Ron Cusano

Charlene, The gospel in a nutshell is "John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have eternal life". If you believe Jesus was who he claimed to be and did what he claimed to do, they you will go to heaven, regardless of any denomination distinction. The problem lies in understanding "who Jesus was and what he did"! The waters get a little muddied here what you introduce having to do certain things - "works" - to earn heaven, or look to other means for forgiveness of sin - "comfession, penence, absolution, etc. The fact of the matter is, NONE of us are WORTHY of heaven. We are all worthy of Hell, but by the grace of God alone, Heaven is made available to us through the atoning work of Jesus on the cross. The reason it is so important to understand the scriptures is because this is where the real understanding of who he was and what he did comes from. Anything aside from the scriptures is only tradation, opinion and heresay, which means nothing because is constantly changes. I believe that there are those from all denominations that truly believe, bgut in doing so, are believing in opposition to the official teachings of certain denominations. Many denominational teachings are just wrong when given the test of scripture, nevertheless, I believe there are many who are truly saved within their ranks, no thanks to the wrong teachings. My "Conservative" position mearly means that by foundation for my belief system is the scriptures alone, and that then mean exactly what they say taken in the proper context. It is not a matter of better or worse, it's a matter of true or false.

And this coming from a man who doesn't have to sincerity to even explain what he believes, while tearing apart others beliefs. You know, I debate, argue and disagree with a lot of people on this thread, but I respect them because that at least have the guts to say what they believe and why they believe it. You have a lot of unsupported opinion and blow a lot of hot air, but don't the the guts to put yourself out there with your beliefs. You are so transparent. Why then should I or anyone take anything you have to say seriously?? Just for the record, I do KNOW that without Jesus you will go to Hell, because Jesus said so, the Bible said so, and I believe it. Now why don't you tell us why you disagree and on what basis, and what you believe!! Do you have the guts???

With all due respect, you obviously do not have a grasp of the whole of scripture or you could not even make those remarks. Not knowing the reason for the Mosiac Law, the coming of the Messiah to fulfill that Law, and His role in redemption under the New Covenant is not knowing who Jesus really was and is. You may want to consider actually studying and learning the scriptures so you can understand tham instead of picking a nd choosing verses, usually out of context, to try to make a case that can't be made. Archolological finds, including the Dead Sea Scrolls have substanciated that todays Bibles are 100% accuarate compared to the oldest known manuscripts that date back BC.

Your opinions about the Bible and faith are very suspect and have little credibility as far as I am concerned! You as so quick to find fault, but time after time refuse to tell us your beliefs or where they come from. On what basis are YOU making judgements when you don't even have the conviction to express what YOU are all about. That is as hypicritical as it can be. How about YOU getting honest here!!!

I don't pretend to know what is in the mans heart or the factors involved with the capital punishment issues in Texas during his term as Gov. I "believe" he is sincere in his beliefs and is true to his heart in his decisions. I can only judge what I know, not what I guess at. As fas as anyone going to Hell; I KNOW that without trusting Jesus as your sin offering, you will go to HELL! I don't have to guess at that because I know the facts. Don't confuse politics and the Lord! That is flawed logic!!!

Thanks! I didn't see it because I didn't scroll over. Thanks again!

I know, and I also know that I am not in a position to second guess his decisions either.

And the point is ??? If the apocrypha is supect regarding weather or not it is inspired, it might as well be considered fantacy. I don't know or care if it was included as additional reading material up to 120 years ago, the point is that they were not considered inspired by the early church and they are not now by the Christian church with the exception of the Catholic church. I personally do not know of any Protestant denominations that only accept the KJV. Can you tell me who they are? You can't say that the apocrypha today is not a Catholic thing, because the Catholic church is the only church that insists it is inspired and of equal authority with the rest of scripture. It is a certainty that these writings were never considered inspired by Jewish theologians either, then or now. This appears to be something you copied from some website, but I think some of it's content is suspect. Can you give me the website it came from??

Fair enough! I went back and found it. The new Testament scriptures refers to all Believers as saints and the verse you quoted talks of the prays of the saints reaching the throne room of God. In Catholicism, you refer to specific, select individuals that you call saints. That explains why you were under the impression that verses meant prayers from the dead. It does not.

I completely agree!

Thank you Missy! I really appriciate that. It was very encouraging to me.

Point taken!

What about Papal Infallibility?? I thought the Pope was incapible of error in doctrine?? And indulengences was official doctrine of the Catholic at a point in time.

I see everything but that! What is it near??

All of this is just opinion, and you are entitled to your. I think it all a bunch of hogwash, but that's just me. You keep telling me my Biblical beliefs are all wrong, and I am still waiting for you to tell me what yours are and what YOU base them on. You are real good at avoiding this.

So I will ask you again then! What do you believe and why do you believe it. You keep evading the question!!

So it's OK for you to challenge and twist and turn my beliefs, but you don't even have the conviction to state where your's come from??? That seems a bit hypocritical to me. I think the reason you don't answer that question is because you don't have an answer, and you're stated beliefs are based entirely on your very vocal opinion and feelings. Am I correct??

You seem to delight in blaming all the social woes in the world on George Bush. There are a lot of people who disagree with you on that, depending on your politics. George Bush does not decide who dies on death row, and I believe the President acted in good faith in Iraq, as the leader of the free world in a time of war, neither of which determines his beliefs. You seem intent on passing judgement on him, but like to point the finget at you you preceive as others casting judgement.

Resurrection means resurrection, Jesus did not have a son, and the story will turn out to be just another in a long line of bunk. And the world is not being destroyed by global warming. The world has always gone through cyclonic temperature changes, most with more severe changes that we are seeing now. It's perfectly normal except to Al Gore and the alarmists! You say it would not interdere with your faith which is not based on the Bible. I had asked you previously what then is you faith based on, but you never answered? Can you tell me??

You're right! But just because someone "claims" to be in touch with Jesus does not mean they really are. I could say I'm a piano player, but that doesn't make me a piano player. Jesus said you can tell those who belong to Him by "the fruit they bear"! Good works are the natural result of being one that belongs to Jesus. If you don't see the "fruit", chances are it's a barren, dead tree!!

No, it is not accurate! The Bible teaches the doctrine of "eternal security" which means once you come to believe and receive salvation, it is impossile to lose it. It is never determined by doing good works.

First of all, the 10 Commandment were only a sumation of the 213 Mosasic Laws given to Israel. Good works and loving our neighbors are very important and are the natural result of the salvation experience. However, as important good works are, they can not get you to heaven. Only salvation through the shed blood of the Messiah can make that occur. Hitler professed to be a Catholic, but no one indwelled by the Holy Spirit and truly a Believer in Jesus could do what he did to God's Chosen People.

Understood! Butthat may be your opinion, but it is not scriptural.

You can twist, turn and question all you want, but it does not change scripture. God rested in the sense that the ceased from creating. You are trying to attribute human limitations of God who is spirit and all powerful. If you understood all of scripture, and did not need to pull out verses to try to make them something there are not intended to be, we would not be having this conversation. You could do as much with any book, article or newspaper ever written, but it doesn't change it's context or meaning.

You seem to be making up your own Bible. Jesus never said the poor were the 'Chosen People"! That is a complete fabrication. The role of the Messiah coming was to die for the sins of mankind, for all who will accept it. The miracles that he performed were to establish His messianiac credentials which were foretold by Bible prophecy. Yes Jesus taught that we ought to feed the hungry and cloth the poor, and love one another, but His purpose in coming was to bring salvation, not effect change for social issues. You can't write your own Bible!