Introductions, etc.

[Blanche_Locke]

My name, as may have gathered from my username, is Blanche Locke. I am... well, you could say I'm an amateur researcher. I aim to know a bit about everything, from lockpicking to the proper technique for milking a cow. I've come here for a few reasons. The architecture of the site interested me, as it's a classic example of a simpler and better time on the internet. Also, the viewpoints espoused herein are interesting. Now then, the answers to the questions I was asked: I do not currently attend church, as all those I have gone to have problems in one way or another. My favorite bible verse is probably Philippians 4:5: Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. As for my salvation story, that's a private matter.

[Isabella White]

Re: Introductions, etc.

My name, as may have gathered from my username, is Blanche Locke. I am... well, you could say I'm an amateur researcher. I aim to know a bit about everything, from lockpicking to the proper technique for milking a cow. I've come here for a few reasons. The architecture of the site interested me, as it's a classic example of a simpler and better time on the internet. Also, the viewpoints espoused herein are interesting. Now then, the answers to the questions I was asked: I do not currently attend church, as all those I have gone to have problems in one way or another. My favorite bible verse is probably Philippians 4:5: Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. As for my salvation story, that's a private matter.

And, hello to you, dear Miss Locke! We are pleased that you have written such a lovely introductory message for us. It's always nice when we get to know our newcomers, and to be of any assistance that they may need, in finding the glorious Gospel of the .

And, it appears that you have arrived at just the right time. If I am reading your introduction correctly, it seems that you may have a problem with thievery, if you're interested in picking locks and obtaining a way into the private areas of other people. I do hope that this warning from the blessed will give you cause to repent of this horrible sin — before you find yourself landing in the fires of eternal .

Exodus 22:2,3:
2 If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.
3 If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

It saddens me that you do not know the as your personal , Dear. Surely, if you had been washed by the of , as payment for your icky sins, then you would not be bothered by the "problems" in various churches, as you've described. I would like to share with you what the Word of Almighty says about church attendance:

Hebrews 10:24,25:
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
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.

Please, do visit our many forums at . I am sure that you will find an abundance of beneficial information, to steer you on the right path to learning more about . May He bless you, Dear, as you seek — here, at .

[handmaiden]

Re: Introductions, etc.

My name, as may have gathered from my username, is Blanche Locke. [. . .] my salvation story, that's a private matter.

Luke 8:17

For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

[Blanche_Locke]

Re: Introductions, etc.

If I am reading your introduction correctly, it seems that you may have a problem with thievery, if you're interested in picking locks and obtaining a way into the private areas of other people. I do hope that this warning from the blessed will give you cause to repent of this horrible sin — before you find yourself landing in the fires of eternal .

Lockpicking is a valuable tool; for instance, if you accidentally lock yourself out of your house or car. There's a lot of things like that. They get twisted by evildoers, but at the end of the day they're fairly neutral.

[Blanche_Locke]

Re: Introductions, etc.

Luke 8:17

For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

Agreed, but my personal matters are between me, Jesus, and my hard drive. Good luck finding anything out

[Didymus Much]

Re: Introductions, etc.

...Good luck finding anything out

Then they'll just assume the worst.

[Blanche_Locke]

Re: Introductions, etc.

Then they'll just assume the worst.

Jokes on you, that was the plan all along. Mwahahahahaaaaaaa!

[Dr. Anthony J. Toole]

Re: Introductions, etc.

Miss. Blanche, do you mean to say this is your plan? Because it looks exactly like the typical incoherent rambling of every unsaved trash that rolls in here.

[Blanche_Locke]

Re: Introductions, etc.

My plan? I rarely have a plan. In life, or on the internet. So far, things are working out fairly well. How are things going for you? Did you have a good day?

[Blanche_Locke]

Re: Introductions, etc.

Apologies if I come off as rather... out of it right now, I'm in a somewhat altered mindstate from lack of sleep and too much caffeine.

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Introductions, etc.

Salvation is no joking matter. Or I should say lack of.

My name, as may have gathered from my username, is Blanche Locke . . . My favorite bible verse is probably Philippians 4:5

I'm glad you chose Philippians. So many pick out one or two verses they've heard somewhere and ignore everything else. “God loves everyone!” being common and even if they understand what wretches they are and how undeserving of His love they are, (because they rob banks or eat toadstools or something like that on the side) the major point of accepting Christ is glossed over to their everlasting cost.

Revelation 3:16-18 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Eyesalve in this case does not mean getting plastered and raving at an idol. Often that type of person thinks everyone's business is for the individual to address and of no concern to others. During the idol-raving a co-raver rubbing shoulders or bumping into you could be a murderer or an extortion racketeer or freak of low report and it would be none of your business because the idol had washed you all clean. The author of Philippians knew that was not the case and that everyone's business, in the bowels of Christ, needs regular oversight.

Philippians 1:8-11; 2:1-4 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God . . . If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

That is why one's moderation should be well known to others active in the bowels of Christ. So I'm glad you chose Philippians with its encouraging message in these last days where false teaching has sprung up with every hallmark of paganism yet claiming to represent Christ. Christians checking out the things of others see at once they're doing no such thing.

Welcome to the forum; I trust you'll have more Scripture posted to support your views in the coming weeks.

[Blanche_Locke]

Re: Introductions, etc.

I take the verse in Phillipians more in reference to the fact that anything done in excess is a vice. One should have moderation in all things; this coupled with 1 Corinthians 10:23, “Everythingis permissible,”butnoteverythingis beneficial.“Everythingis permissible,”butnoteverythingis edifying“, means that I have the peace of mind of salvation while at the same time practicing a flexible lifestyle. At the end of the day, salvation is a simple matter... Romans 10:9-10, “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” That's all there is to it. Of course, you must obey the 10 commandments: 1 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
3 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6 “You shall not murder.
7 “You shall not commit adultery.
8 “You shall not steal.
9 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.”

This is the core of Christianity.

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Introductions, etc.

Thanks for a thorough reply! Christian lifestyles vary sometimes, for example an English floor sweeper will not make the same decisions as an American lawyer. Whatever they decide though will be in accordance with what Jesus taught and neither of them will be able to sin.

I John 3:6-10 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

To say that all things are permissible is not the same as saying absolutely everything in the universe is OK for Christians to do. Murder for instance is off the menu. It's also illegal but worship the moon god? There's no law against that but it's NOT something a Christian would ever do or, as John puts it, it IS something a Christian cannot do. The reason why all things a Christian can do are permissible even if not beneficial (eating two whole roast ducks with a quart of absinthe for instance) is because not all things are doable.

Heathens? They can murder one another and worship the moon to their heart's content. Nothing to stop them: they're not born of God and His seed is not in them.

Witches? Warlocks? Wizards? Sure, they can eat babies and do black masses and fly around off their onions levitating tables. Demons are at work there but demons can't possess Christians so no demonic table levitation. Why anyone would want to levitate a table is beyond me.

[Blanche_Locke]

Re: Introductions, etc.

Well... I would argue your point about murder, sometimes it can be justified. I think we can all agree that in this world, there are some quite repulsive individuals that we would be better off without, who have committed various crimes.Everyone commits sin in their life. It's a fact of being human. For the saved, if your intentions are pure, that's what matters. I used to know a guy who drank himself to death. Was he committing the sin of drunkenness? Very much so. Was he also one of the most compassionate and god-fearing people I knew? Absolutely, 100%, and I have no doubt that he is waiting in heaven.
Also, witches and wizards are a bit more of a threat than you think. I've seen people attacked by magic before and cursed. It's not a pleasant thing.

[Dolores de Barriga]

Re: Introductions, etc.

For the saved, if your intentions are pure, that's what matters.

...Said the Inquisitor as he continued to torture people and then burn their empty shells at the stake. (I'm pretty much sure that the death in flames was actually a relief after months of torture).

I'm pretty sure Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot also believed the same thing. I'm not entirely sure this is the sort of company you truly wish to have. But if this is what you believe, I just hope to be on another continent when you start to act on your beliefs.