Anything outside of that is mass delusion.

IF you read all the comments on this article you will see that all of the believers comments are different; which means none of you believe the same thing.

YOU may all believe that the bible is the word of GOD and that JESUS is your lord and personal savoir ; but that’s where the similarity ends.

IN the part of town I live in there are black churches that are literally across the street from each other yet there is no contact between them.

I even asked why and both sides said they don’t believe as we do.

I have a hard time understanding this because I don’t know what could be such a significant difference that it would keep fellow believers from speaking to each other.

IF you are all CHRISTIANS and you are all black that should be enough to unite just on those bases in fact there should just be one large black church like the MORMON church there should not be thousands because it breeds disunity.

MY people are enemies are not religious enemies but racial enemies; they want to destroy us because we are black!

“Heaven, Heaven, Heaven — ev’rybody talkin’ ’bout Heaven ain’t going there…”

My grandmother taught me that song when I was a little child, and it helped me to distinguish between “church folks” and Christians. It is an important distinction, as noted ministers in America have openly said in previous years that as many as 90 percent of people going into church buildings may not have a true relationship with God in Jesus Christ. That would explain much of the aberrant behavior. But then again, the Lord Jesus already warned of that, in Matthew 7…

Matthew 7:16-21

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

About Pat Robertson in Heaven… the book is not yet closed on him, for he is yet alive, and God is not finished with him yet. No Christian living today is yet the finished work of God; if Pat Robertson knows the Lord, the Lord will continue to work on him and make Mr. Robertson more like Christ. If not, well…

That is so true, the Bible that Christians Worship today was compiled and “bless” by the Catholic Church, not God. It wasn’t even put together until almost 400 years after the death of Christ. So everything in it is hearsay. In terms of years, they were as far away from the life and times of Jesus Christ as we are away from George Washington. So in reality, they didn’t know fact from fiction, any more than we know whether or not George Washington really chopped down a cherry tree:
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For the first 300 years of Christianity, there was no Bible as we know it today. Christians had the Old Testament Septuagint, and literally hundreds of other books from which to choose. The Catholic Church realized early on that it had to decide which of these books were inspired and which ones weren’t. The debates raged between theologians, Bishops, and Church Fathers for several centuries as to which books were inspired and which ones weren’t. In the meantime, several Church Councils or Synods, were convened to deal with the matter, notably, Rome in 382, Hippo in 393, and Carthage in 397 and 419. The debates sometimes became bitter on both sides. One of the most famous was between St. Jerome, who felt the seven books were not canonical, and St. Augustine who said they were. Protestants who write about this will invariably mention St. Jerome and his opposition, and conveniently omit the support of St. Augustine. I must point out here that Church Father’s writings are not infallible statements, and their arguments are merely reflections of their own private opinions. When some say St. Jerome was against the inclusion of the seven books, they are merely showing his personal opinion of them. Everyone is entitled to his own opinion. However, A PERSONS PRIVATE OPINION DOES NOT CHANGE THE TRUTH AT ALL. There are always three sides to every story, this side, that side, and the side of truth. Whether Jerome’s position, or Augustine’s position was the correct position, had to be settled by a third party, and that third party was the Catholic Church.
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Now the story had a dramatic change, as the Pope stepped in to settle the matter. In concurrence with the opinion of St. Augustine, and being prompted by the Holy Spirit, Pope St. Damasus I, at the Council of Rome in 382, issued a decree appropriately called, “The Decree of Damasus”, in which he listed the canonical books of both the Old and New Testaments. He then asked St. Jerome to use this canon and to write a new Bible translation which included an Old Testament of 46 books, which were all in the Septuagint, and a New Testament of 27 books.
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ROME HAD SPOKEN – FOR GOD – AND THE ISSUE WAS SETTLED.
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080928064041AATOZUD

Now those are the kind of Christians that I like – those who are just good and thoughtful people. But, for the most part, every loud, Bible-thumpin’, sanctified, I-got-the spirit, “Christian” I know are some of the most self-serving, mean-spirited, hypocritical, and judgmental, phonies I’ve ever met. They’re the “Aunt Esthers” of the world, who use Christianity as an excuse to judge and look down their nose at other people. If there’s a Heaven, it would be impossible for those people to be there, because they would make Heaven Hell for every body else. They bring evil into Heaven. Who could feel like they were in Heaven if they had to put up with Pat Robertson?

Matthew 5:16 — 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

The Christian’s life is not to be a “secret life” — there is balance between the public life and what is done privately, but privacy itself is only from the human perspective:

Hebrews 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Taking the whole of the New Testament, the question of reward comes down to whether or not one’s activities, public or private, glorify God.

Colossians 3:17 — And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Colossians 3:23-24

23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

I Corinthians 10:31 — Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Essentially, everything the Christian does that glorifies God will be rewarded by Him in His time — but the blessings are not always material, and those that are going to church in order that God will shower material goods on them are greatly deceived. But, there are many, many Black Christians who go quietly about their business, day after day, touching the lives of those they meet around them with the love and care of God, demonstrated through their free sharing of their time, talent, and treasure — and most of them will never be recognized in this life, and never become rich. But God has an eternity to bless His own…

The Christian church of today is the result of the Emperor Constantine and his desire to use Christianity as a glue to hold the Roman Empire together. Christianity, in its early years, had several canonical books written by individuals who held the church as a body of free thinking believers as it relates to what Jesus the Christ meant to them and their lives. St. Augustine was the leader of this school of Christian thought. The other school of Christian thought, led by St. Jerome, held that salvation can only be gained though the body of Christ, which in their eyes, was through the church. St. Jerome’s school of Christian thought, which aligned with Constantine’s vision for solidifying the Empire, won out. Any books written by those saints who’s thought did not align with the Body of Christ were considered heretical, and cast out. Books like the Gospel of Mary which restores Mary Magdalene to her rightful place as one of Jesus’s disciples were considered heretical. And one wonders why Jesus was considered such a dangerous radical in his earthly time. Women who stood in equality with Peter and James? The Gospel of Thomas contains many of the verses that can be found in the Synoptic Gospels. The most famous saying of the Gospel, the 70th states:
“Jesus said, If you give rise to what is in you, what is in you will save you. If you don’t give rise to what is in you, what is not in you will destroy you.” This type of independent thought paints another picture of
Christianity. One that requires self reflection and salvation through self, not solely association with the body of Christ. When one learns of Christianity is, in all of its forms, you’ll find that the careful manipulation of a few individuals and worshipping St. Jerome’s version of Christianity, we miss out on what Christianity was meant to be.

I counter everything you said with this:

Matthew 6:1-34
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“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues [churches] and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues [churches] and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward . . .”

I remember hearing black men refer to black preachers as ‘bible-totin’ pimps’. Often I wondered why would they say bad things about a preacher. When I became an adult, I realized that those black men were absolutely correct. You’ve got pastors who are sleeping with women other than their wives. Pastor’s are taking entirely too much money from their own churches to maintain a lifestyle straight out of the pages of the rich and famous. Church is a money game and preachers want to get their hands on as much money as they can.

If I hear you correctly, you are not the expert portrayed in the piece you wrote. You are wanting to hang on to the Lord our God and his principles as stated in the Bible, but you want no part of the religious establishment. It won’t work!!! The reason I say this, is because the Lord our God did not establish His message of salvation and repentance for believers and non-believers to be taken and hidden within the confines of a person’s mind, or that person’s residence, or even restricted to that person’s family or the street the he lives on, or even to the city or region in which He lives.

When you find God, you find heaven because through His Son Jesus Christ, He talks exclusively about taking the “saved” back to heaven. Therefore He is the embodiment of the heavenly message. It is He says, only through Him can this journey be made. It is a message that once you understand it, you abandon your worldly perception and buy completely into His perception and the way He sees the world. In essence changing completely your sinful habits which you felt may have been of some value to follow the values of the living God. There is scripture that Jesus references when he speaks of this:

Matthew
13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
13:46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Because the message of the gospels are so precious and valuable, once it is understood, the Lord our God commanded any one who has become a disciple of His message to go out and tell world.

Matthew
28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Therefore the Christian religion based on Jesus Christ of the King James version of the Bible can never be privately held or kept to one self. It is the commandment of the Lord our God Himself. Because He knew the end result of His commandment if carried out properly would result in believers who would be convinced of His message, He asked them to gather themselves (which means church) together and in doing this they may draw strength and comfort from each other. The Lord our God sees believers as a part of one big body, with each believer being a functioning part of that body in furtherance of the message of the gospel.
Hebrews
10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

You see, the world will in time come to hate and revile us, just as they hated and reviled Jesus Christ. The reason they will do this is because they will not want to hear the gospels and embody their principles, as when a person sets out on a rampage of sinful behavior, the first thing he does usually is put down the Word of God. The Lord our God says they will not want to “retain” the Word of God.

Romans
1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

I answer these questions and others in my book; Hey…God’s Talking To You The Study Book @ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GYI3VQW. You need to p/u a copy.

http://www.Jobcreationnow.com . And so it goes…