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But don't you see, that the exact reason these people were sent back is to be a witness to the rest of us. And there are plenty of people who have repented and become followers of Jesus after hearing one of these testimonies, and being touched in the heart by it. The Holy Spirit would use these testimonies to speak to people's hearts... so if you feel him tugging at your heart, do not reject his voice or harden your heart... it is God speaking to you. And an opportunity for you to get right with God. Contrary to what you might have thought, God isn't going to appeal to your intellect as much as speaking to your heart.
I can only conclude that your bullshit detector is in need of an upgrade or service.
Last edited by Loki; 11-05-2018 at 12:55 PM.
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No, I amend my messages to adapt to the type of community I am in. For example, if it was a community of many Christians, I wouldn't have talked about hell much. But I think it is very relevant to this community, for the reason that people generally don't believe in an afterlife here heaven or hell. So I feel the need to inform them.. it really is important. Did you know that Jesus talked more about hell than he did about heaven? If Jesus talked about hell a lot, I reckon it's pretty important. He wanted to warn people not to go there, because he had compassion on the people. For the same reason, I am motivated to talk about hell. Of what benefit would it be to you, if I talked about a whole lot of other stuff, and you didn't know about hell, and ended up there? Wouldn't I have failed then to warn you about it? I feel it is my duty, and I really do care... it is not for myself that I am doing this.
I can talk about more pleasant things. But would that be truthful to reality? Isn't this an extremely important topic? You know... the vast majority of people are going to hell. And I bet most of them would be resentful when that happens, and they would ask "why didn't anyone tell me about this??? why???". In that moment they will not be thinking about theological dogma, or whether the pope should wear white or red.
I don't want to scare you. I want to warn you. But fact of the matter is, it IS scary to think of it... I honestly can't imagine how it would be to be in hell.. and know that it is forever. It is almost too frightening to comprehend.
Hmm.. no, I'm afraid you read me wrong. I really am at peace. And I haven't been as much at peace for over 10 years... the peace and joy are on the inside. And I have hope for the future. It makes a huge difference to life... you can ask Thordis, she is my witness that I'm telling the truth.![]()
Last edited by Loki; 11-05-2018 at 12:56 PM.
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That's some heretical point of view. We're saved by Christ only, for a person himself it's impossible (just with good deeds etc). Confession is just one of Sacraments, the other one is Eucharist, the true Blood and the Flesh of Christ.
Eucharist is communion of the soul to the higher nature and in it to eternal life. Reducing this greatest mystery to the realm of the everyday image, we can compare Communion with the "nourishment" of the soul, which it should receive after its "birth" in the Sacrament of Baptism. And just as a person is born into the world once in the flesh, and then eats until the end of life, so Baptism is a one-time event, and we should resort to Communion regularly, preferably at least once a month, perhaps more often. A "hungry" regime can put the soul on the brink of survival.
There is everything in Orthodox Church for salvation provided directly by Christ. Everything else is a choice of a person, does he want to be saved or not.
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No. The main thing in Orthodoxy is to belong to the church. Good deeds - do not count. The main thing is confession and communion. If you are very sinful, you can only be cleansed by confession in the church before the priests. If you don't do evil to people, you will still be sinful. Because, perhaps, you envied someone or committed mental adultery with an attractive woman passing by. All this is a sin with which you will never get to heaven. We need a mandatory confession and communion. If you die without confessing, you will go to hell.
In Orthodoxy, there is also no purgatory - a temporary hell where you atone for minor sins. We go straight to hell.
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There's nothing automatic in Orthodoxy, confessing shows your readiness with a priest as witness, at front of God to give up sins. Then goes a repentance, which often considering doing opposite things to the sinful past. Good deeds do not save themselves. The Holy Fathers teach that salvation consists in the return of communion with God, and that all good deeds performed according to the Gospel are means of combating passions, purifying and changing the soul in God, acquiring God's grace, the Holy Spirit, becoming like God, which is the salvation of man. A person can, with the help of God, leave mortal sins and never repeat them again, but any person sins to death, in a small way, and awareness of his sinfulness is necessary, as is grinding, burning with fire in the sacraments. Those who consider themselves sinless, will fall in sins worse than they had before it.
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Cherry picking from Victor’s posts:
“communion of the soul to the higher nature”
“purifying the soul in God”
“salvation provided directly by Christ”. (Awakening to ‘Christ Consciousness’, hence the on-the-spot repentance …)
“Changing the soul in God” in order to acquire/receive God's Grace, the Holy Spirit.
That pretty much, I trust - is the “born again” (not in conceptual belief only but) real experience …
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From the net at a glance:
“According to Bishop Michael Pfeifer of the Catholic Diocese of San Angelo, Texas, bells were meant to symbolize God's voice calling the people to prayer, to church services and to Christ.”
“Bells call us to Christ …. not to the buildings here on earth. Christ will provide an eternal structure for us in heaven”.
“Then Christ came ringing the bells of Heaven saying, Come unto me ….”
(Is there such a verse?)
At times I collect images of paintings and here is an old one I have carried with me a long time called “Klokkerne” (The Bells) by a Danish painter Johannes Weise:
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