year. The second time, she gave an interview to the Tribune de Genèvenewspaper, because Adel was briefly held in Switzerland.
Until the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo massacre, her son was “a happy kid who liked music and girls . . . If he made it to Syria, I knew that would be the end of him,” Mrs Kermiche said. “I’d like to know what messed up our kid.”

The metal gate of the local mosque where Kermiche allegedly prayed is locked shut. No one answers the telephone. The Muslims of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray have gone to ground.

An African in a green robe and cylindrical hat walks past. He is Haji Bayo Khiraba (60) from Guinea-Conakry and a retired worker in the nearby Renault factory. “I wept when I heard,” Khiraba says. “The mosque and the church should be safe havens. The future will be hell. For everybody.”

The town of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray has two churches in one parish: the beautiful 16th century edifice where Fr Jacques was murdered and the modern égliseSainte-Thérèse near the mosque.

Gabriel Moba (60), an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo who has lived in the town for 27 years, is choir master for both churches. Sainte-Thérèse sold the Muslims the plot for the mosque for a symbolic euro, he says. “Until it was built, we lent them our hall for feasts during Ramadan.”

Moba does not want to admit that the murder of Fr Jacques has destroyed the fragile balance between residents of French ancestry and Portuguese, Arab and African immigrants.

The murdered priest “was a martyr”, says the choir master. “He died on the job, wearing his chasuble. He was a good soldier.”

Islamic State, which is also known as Isis, said the attack in the church was carried out by its “soldiers”. Jihadis would call Adel Kermiche a martyr, I note. “That’s a mockery of the word,” Moba says. “They are devils who will go to hell.”

Marie José Barroso (52), a Portuguese cleaning woman, greets Moba sadly. Fr Jacques officiated at her son’s funeral and baptised her three grandchildren.

“The Muslims get everything they want from town hall. We get nothing,” Barroso says. “Their children eat halal at school. Ours don’t eat meat on Fridays during Lent. It creates tension.”

In the church parking lot, Barroso’s friend Fatima Cabrail (75) embraces her, weeping. “Fr Jacques attended our 50th wedding anniversary,” she says. “He performed my granddaughter’s marriage, baptised my granddaughter. I loved him. My house is behind the mosque. Now I’m afraid to go outside.”

Flowers, candles and handwritten messages pile up outside the town hall.

“I’m an atheist, but I knew Fr Jacques well,” says François Queruel, a baker. “My wife wanted our children to be baptised, so we asked him. He was a man of incredible goodness. It’s the lowest of the low, murdering an 86-year-old man.”

Queruel surveys the television trucks. “Until yesterday, nobody ever heard of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray,” he muses.

The town is a communist party bastion, but the Front National (FN) nearly won the last elections. “The attack will tip the balance,” Queruel says. “People don’t say they’re FN, but they vote FN. I’m more afraid of a civil war than of another attack here, because there are no limits to human stupidity.”

Shrouded church
Twenty-four hours after the attack, the égliseSaint-Étienne is shrouded from view, incongruously, by white marquees like those used for cocktail parties. Retired policeman Michel Delesques (64) chats with the riot police who block access to the church.
“Don’t believe what French TV says, that this is ‘a nice little town’. The Muslims wear their beards down to here now,” Delesques says, holding a hand at stomach-level. “In Oissel, just over the bridge, football players pray prostrate on the ground before matches. In the open-air market, 80 out of 100 stalls are run by Muslims. We’ve been invaded . . . These people must be sent back . . . We need a French Guantánamo. ”

Place of pilgrimage
Delesques’s friend Patrick, who runs a stall in the market, asks why the law against full-face veils is not enforced. Wednesday’s market was cancelled because, he says, “people are too angry. If a Frenchman sees a woman in a burka today, he’ll tell her to go back where she came from.”
Another memorial has sprung up outside the gate to Fr Jacques’s house, where a young man with a rosary leads three women in prayer. They have travelled from Paris, Rouen and nearby Elbeuf. Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray has become a place of pilgrimage.

Brigitte Autret (63), a retired bank worker from Rouen, launches into an uninterrupted rant: “I live in a Muslim neighbourhood. They say that we native French people are racist, but Muslims have a hatred in them. They cut his throat like a sheep. They want a war of religion. Nostradamus predicted there would be a war of religion . . . They called me an old whore yesterday.

“I didn’t want General de Gaulle to bring all those Algerians here. Why should we pay for what was done decades ago? These people came to France. We needed them to work here. They didn’t teach their children proper French. Now we will have to look over our shoulders everywhere. I wasn’t born to have my throat slit. There is going to be trouble.

“Let the politicians feel it in their flesh. What is in the ****? France! . . . Bring the tanks into the streets . . . I can’t close my eyes to the drugs, the rudeness. I have to lower my eyes when I pass them or they say I’m aggressive . . . Nobody else commits these attacks . . . What have they been doing for the last 20 years? Watching decapitation videos and collecting welfare payments. What have they made of their children? Terrorists!”

“You’re a racist!” shouts an outraged woman, who has paused before Fr Jacques’ house.

“My father is a Muslim and my mother is a Christian,” a second angry woman, of mixed race, interrupts. “I was born in France and I work and pay taxes! You cannot say such things!”

“Then get the gallows for me!” Autret says, almost spitting. As the argument grows more heated, I slip away.
 
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Laela

Sidestepping the "lynch mob"
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day..." Genesis
 

beingofserenity

Well-Known Member
I want to raise my kids in a Christian household. I always have this urge in the back of my mind to go to church, but I haven't been in years due to sheer laziness. I want to be more active spiritually, but I don't know if church is the right way to do it because I struggle with some of the rules and stuff. But I believe in God and I also feel as if I have a Guardian Angel or something.
 

kanozas

se ven las caras pero nunca el corazón
Proverbs 15:22


Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
 
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LiftedUp

Well-Known Member
 

LiftedUp

Well-Known Member
I want to raise my kids in a Christian household. I always have this urge in the back of my mind to go to church, but I haven't been in years due to sheer laziness. I want to be more active spiritually, but I don't know if church is the right way to do it because I struggle with some of the rules and stuff. But I believe in God and I also feel as if I have a Guardian Angel or something.

Pray on it :)
 

Dee_33

Live, Laugh, Love
I enjoy listening to sermons while at work, I used to listen to Joyce Meyer but she once said that satan is the god of this world and since then I've stopped listening to her. Does anyone have any reccomendations for good sermons? I'm going to start with Tony Evans.

TIA
 

Nice Lady

Well-Known Member
I enjoy listening to sermons while at work, I used to listen to Joyce Meyer but she once said that satan is the god of this world and since then I've stopped listening to her. Does anyone have any reccomendations for good sermons? I'm going to start with Tony Evans.

TIA

Are you aware that 2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT says: "Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God?" Joyce Meyer stated the Scriptures. There are tons and tons of good sermons. But, what and who are trying to listen to? Tony Evans is a minister of the Word just as Joyce Meyer.
 

Dee_33

Live, Laugh, Love
Are you aware that 2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT says: "Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God?" Joyce Meyer stated the Scriptures. There are tons and tons of good sermons. But, what and who are trying to listen to? Tony Evans is a minister of the Word just as Joyce Meyer.

It was her delivery that bothered me. She didnt say the entire verse she stated something along the lines of "we have to just face that satan is the god of this world."
 

Nice Lady

Well-Known Member
It was her delivery that bothered me. She didnt say the entire verse she stated something along the lines of "we have to just face that satan is the god of this world."

She said you have to "we have to just face" ----> so Joyce Meyer quoted the Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT says: "Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God?" Gurl, I will pray for you to find someone that you like their delivery. Someone else on LHCF will help you. God bless!
 

Dee_33

Live, Laugh, Love
She said you have to "we have to just face" ----> so Joyce Meyer quoted the Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT says: "Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God?" Gurl, I will pray for you to find someone that you like their delivery. Someone else on LHCF will help you. God bless!

Why the bolded statement? In my opionion delivery matters. I felt that her delivery was off so I'm no longer listening to her.
 

YvetteWithJoy

On break
It was her delivery that bothered me. She didnt say the entire verse she stated something along the lines of "we have to just face that satan is the god of this world."

Did you feel that something ADDITIONAL was accidentally being implied when Joyce said this? Like, that satan is the god of this world and we or God have no power?

I'm just wondering because it's a very final and strong reaction to never listen to someone again when his or her words were scriptural words. I'm really just curious, because if it seemed like she had wrong beliefs, I'd like to know: I have one of her books and may be I shouldn't be reading it if she has a poor understanding of the Word. Thanks in advance!
 

YvetteWithJoy

On break
I enjoy listening to sermons while at work, I used to listen to Joyce Meyer but she once said that satan is the god of this world and since then I've stopped listening to her. Does anyone have any reccomendations for good sermons? I'm going to start with Tony Evans.

TIA

Besides the sermon being based on scripture, what qualities in sermons do you like? This may give people a better idea of what recommendations to make and to not make. :smile:
 

Dee_33

Live, Laugh, Love
Did you feel that something ADDITIONAL was accidentally being implied when Joyce said this? Like, that satan is the god of this world and we or God have no power?

I'm just wondering because it's a very final and strong reaction to never listen to someone again when his or her words were scriptural words. I'm really just curious, because if it seemed like she had wrong beliefs, I'd like to know: I have one of her books and may be I shouldn't be reading it if she has a poor understanding of the Word. Thanks in advance!

Yes, I felt like she was implying that neither we nor God had power in this world. My bad for not explaining better in my initial post.
 

Dee_33

Live, Laugh, Love
Besides the sermon being based on scripture, what qualities in sermons do you like? This may give people a better idea of what recommendations to make and to not make. :smile:

I like sermons based on scripture that also offer teaching. I enjoy sermons that are more like Bible study. Perhaps I will do some online Bible study in addition to listening to sermons. Thanks ladies.
 
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