21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

He Ain’t Done with us yet, guys. Let us strive to remain in Him both now and in Eternity, and lead as many of His children into Relationship with Jesus Christ as we can in humble gratitude.

1 tim. 4:12,
Katelyn Marissa

I wasn’t aware of it either… it doesn’t really make sense to me. I don’t know why they put that in the book when it doesn’t really seem all that true.

I didn’t really question that claim alot til now. What you said makes sense… sexual sins weren’t followed by a death sentence. Maybe they should go read their Bibles again :]]

I was not aware of this. Solomon’s long life of weak morals leads the list of why I would question that claim. Abraham wasn’t killed for fathering Ishmael with his slave. Lot’s daughters were not killed for what they did with their father. Judah was not killed for what he did although his brothers WERE killed for NOT doing it. Samson is another who’s sexual acts were not punished by death. In the New Testament, Paul references a man who is involved with his step-mother and some believe later this was corrected. However, death was not the result. I could go on, but please explain the Bible reference to this claim as it eludes me.

The Bible does show that lying is a problem. Liars wee killed quite often in the Bible for everything from white lies to major tails. People just dropped down dead from lying. It says that lying is equal to murder. But I’ve never seen where it says that sexual sins are the worst or seen that all sexual sins were connected to a death sentence other than the death sentence automatically acquired for being a sinner in the first place.

I got this from the book I was reading:

Many Christians only want to focus on Gods’ grace. “God will forgive.” they say. And yes God will forgive a truly repentant heart. But God is also a God of wrath. There are two sides to our heavenly Father. If there weren’t he would be imbalanced. And we serve a perfect God. It’s much easier to overlook his wrath and focus only on his grace, isn’t it? But to do so isn’t living a spiritualy mature life. Most people want to hear the benefits of Christianity– what they’ll gain– but don’t want to hear what they need to give up to follow Christ. The rich young ruler who approached Jesus fell into this catagory. He was a good person doing good things, and he was interested in following Jesus. But when Jesus told him it would cost him 100 percent, the young man walked away sadly. Jesus drew the line. It was as if he were saying, “You asked the question; I’m giving you absolute truth. Will you accept it and follow Me?” But the man didn’t want truth. He wanted a “feel-good” answer. He wanted Jesus to say, “I understand that your money is really important to you. You’re a good person. Tell you what. Go ahead and keep living the way you want to, continue to let your wealth consume you, and I’ll still let you call me Lord.” The truth made the young man so uncomfortable that he couldn’t remain in the presence of Christ any longer. Jesus doesn’t always tell us what we want to hear. But he is faithful to tell us what we need to hear.
Christianity isn’t really about what we want. It is about total surrender and accepting Gods’s Word as absolute truth. Is it tough to be a Christian? Yes, IF you give it your all. Was it tough for Jesus to obey his heavenly Father? Yes. It cost him his life. Was it worth it? Absolutly. Will it be worth it for you to give God your all in total obediance? Absolutly.
‘but that’s going to be tough! I mean… I might have to walk away from some friends. Stay away from some parties. Quit gossiping and keep a hold on my temper.’ Yes, total obediance to the lordship of Jesus Christ is radical. It means saying no to some things so you can say a huge yes to Jesus.
Many people find it difficult to believe if they don’t say yes to Christ, they’ll actually be seperated from him forever in hell. This isn’t anything new. It all started in the Garden of Eden. Satan planted doubt into Eve’s mind. ‘Do you really think eating one piece of of fruit could seperate you from your Father?’
Satan has been playing the same deceptive game ever since he deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. ‘Oh come on! How would it be wrong to make love to someone if you really care about them? Bisexuality? What’s the big deal? People are just expressing themselves in different and creative ways. Do you really believe that could seperate you from your heavenly Father? Is that really sin?
Do you realize the Bible says no other sin affects a person as sexual sin does? Everytime sexual sin is mentioned in the Bible, it’s connected with a death sentence. God has given us some important rules to live by. They’re known as the Ten Commandments. He expects us to live by those laws, and when we don’t it’s considered sin.
Count on people giving you a hard time. Sometimes even Christians may give you a hard time. They’ll call you straight and narrow-minded. That’s okay. You’re walking on a straight and narrow road! And yes, it’s tough. It would be much easier to walk the wide road filled with thousands of other travelers. But you have a much higher calling on your life. God calls you to be a dynamic sold-out disciple in radical obediance to his lordship…

His kingdom and his wrath are both underestimanted by me and other Christians… Maybe we should go read the Bible again!!?!! Like the seven bowls of judgment… and people with the ‘mark of the beast’ get boils that don’t go away…
I read something about the mark on http://www.gjcn.org/2009/06/13/mark-of-the-beast/

It was great to connect with you! Let’s stay connected!