Heeeeeeeeelllllllllllllp!!!

To the memebers of Metro
Here is the idea I need help with. I have passed past a few people but need you feed back. Share you family night once a month. He is my idea we get a list just like the one who has the perperation for Lord's Supper. Now this list show who is the host family and is the guest family and once a month you meet with a different family. Each month we change up families and who is guest and who is host. single people can co host or do themselves. Now the object of idea is to have a bible study outside of church. but is not restricted to a bible study. so hopefully food is involed. What do you think.
  • jaimer
    The more we get together with our brothers & sisters the bettter. Not sure if I am getting all the logistics but I am sure something can be worked out.
    by jaimer at 09/25/06 2:37PM
  • jdieman
    Study the bible outside of church? What? I don't know about that. I guess I can give it a try.
    by jdieman at 09/25/06 3:18PM
  • bruke
    Great idea, sorry we don't live up there though.
    by bruke at 09/25/06 6:14PM
  • jdieman
    Sounds like a good idea.
    by jdieman at 09/25/06 10:06PM
  • curlie
    The church in Ashland, Ohio, has a list of families on their board. It's done like an attendance chart with each family's name down the side and then each family's name across the top. The challenge is to put a sticker in every box in a year, I think... so the idea is to make sure that you spend time with each other family at least once in that period. I think it's a great idea, and it might make what you're wanting to do a bit more concrete for people if they have something physical to reference. :)
    by curlie at 09/25/06 11:37PM
  • curlie
    Ask Matt for more information.
    by curlie at 09/25/06 11:37PM
  • drwho2u
    Try setting up a couple of groups like we do in Elgin. Since you're small it may work with 2 or 3 gruops. Pick 2 group leaders per group. Every month get together at someones home or do an outing. We had a meeting last weekend and we went to one of our shut-ins and had a singing. She was so happy for the company and the singing. You can also mix it up with people bringing coworkers and friends. Every six months the leaders switch and once a year the groups are mixed up again so that all the brethren have a chance to visit and get to know each other.
    by drwho2u at 09/26/06 6:57AM
  • esepepe
    My idea is have small groups more personal time with families. As well pushing our non committed members that we care. just me and you. hope it works.
    by esepepe at 09/26/06 11:00AM
  • godswarrior32803
    sounds great. We did that (or something similar to it) in Mattoon while I was there.
    by godswarrior32803 at 09/27/06 5:46PM
  • aimes
    Jose...I think it's a great idea
    by aimes at 09/28/06 2:02PM
  • edwinaj25
    the members.......
    by edwinaj25 at 09/28/06 4:17PM
  • edwinaj25
    jk
    by edwinaj25 at 09/28/06 4:17PM
  • ynotbe29
    Jose I want to get together with you soon I want to make a master list of all the things we want the kids to know during the class. It will be a growing list but I want to get it written down.
    by ynotbe29 at 10/09/06 10:42PM
  • unbeastie
    Jose...what's up? It's good to hear from you.
    by unbeastie at 04/10/07 4:38PM
  • vav
    You are invited to the FC class of 98 renunion. For more info go to www.floridacollege.edu and choose Alumni & Friends.
    by vav at 10/16/07 8:50PM
  • navydoc
    Dude, update someday will ya?
    by navydoc at 02/26/08 2:39PM

It is Carlos Birthday

Bring it around town!!!!!! if you didn't get an invation to carlos birthday party now you are invited 4pm on saturday. BYOC (bring your own chair). MY son is Three and he will crush you. lol.
  • ward
    Sorry. Don't think I'll make it this year.
    by ward at 08/15/06 12:36PM
  • sar
    Happy Birthday Carlos! We plan on being there on Saturday!
    by sar at 08/15/06 12:45PM
  • drwho2u
    Happy Birthday Little Hulk!!!
    by drwho2u at 08/15/06 2:11PM
  • navydoc
    Happy Berfday Carlos!
    by navydoc at 08/16/06 9:28AM
  • tonna
    Happy B-Day Carlos
    by tonna at 08/18/06 5:35PM
  • edwinaj25
    come on Jose get to posting
    by edwinaj25 at 09/21/06 4:41PM

Rapture prove me wrong?

"What is The Rapture?"

The Second Coming of Christ will occur in stages. First, He will remove all Christians from the Earth, to protect them. This is called "The Rapture." The term comes from the Latin verb raptare, and the Greek word harpizo, both meaning "to be caught up" or "to be snatched up." Jesus will "snatch us" out of harm's way.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 [15] According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. [16] For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.


1 Corinthians 15:51-55 [51] Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- [52] in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. [53] For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. [54] When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." [55] "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"


Job 19:26-27 [26] And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; [27] I myself will see him with my own eyes -- I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!


"I heard a preacher say that the Rapture is a false teaching."

About 85 percent of Christian theologians and Christians who have studied the Bible (as opposed to just reading it) believe in the Rapture and the Tribulation, which will be followed by a 1000 years of Christ reigning together with the resurrected saints (referred to as the Millennial Kingdom).

Christians who do not believe in the Rapture and the Millennial Kingdom are referred to as "amillennialists". They believe that mankind will simply become better and better through the efforts of the Church, and when mankind becomes holy enough Christ will return. However, the evidence of the general moral deterioration of mankind in the Twentieth Century seems to disprove this view. Also, Jesus said that

People who claim the Rapture is a false teaching usually base their assertion on two false beliefs:

(a) The idea of the Rapture (or a pre-tribulation Rapture) was first announced by theologian J.N. Darby around 1830 and is based on the alleged prophetic vision of a 15-year old Scottish girl named Margaret Macdonald.

(b) The Rapture was not taught by the early church.

The facts are otherwise:

(a) Prophecy scholar and author Grant Jeffrey has discovered a sermon by a Greek Orthodox theologian named Ephraem, who died before 400 A.D. Some scholars claim it is not the work of Ephraem, but of a later theologian who was influenced by him, and that it was actually written before 700 A.D. In either case, it substantially pre-dates the alleged 1830 date. Jeffrey has published an English-language translation in one of his recent books.

(b) Margaret Macdonald's vision was of a post-tribulation Rapture. She said that the Holy Spirit would protect the Church through the Tribulation.

(c) No biblical scholars or Christian theologians rely on Macdonald's vision to support any view of the Rapture.

(d) Darby was declaring a pre-tribulation Rapture as early as 1827, three years before Macdonald's vision.

For an excellent discussion of the four views on the Rapture (referred to as pretrib, midtrib, posttrib and amillennial) see Lindsay, Hal. The Rapture New York, Bantam Books, 1985.

Also, the Rapture is analogous to first-century Jewish marriage customs and is a prelude to The Marriage of Jesus Christ and The Elect.


"What takes place after the Rapture?"

After The Rapture, God will begin executing judgments against unbelievers, during a period called the Tribulation. At the end of the Tribulation all nations will attack Israel, and Jesus Christ will physically return, leading the armies of heaven. At the Battle of Armeggedon they will destroy everyone who is not a believer. Then Satan will be bound, and Jesus will set up the Millennial Kingdom, headquartered in Jerusalem. Jesus and the saints will rule over the nations of the Earth for a thousand years. During this period there will be people born who are not loyal to Christ. However, it usually will not be obvious. Therefore, at the end of the thousand-year period, God will release Satan and let him tempt those who inhabit the Earth. A large group will take up arms against the Lord and be defeated. Then, Christ will judge all who have ever lived, giving rewards to some and punishment to others. Those who were "destroyed" will be cast into the Lake of Fire, i.e., Hell. After that, God will destroy heaven and Earth because they have been polluted by sin. He will create a new heaven and a new Earth, put those who were saved on the new Earth, and rule it forever.

For an interesting insight into conditions likely to occur immediately following the Rapture see The Post-Rapture Economic Collapse.


"Where does the Bible talk about the end times?"

The end-time scenario is spread out mainly over the following books and sections: Revelation, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, the Gospels, Zechariah, Zephaniah, Joel, 1 Corinthians 15:51, 1 Thessalonians 4:13.


"How can we know end-times prophecies such as the Rapture are true?"

Because these things have not occurred yet, we must take it on faith that they will come to pass. Basically, we assume that because God has a perfect track record on prophecies that have come true we can rely on His word about prophecies that remain unfulfilled.


  • deusvitae
    A Study of Denominations: Plymouth Brethren (material on premillennialism/rapture theory).
    by deusvitae at 08/08/06 2:52PM
  • littledieman
    We just had a sermon on The Rapture (at the congregation we attend) by one of the preachers. It was very interesting. Let me know if you want a tape or CD - you'd probably enjoy it!
    by littledieman at 08/08/06 3:31PM
  • dwboyd
    Is this a question?
    by dwboyd at 08/08/06 5:55PM
  • esepepe
    yes
    by esepepe at 08/08/06 10:51PM
  • esepepe
    Don’t wimp out explain what you believe? 1000 years?
    by esepepe at 08/08/06 10:56PM
  • curtis2
    What translation or version of the Bible are you quoting from up there?
    by curtis2 at 08/09/06 5:13AM
  • curtis2
    The Premillenialist false doctrine is that:
    1. Jesus came to this earth and the Jews killed Him before He could set up His physical Kingdom.
    2. After He was resurrected, He set up the Church until He could come again.
    3. When Jesus comes again, He will come invisibly to raise the righteous and the righteous dead and take them to Heaven for a 7-year period (The Rapture).
    4. Then, those that have been "left behind" will have to suffer through the Great Tribulation.
    5. At the end of that 7-years, Jesus will visibly return with His angels and the raptured saints.
    6. We will all, then, fight a physical battle at Meggido, in the Valley of Jezreel.
    7. Jesus will win and, at this point, He will set up His physical Kingdom and reign in Jerusalem for 1000 years.
    8. At the end of that 1000 years, Jesus will reward those who fought with Him at Armageddon by translating them to the New Earth and punish those who fought against Him with some extremely vague punishment; basically, everyone will recieve their eternal reward.

    Just a few of things that I noticed:
    1. This entire doctrine springs from Revelation 20; Revelation is a prophetic book of comfort to those who were being persecuted by the Roman Empire; The entire book is given in symbols to convey that message in language that only Christians would understand to avoid persecution if Roman persecuters ever read it; Ironically, this is the book of the Bible that gives Christians the hardest time understanding.
    2. To believe this, you would have to COMPLETELY ignore EVERY passage about Jesus' Second Coming like 2 Peter 3, 1 Thessalonians 4&5 and so on.
    3. To believe this, you would have to COMPLETELY ignore EVERY passage about why Jesus came in the first place. He came to set up His Kingdom (The Church) so all people could be saved.
    4. To believe this, you would have to COMPLETELY ignore EVERY passage that has to deal with why Jesus died on the Cross.
    5. To believe this, you would have to believe that Jesus FAILED and there are some very deep ramifications of that belief, namely, if Jesus failed once, why would you believe He could succeed the second time around.

    I could go on, but do I really need to?
    by curtis2 at 08/09/06 5:18AM
  • curtis2
    I realize you didn't ask me but, since I saw it on Terra's blog, I was intrigued and, well, anything I can do to help.
    by curtis2 at 08/09/06 5:19AM
  • curtis2
    So, I can't tell from your post. Do you believe in the Rapture or what? Because if you do, you shouldn't because the Bible doesn't teach it.
    by curtis2 at 08/09/06 5:22AM
  • drwho2u
    Wasn't it a song by Blondie?
    by drwho2u at 08/09/06 6:36AM
  • godswarrior32803
    To add to what was written above... The events Book of Revelation by John's own mouth was soon to come to pass (Rev. 1:1). 2000 years is hardly "soon." What comfort would that have given 1st century Christians in Asia? In order to understand a bok we must understand to whom it was originally written and how they understood it BEFORE we can apply it to ourselves. The great battle as described in Rev. 19 never mentions once that Christ stepped foot on earth. It says John saw the heavens open up and NEVER mentions Christ coming out of the heavens to walk on earth.
    by godswarrior32803 at 08/09/06 7:25AM
  • patermagister
    If I might point out your description of "amillennialists" is not accurate.
    Christians who do not believe in the Rapture and the Millennial Kingdom are referred to as "amillennialists". They believe that mankind will simply become better and better through the efforts of the Church, and when mankind becomes holy enough Christ will return.

    That is a description of postmillennialism, not amillennialism. Postmillennialists believe the world will get better and better and then Jesus will establish His kingdom on the earth, though they most often believe it is a spiritual kingdom and do not expect to see Jesus literally on the earth. Some postmillennialists believe the 1000 years is literal, some think it just relates to a large period of time.

    Amillennialists, on the other hand, believe there is no literal millennial kingdom. They believe that Revelation 20 is a figurative picture of victory and does not describe an event in real time on the earth. To my knowledge all amillennialists believe in Christ's kingdom, that it is not of this world, that it is already established. They simply do not view Revelation 20 as the description of that kingdom.
    by patermagister at 08/09/06 6:34PM
  • patermagister
    Regarding Rapture: If all that is meant by rapture is the calling of the saints to Jesus in the sky. Then I believe that will happen one day. However, Rapture doctrine generally refers to a time when Jesus will return, call His saints to Him in the sky and leave behind others on the earth. I most definitely do not believe that will happen.

    When Jesus returns, I believe the Bible teaches that all will be resurrected (John 5:28-29) and the world will be destroyed leaving nothing for anyone to be left behind on (II Peter 3:10).

    While the three passages you quoted, I Thessalonians 4; I Corinthians 15; Job 19, speak of saints being called to be with God, notice that they say nothing about what happens to the unrighteous. That is added in to these passages by Rapture doctrine. It is not found in these passages.

    Interestingly, if you keep reading in I Thessalonians, we actually do find out what happens to the unrighteous at the same time as the righteous are called to be with Jesus forever. I Thessalonians 5:3 says destruction will come upon them suddenly. Notice this day of destruction is one that the Christians are to be prepared for. It is not one they will miss because they are gone.

    Further, if we go into the second letter to the Thessalonians, we can read in 1:6-12, that on the same day, Jesus will return to be glorified in His saints and marveled at among all who believe and will deal out retribution to whose who do not know God and did not obey His gospel. On the same day those things happen, not on days separated by 7 years or 3 1/2 years. The penalty is eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord. It is not 7 years or 3 1/2 years of tribulation.

    With these things in mind, I cannot accept the Premillennial Rapture doctrine.
    by patermagister at 08/09/06 6:42PM
  • edwinaj25
    very interesting...
    by edwinaj25 at 08/10/06 6:49PM
  • esepepe
    My Answer I believe the Bible teaches that Jesus in on his ruling from his thrown now. I also believe that Christians rule with him as well and judge the world. We judge by our actions. Yes I agree there will be only one caught up session. But I believe in two resurrections for Christians. One at Baptism (new creature, buried with Christ) and second on Judgment day when the dead in Christ are a raised.
    by esepepe at 08/11/06 9:31AM
  • esepepe
    About 85 percent of Christian theologians and Christians who have studied the Bible (as opposed to just reading it) believe in the Rapture and the Tribulation, which will be followed by a 1000 years of Christ reigning together with the resurrected saints (referred to as the Millennial Kingdom).
    by esepepe at 08/11/06 9:33AM
  • esepepe
    Never has majority made anything right.
    by esepepe at 08/11/06 9:34AM
  • esepepe
    YES but this in no mean that we need to take that a prophecies have to be only for one time period. Example Daniel and statue made out of four different materials one prophecy for many time periods.
    by esepepe at 08/11/06 9:38AM

DON'T Step On The Ducks

Three women die together in an accident
and go to heaven.

When they get there, St. Peter says, "We only have one rule here in heaven: don't step on the ducks!"

So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one.

Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she ever saw.
St. Peter chains them together and says, "Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to this ugly man!"

The next day, the second woman steps accidentally on a duck and along comes St. Peter, who doesn't miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first woman.

The third woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly man, is very, VERY careful where she steps.

She manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St. Peter comes up to her with the most handsome man she has ever laid eyes on ... very tall, long eyelashes, muscular, and thin.

St. Peter chains them together without saying a word.

The happy woman says, "I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?"

The guy says, "I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck!"
  • esepepe
    quack quack!
    by esepepe at 08/04/06 8:41AM
  • esepepe
    beauty in the eye of the beholder
    by esepepe at 08/04/06 8:52AM
  • edwinaj25
    lol lol lol that is funny!!!!
    by edwinaj25 at 08/04/06 10:21AM
  • godswarrior32803
    lol thanks for the laugh
    by godswarrior32803 at 08/04/06 3:31PM
  • navydoc
    Yeah, I've heard that one before, it's a good one.
    by navydoc at 08/04/06 7:12PM

Answer

She was hoping the guy would appear at the funeral again.
If you answered this correctly, you think like a psychopath. This was a test by a famous American Psychologist used to test if one has the same mentality as a killer. Many arrested serial killers took part in the test and answered the question correctly. HMMM Jake
  • jdieman
    You had better watch your back.
    by jdieman at 08/02/06 10:09PM
  • goonie
    I thought she killed her just to watch her die.
    by goonie at 08/03/06 12:10PM