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It remains a mystery to me how any parent could conclude that the Harry Potter books are suitable reading material for their children, as young as eight years old. In one case, the answer has been reduced to “Just because the lifestyle doesn’t match mine, doesn’t mean you throw the book out.” Certainly that statement is true as it stands, but it is an over-simplification of the issue, and demonstrates either profound ignorance, or just plain deceit.

It isn’t just the problem of “good guys” who lie, steal, cheat, disobey, hate, swear, get drunk, gamble, seek vengeance, and consider killing their enemies; nor the frequent descriptions of disgusting things or behaviours; nor the total immersion of the reader in elements of witchcraft, including detailed spells, potions, charms and sym...

What Does it Mean for God to be Sovereign?

Christians disagree on the implications of God’s sovereignty, because they differ on their understanding of the meaning of the word.

According to dictionary.com[1], the word sovereign means:

1. a monarch; a king, queen, or other supreme ruler.
2. a person who has supreme power or authority.
3. a group or body of persons or a state having sovereign authority.
4. a gold coin of the United Kingdom, equal to one pound sterling: went out of circulation after 1914.

and sovereignty, the adjective, refers to:

5. belonging to or characteristic of a sovereign or sovereign authority; royal.
6. having supreme rank, power, or authority.
7. supreme; preeminent; indisputable: a sovereign right.
8. greatest in degree; utmost or extreme.
9. being above all others in character, importan...

Christians believe the Old Testament, but do not follow it. What does this mean?

The Old Testament is history, prophecy, and commands to a specific people. Insofar as we read of first things (In the beginning…), early development of a region and of a people, and God’s declaration of what would come after, Christians believe the Old Testament. We recognize and accept that God Which created the universe was the sole presence before creation, and has provided us with information concerning that event that is incontrovertible because He caused it to happen...

37  But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

The passage above keeps coming to mind as I watch the happenings all over the world, and the chaos and destruction being waged in the United States, first against the campaign of Donald Trump for president, and since his election, and I wonder.

If we want to know what the situation will be like before Christ returns, we need to answer the question, “How were the “days of Noah” and what can we expect in the days of the “coming of the son of Man”?

In the book of Genesis, the situation in Noah’s day was described like this:

1      And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2      That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that ...

Definition of Evolution:

Depends on who is talking and what they want you to believe. Evolutionists like to claim the following:

• change
• any change in the frequency of any characteristic in any organism from one generation to the next
• “a process that results in heritable changes in a population spread over many generations”[1]

Darwinism – the theory of evolution that claims to explain molecules-to-man evolution:

Accumulation of mutations driven by natural selection resulting in the development of new types of organisms.

Adaptation   –   properly, how something changes to accommodate situational/environmental conditions; to adapt is simply to ‘change’ in accordance with some motivator.

Genetics:         DNA is a complex molecule that carries all of the information and chemica...

THE RESURRECTION

No Christian teachings are more vigorously attacked than the deity of Christ, the message of the gospel of salvation, and the fact of Christ’s resurrection. The apostle Paul wrote, in 1 Corinthians 15, that if Christ is not raised, our faith is in vain and we are still in our sins. Without the resurrection, we remain hopeless for eternity, because we remain under the curse of death forever.

“If he said frequently, with great definiteness and detail that after he went to Jerusalem he’s be put to death and on the third day rise from the grave, and this prediction happened, then everything else he said must also be true.” Smith, Wilbur. Therefore Stand: Christian Apologetics, 1965.

If Jesus Christ rose from the grave, then every word He spoke would be authenticated an...

Are the documents we possess the same as the original documents? How do we know?

Were the original documents truly written at or around the time they cover rather than written many centuries after the facts?

The Bible consists of the original Hebrew Scriptures, which are called The Old Testament in the Bible, plus the New Testament.

Old Testament

The Hebrew Scriptures are called the Tanakh, or the Mikra, meaning “what is read”.  It was originally written in Hebrew, with sections of Daniel & Ezra written in Aramaic. Tanakh consists of three sections:

Torah – the first 5 books of the Bible, which we call Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)

Prophets (Nevi’im) – 2 sub-sections:

Former Prophets:               Joshua       Judg...

Called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Members are called Mormons.

Founded by Joseph Smith Jr. early 1800’s in Palmyra, NY.

1820   Joseph claimed to have first vision – the story changed several times as to whom he saw and what was said:

Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph

God the Father and Jesus appeared to Joseph

One “personage” appeared to Joseph

Two “personages” appeared to Joseph, neither of whom were the Son of God. These were accompanied by ‘many angels.

The “official” version: God the Father and God the Son appeared to JS, telling him to join no church because all were false, and that God would bring the truth church through Joseph Smith.

1823   Second claimed vision: angel Moroni told him there was a sacred history of the ancient Hebrews, engraved...

SUMMARY OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESS HISTORY:

“International Bible Students” – started by Charles Taze Russell, 1872, ~ age 20 in Pennsylvania

He was attracted to the Adventist movement, which developed from the Millerite movement. Russell studied Pyramidology, disavowed eternal hell-fire, the trinity, the deity of Christ, and the personality of the Holy Spirit.

He [ublished a magazine that he ultimately named the Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom; founded Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society., now headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. The publishing house produces about over 100,000 booklets per year. (The Watchtower, Awake!)

Russell published many articles, ultimately naming the compilation Studies in the Scriptures.

Predicted Christ’s “invisible” return in 1874

Russell and his succes...