The Lord's church

Check out this interesting answer on Yedda

Should members be allowed to vote

I assume that you are talking about members of the Lord's church.

No one pays to be a member. No one joins the Lord's church; Christ adds believers to his church, at their baptism (not infants). Members of the body of Christ do not vote. (See Acts 2 )

Christ's church is not a democracy. Jesus Christ is the head of his church, and has all authority in heaven and on earth. Our authority today comes from the Bible only. His Word never changes. We have been given everything we need to know for life and godliness. Each congregation is autonomous, ideally including elders and deacons. The Bible is our only authority, and that is what we have in common, and binds us together. There is no 'Pope' or headquarters handing down doctrine of men. See the book of Acts for the beginning of the Lord's church, on the day of Pentacost, in Jerusalem, year 33 AD.

You can learn about the church in the book of Acts, and learn about their everyday situations in the 'letters,' such as Corinthians, Romans, etc. To understand who Jesus Christ is, read the book of John.

Don Cole

Topics: church

Answered by DonColeCartoons on December 20, 2008

View the entire discussion on Yedda

What does the Bible say about the death, burial...

Check out this interesting answer on Yedda

What does the bible say about the death,burial ...

Romans, Chapter 6:
1: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2: God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3: Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5: For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7: For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8: Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9:
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
12: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13:
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14: For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15: What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
17:
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
18: Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19: I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
20: For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21: What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
22:
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
There are more Bible scriptures about this subject in the Bible that I could show, but Romans, Chapter 6 here pretty much says it. The next thing to consider is how we can know that Jesus was truly of God.
Besides all the miracles and eye witnesses, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament laws of sin and death. Jesus himself became God’s perfect sacrificial lamb in atonement for our sins, in that we may be saved by the grace of God, through faith and not of our own works, lest any man should boast. For example, Matthew’s gospel shows how 17 prophecies from the Old Testament about Jesus being the Messiah have been fulfilled in the New Testament. It quotes numerous prophecies in Isaiah, Micah, Hosea, Psalms, Zechariah and Daniel. There is more that can be shown here from the Bible; but this should give you the heart of the answer you seek.
10: For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11: Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Topics:  jesus

Answered by DonColeCartoons on December 16, 2008

View the entire discussion on Yedda

The Joy of Giving is Heaven

We all know the feeling we get, when we are able to love, to give to someone or entity in need.

Thank God that we do not stand alone. How lonely that would be. None to care for, none to love. In a nutshell, ( I am the nut) you could say that this is about the Joy of Giving!

A comedian, or cartoonist, or writer, or musician, or whatever, experiences the ecstasy of being able to make someone else, or others laugh, to be entertained, to be helped, or provided for, to feel loved, to be happy, whatever. An evangelist experiences the thrill of having led a soul to baptism, to Jesus Christ. To be able to have a good and eternal effect on others. To be influential in saving another person’s life! Therein is heavenly joy.

Now, you get the idea…Yes. We will be doing things in Heaven, but I don’t think that it will be work. It will be doing what gives us this same kind of joy and pleasure, and that is being one in the Lord.

The things we love to do, if we didn’t have to worry about making a living, saving or maintaining the flesh, etc. To be free of all that, not only of sin, but also of things like time and gravity. To be forever and personally, without effort or resistance, any more testing , --but then to be further along, to the mysteries abound. The thrill of graduation! The race is won! What joy can top that? Where will God take us ? The things he has in store! The treasures that we have stored up in Heaven! How much more and greater things will we be able to do? (Remember, that we are told that there is much more out there, but this is as much as we can handle for now; although at this time He has given us everything that we need to know for life and godliness.)

And time and providence will never run out of God’s goodness and love.The joy comes not inside the sacrifice itself, but in the love act of the giver, out of our blessings in God. The joy to Jesus was not in His having to take the cup, (he prayed that it might be taken from him,) but the joy through his ultimate expression of His love for us from His giving, and obeying the Father, in our behalf.

He did freely drink. He gave. He gave up his entire body. He taught us. He suffered for us. He led the way, and sealed us for eternity in His love., in the New Testament, given to us. He sent, delivered, gave us his Spirit. That was/is God’s pleasure and joy.

God’s promises, between He and man. Think of the joy of being able to save someone’s life, to share eternal good and happiness, everlasting, to be a vital and unique part of God himself, the source of love and everything good.

In the body; the bride of Christ. Two become one = three. Completeness. It is done. It was/is sealed at the cross.

There is a time, at night, when it is comfortable to rest and to sleep. Then our bodies wake up to a new morning, and it is no longer comfortable to just lie there in bed. Now it is more comfortable to rise and move about doing the things we need to do to sustain our lives. To those who are in the Lord, no matter what our circumstances are in this life; it is exciting to see what this new day has in store. What new things will we contend with, and what will we learn new from this day? He is molding us and using us, and counting on us for things we are aware, and also for things farther along we know not yet. Where will the Lord lead us today? Or tomorrow? He takes our hand. He enlarges our territory. He protects us from harm and pain. It is an exciting journey. A great adventure! Better than the best of movies, video games, I-pods, and HD TV.

Love is what survives in Heaven. Jesus said, to store our treasures there.

Don Cole

Saved Not by Grace Alone.

Remember, we are saved not by grace alone, but by grace through faith. And what is the manifestation or fruit of our faith?

Does grace mean that we no longer need to fear God, because all of our sins are/will be forgiven?

Without love or commitment to God's commands, is grace alone, without faith, sufficient?

No; grace is connected to faith, equals obedience, not grace alone. However; grace is a free gift. We can't earn it by works.

All of us live by faith, whatever that faith might be.

If we have faith that there is no God, or that Jesus was a liar and a deceiver, than we will live accordingly. If our faith is that there is no Heaven; than we will live and act accordingly.

If we believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God; than we will live and act accordingly.

Out of our own faith and obedience; we will repent, confess Jesus is the son of God, and be baptized into His death, burial and resurrection , raised anew into a new life, in God's grace, for the forgiveness of our sins, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The lost, and we all fall short, are saved by grace through faith. (Eph.2:8-9) (See the book of James, about how faith without works is dead.)

Our faith produces fruit, or demise, --good or wrong actions, depending upon our faith. Faith determines whether we will receive God's grace, or punishment for our sins, which is just. A branch broken away from the tree, the vine, without life nourishment will wither and die.

As for me, I feel safer when I am in the love, repenting and trembling modes when it comes to God and my own salvation.

Don Cole