Missilelock

baptized vs dedicated Ha Ha John on the electd officials - we have a US snator here in my little town that attends church before elections too. I gotta agree that baptism has absolutely nothing to do with being saved or in getting to heaven. A lot of faiths believe in the baptism of infants.- I beleive when an infant is batized it should only be called a dedication. This act should be the parents vowing to bring up the child in the ways of the Lord. Baptism is an act of obedience to the Lord. We like to call it an outward sign of an inward change. We re called to" Repent & be Baptized". To me this means change directions from the path we were following which leads to **** & follow Christ. - Be baptized means to undergo a ritual that states to the public that we have made the change. I often think of the scripture where Jesus tells us if we will acknowledge him here on earth, that he will acknowledge us before the Father in heaven. I think the sacrement of baptism is a good start to a new life acknowledging God as our master.

A can of worms Im not sure if I opened a good lively Chist centered discussion here or a can of worms???One thing I am sure of is while we Christians can neither understand everything that is of God, nor will we probably agree on everything spiritual, we must agree on one thing & that is how we are saved. i am in ABSOLUTE & TOTAL AGREEMENT with Buckee & John f in their writings there. Turkey Fife, I quite frankly dont understand half of the points you are trying to make & support. My intent in starting this thread was more to get a bit of feeling for how you folks believed on the always saved part of the equation. I have allready pointed out that while some of you dont believe you can turn away from God & follow the ways of the flesh & walk away from your salvation , I not only believe you can, but I believe that for a number of years, I did. I think its important to point out to non- Christians, & new Christians reading this forum, that we dont have to be in total agreement in every aspect of our faith to be BROTHERS IN CHRIST!!! As I grow in years & in faith I find that sometimes my long held beliefs are flawed. there may come a day that I will be convicted by the spirit that my thinking on -" once saved always saved " is wrong( though I doubt it). Buckee , you were a little confusing on your views of Baptism to someopne new in the faith. how about a little clarification. Lane

I thought I would share something I have been pondering on a bit today- especially in the light of elections coming up soon. I was thinking today about the moral decay in our country,& just where this country is headed , when I realized that today,UsBible believing, followers of Christ are badly outnumbered in the good old USA. You see, our forefathers founded this country on Christian principals (In God WE Trust). Today we still like to think of our nation as a Christian ation, however, nothing could be farther from the truth. True we do have christians here, but by & large, the % of folks I interact with daily like to consider themselves part of a Christian nation, but have no personal relationship with Jesus.. Now I dont consider myself as being judgemental- That i Gods job, but rather as a bit of a fruit inspector (By your fruits e shall be known). I feel that the majority of folks in the USA actually take pride in being part of a Christian nation more along the lines of a sense of patriotism rather than because of a desire to follow Christ. Upon farther reflection, this is no real surprise- the Bible tells us pretty clearly about the wide gate & hte narrow one. I sure hope Christians, Gun owners, HUnters & the like can pull the votes out to keep the Whitehouse from dragging us backwards in 08- Lane

well spoken I say amen to Jeramie & wtnhunt! Its pretty hard to argue with Rev. 3 16-You want to get to heaven??? Jesus gave it all for you. I think he has earned the right to expect passionate followers- not lukewarm. Why is it that everyone is so worried about seeing just how much they can get away with & still get ot heaven instead of trying to see just how perfect alife they can live for Christ??? Lane

Better times are comin Hang in there everyone- better times are comin. Im glad I dont have to answer for that one on judgement day!

mostly agree I want to agree with you all!- Mostly swap Fox, , But I think maye I should expand on my testimony just a little to help clarify my thoughts....When I was saved, I was a young teen, BUT- I was raised in a Christian Home- I knew exactly what I was doing& the relationship I had with God at that time was not just a warm fuzzy experimental fling. Why I chose to walk away, I really dont know. in fact it really wasnt a concience decision, but rather a bit at a time(Aint it funny how the devil works) I do know that during my absence from the Lord, the Holy spirt convicted me, although less & less as mt heart grew harder. I am most thankful to God for Constant prayers from a Christian mother & wife. Anyway, that leads me to my point, I dont think you can ever Lose your salvation. I think we are absolutely secure in that, but i do believe we can choose to walk away from it when we choose to ingnore the prodding of the Holy Spirit follow the sinful desires of our heart rather than God. I know we all have different oppinions on this , but the really great thing is ...one day we are all gonna kick back in heaven together & talk it over from an enlightened perspective.. Lane

I gotta throw my 2 cents in on the once saved always saved part of the calvinism debate. My question or maybe rather my argument is in Galations 5 . This was the passage that brought me back to the Lord after a27 year walkabout.( I honestly feel I would have never have seen the light of heaven during those 27 years)...anywayduring my time away from God I was oing quite a few of the things warned against in the tail end of Galations 5 & the passage clearly states that if you are living that sort of life you will NOT see the kingdom of God. It does not say if you were once saved ot ok to go ahead & follow the ruler of this earth & you will be ok. I dont believe we lose our salvation over every mistake we make, but rather that God does know our heart & whether or not we have truy repented & are truly giving it our best effort at following Christ

Hi- im new here- from pa, & chairman of a chapter of Chrstian bowhunters here- wondering if there are any kindred spirits out there???:

Will be happy to pray for your FIL- nice tofind some other Christians in the hunting community. I am chairman of a Christian bowhunters chapter in pa