many houses

[old semperfi]

my father died back in march of this year,he was two weeks short of 88.he was lucky as usual in as much as he died at home.he was fine one second and dead the next(no suffering).my mother just turned 84 this month and i think she will outlive me and my brothers and sisters.she prays that will not happen because she says she would not want to live longer than her children.moms a saint,she looked after my father for years when he had altzheimers.most of the time my father was not a good person.when we were at his funeral the sermon was about heaven and what we would find there.the minister stated that god has many mansions.this was read out of a passage of the bible.my mother and i discussed this and to me it states that there is room for many different religions in gods house and not that we will be in mansions.what do you think.sorry i can not tell you where in the new testiment he read from. ; old semperfi

[rosierita]

first, let me say... i'm sorry for your loss.

John 14

King James Version (KJV)

14 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

i apologize in advance for my "tone", but you are wrong. you may be sincere, but you are sincerely wrong.

this is 1 of the devil's tricks... convincing you that you can take 1 verse or a couple verses & justify what you want to believe.

what that chapter also states is...

John 14

King James Version (KJV)
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

you cannot link that with any other religion, sorry.

[sub-moa]

old semperfi, we share some similarities friend. I lost my Dad last year. Found him sitting in his favorite chair, just didn't wake up. Miss him a lot but thats the way to go when it's your time. I'm sorry for your loss. The passage you speak of is John 14 .2 King James version says "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." I'm no Bible scholar but I always took it to mean these mansions were to be where we would dwell while we spend our eternity with God. Just my thoughts.

[old semperfi]

i was always told that God is just and forgiving.i was brought up hell fire and brimstone babtist and when young i feared God.when your only five or six being told you will burn in hellfire for eternity scared me to death.i got older and a great deal more liberal in my thinking.i see God as a very understanding and forgiving God.i can not view him as someone who would punish others if they were of a different religion.they may have a different name for him but there is only one.to me i think God has many names and as long as you truely beleive there will be no punishment. old semperfi

[dad2thebone]

Im sorry for your loss and will send a prayer your way. Both my parents have passed as well as my 2 brothers and my sister. I do know the meaning of loss. you brought back a memory from the king james i had forgotten. I was raised catholic but in age have become christian.God is understanding and forgiving , i do believe with all my heart and im sticking to it. oohraah brother

[ampaterry]

Rosierita is exactly correct; her interpretation fully agrees with the Word of God.
A bunch of whacko's trying to exterminate the Jews are not following God in any way, and if their direction continues throughout their life, they will only see God at the seat of judgement, and never again after that for eternity.

God only made two covenants with humanity.

1. The covenant with the Jews, OT style.
2. The covenant with the Gentiles, NT style.

Anyone who is outside of the first covenant by birth and outside of the second covenant by choice is lost.

Now, there IS the case of those who died without being born under the first covenant and never hearing the Gospel of the second; that may be another issue entirely - -

[rosierita]

Originally Posted by old semperfi

i was always told that God is just and forgiving.i was brought up hell fire and brimstone babtist and when young i feared God.when your only five or six being told you will burn in hellfire for eternity scared me to death.i got older and a great deal more liberal in my thinking.i see God as a very understanding and forgiving God.i can not view him as someone who would punish others if they were of a different religion.they may have a different name for him but there is only one.to me i think God has many names and as long as you truely beleive there will be no punishment. old semperfi

my best advice to you concerning your view of God is to get to know His character, who He is according to His Word & not the word of anyone else, churches included. (I have a serious problem with churches deviating from God's Word & trying to gain control over congregations with the use of fear.) what does God's Word say about His character & how He views you? Settle that 1st, then any thought you have (or that is planted into your mind by satan), compare it to the truth of God's Word.

He is unselfish, sacrificing His own Son. He is so merciful. He is a God of forgiveness, & a God of incredible love, but He NEVER contradicts Himself.

John 3:16

New International Version (NIV)

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5

New International Version (NIV)
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

What does God's Word say about love?

1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

Romans 6:23

New International Version (NIV)

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2

New International Version (NIV)
Made Alive in Christ

2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2

New International Version (NIV)
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

salvation is a gift that is freely given to us by a loving & merciful & faithful, Almighty God. you cannot earn it because its already been freely given to you. its yours to accept OR deny. ANYTHING contradicting this truth is satanic in nature, i dont care if the church's label is baptist, methodist, catholic, muslim, mormon, jehovah's witness, buddist, hindu, etc. if it does not line up with God's perfect Word, its a false doctrine & a satanic lie.

in this life, there are 2 ways satan, who absolutely is your enemy, works against you... those 2 ways are... 1st he's going to try to keep you from a relationship with Father God (salvation in Christ Jesus), he will work in stealthy ways to keep you from the truth. the other way is, if he cannot keep you from salvation, he will work in your life to destroy your witness.

i do not mean to knock churches, there are a lot of very good & sincere people in them, but they are not infallible. ALL OF THEM make mistakes.

i hope that you'll consider the verses that i quoted for you. i hope that you'll commit them to memory & i hope that you'll refer back to them as you face your various life situations. if what you're thinking or what you're experiencing is in any way contradicting what God's Word actually says, those thoughts do not originate from God.

having said that... God is also just. we have this side of eternity to choose salvation & then, the judgment.

[Yadkin]

One Lord, One faith, One baptism One God and Father Ephesians 4: 5-6

Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the Will of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7: 21

But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15: 9

[Maine04657]

The main problem is it is a book. Words mean different things to different people. This is why even among the most fervent believers not two will agree on every passage.

[tcox4freedom]

Originally Posted by old semperfi

i was always told that God is just and forgiving.i was brought up hell fire and brimstone babtist and when young i feared God.when your only five or six being told you will burn in hellfire for eternity scared me to death.i got older and a great deal more liberal in my thinking.i see God as a very understanding and forgiving God.i can not view him as someone who would punish others if they were of a different religion.they may have a different name for him but there is only one.to me i think God has many names and as long as you truely beleive there will be no punishment. old semperfi

I want you to understand it's is not Holy God that condemns. We condemn ourselves by refusing to accept God's provision for our salvation. Therefore, the "justness" of God dictates that we live throughout out eternity with the consequences of our choices.

John 3:17-19 (KJV)
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

To accept Jesus is to accept eternal life in the presence of our loving FATHER. To deny Christ's sacrifice is condemning "ourself" to an eternity of torment separate from God.

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