Please excuse me, I have had to wind down a bit.

The absortion of false hope is doing the lamentable. Only things that are out of proportion with good relativity do in fact deem sarcasm. The sexual impulse when misbehaving does corrupt. This corruption can lead to chaos of criminal acts. Even young men can have this intruce already introduced by the media but young men are more justified to procreate in fleshly ambitions then aged men because the age factor teaches people right from wrong more thoroughly with given experience.

When being of sexual immorality you are saying to yourself that it is OK to be lesser then productive in solidified consolement of being free from malice.

Real sexual belonging is given with trust. To trust another sexually then there is responsible due to examining correctly what needs it's tend. Real sexual belonging is truest intimacy. Truest intimacy is surely to be relied and not as exploit of rampage illicit provocations of cowardicing to being clean, normal, and modest citizens like someone to be relied on.

The beauty of true sexual belonging is that it is not fragmented, with husband and wife there is an adventure near impossible to question with real sexual intimacy.

People spoil themselves to think that they are justified by Christ in their sin, as they have lost their honor due with this they reject the formation of why Christ died to rid of your sins and not to justify them because Christ's suffering on the cross is not in vain and so it is to defeat all sinful nature for us that we do not sin or transgress any longer with due appreciation to the merit of Christ that we be of His family by not wandering off or away from Christ Jesus.

Like Mary Magdalen who was told by the very Christ to sin no longer, it is through us we are to approve of this to be as Mary Magdalen was proposed, because this is true reconcile to gain your profits not from the insisting of lawless but the insisting of being whole with care taking matters.

Amen.

Dear SH--I need to re read your post so I understand or can at least ask intelligently.
One thing you wrote

Like Mary Magdalen who was told by the very Christ to sin no longer,

I can't recall ever having read that. Can you point out the verse. The reason it's important to me is that somewhere I read that the whole story of The Mag(I call her The Mag because she is Magdalen and also Magnificent) being a prostitute has no historical basis. If that writer is wrong, I would like to know.
Thank you
antonio

[Amadeus]

Hello Antonio,

I am not SillableHoney. It appears that he/she is gone from this forum. Please consider the following verses with regard to your inquiry:

"And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils," Luke 8:2 [see also Mark 16:9 & Luke 8:2]

Apparently, some people have associated Mary Magdalene with the unnamed woman of the following story:

"When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." John 8:10-11

I don't see a connection between them to be able say that they are the same person. Without further evidence, I would conclude that they are two different women. I also find no basis for establishing that any of the seven devils of Mary Magdalene had anything to do with prostitution.

Maybe someone else has different or better information?

Thank you Amadeus.I don't recall having read the passage in Luke. By the way, I recall reading a post of yours where you were baptized at the age of 5 and you said you knew God was there. That is amazing that you had that perception at such an early age. How has that affected you in your subsequent years--if you are interested in sharing that information. I know I am prying so I wont be offended if you don't respond.
blessing to you
antonio

[Amadeus]

Originally Posted by antonio

Thank you Amadeus.I don't recall having read the passage in Luke. By the way, I recall reading a post of yours where you were baptized at the age of 5 and you said you knew God was there. That is amazing that you had that perception at such an early age. How has that affected you in your subsequent years--if you are interested in sharing that information. I know I am prying so I wont be offended if you don't respond.
blessing to you
antonio

Hello Antonio,

Not considered as prying at all! I have never completely let go of God even in the worst of my times, because somehow even before I knew much of anything about Him I knew that He had not let go of me.

I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and was a very sincere devout altar boy until graduation from high school. While I have long since left Catholicism behind, I have never condemned that church because that is where I first learned anything at all about God. It is where I was taught to love Him and to try to serve Him. As a teenager I was certain that I would become a Catholic priest, but God had other plans. All of that without reading the Bible myself.

From after high school to age 32 I was nominally still a Catholic, but I was very much into man's world and man's ways and tried my best to make it work that way. It never did.

When the witness of a black family in Sunnyvale, CA touched my life, not by continual preaching at me, but rather by the Light which was shining in everything that they did, I knew that God was calling me to Him. My wife was in this too and He saved our marriage and our family (two toddlers at the time).

It was then at age 32 that I entered the the UPC (United Pentecostal Church) and a couple of other a oneness Jesus only groups. While among them I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and for the first time in my life I read the Bible, all of it, myself. I left 'oneness' after 11 years, but not God.

I was completely into the doctrines of the RCC and then the UPC. In each case I was sure that THAT was the place where God was and where I could find all that I needed.

Leaving the UPC in 1987 for the last time, one of my most important lessons was that no man and no group (church or assembly) had exactly everything that was needed in God.

The secret, and it is no secret to me, is that Jesus is my goal, my example, my Redeemer! I have complete confidence in Him. In man and in church groups (not The Church) I can only trust insofar as they show me that they are trustworthy.

Now I do attend a non-denominational assembly where I have great respect for the pastor even though I do not agree with him on every doctrine. But... such agreement is not required there. During the week I have Bible study with a one or two other brothers in a home. I am still searching the scriptures daily and praying, and God is still revealing new things to me from His Word.

Dear Amadeus--what an interesting evolution of religious and spiritual experience. What caused your dissatisfaction with RC and your satisfaction with Pentecostal. One of my aunts was a musician at a pentecostal church(I think) and she use to take me with her and I would sing with her.and I can't stand their music. I remember one song, "We are members of the PYPA
We are members of the PYPA etc.I was very young and they loved me. The only thing I haven't liked about RC is the Vatican and it seems they have intimidated all the Bishops ...at least in the US.
Well, if you want, I would love to hear the motives for your changes.
thank you for sharing with me.
antonio

[Amadeus]

Originally Posted by antonio

Dear Amadeus--what an interesting evolution of religious and spiritual experience. What caused your dissatisfaction with RC and your satisfaction with Pentecostal. One of my aunts was a musician at a pentecostal church(I think) and she use to take me with her and I would sing with her.and I can't stand their music. I remember one song, "We are members of the PYPA
We are members of the PYPA etc.I was very young and they loved me. The only thing I haven't liked about RC is the Vatican and it seems they have intimidated all the Bishops ...at least in the US.
Well, if you want, I would love to hear the motives for your changes.
thank you for sharing with me.
antonio

While I was active in the RCC (until not long after high school graduation in 1961) I was never disatisfied with it. I went to college, to the military, to marriage, to work, and simply faded away from it. I had had strong ties to a small town and an old California Mission Church with its priest, nuns, etc. (initiated by Junipero Serra) all the time I was really deep into it. When I moved to San Jose and began college, although I did make an effort, I could never get started again. I knew no one and the incentive to press in was missing. Without the church I drifted quickly away from God as well. I went into the world whole-hog. My only real brushes with the RCC during those years was my marriage and the baptism of my son, both done by an RC priest.

When my wife was pregnant with our second child we moved into an apartment in Sunnyvale,CA at the same time that a slightly younger black family was moving in directly upstairs from us. We noticed almost immediately that they were very peculiar and it had nothing to do with race![My wife and I are white.]

We weren't alcoholics by any means, but we had our parties, our beer and others things common to worldly young people in those days. The man upstairs (no pun intended) had two more children than us, his wife was also pregnant and he earned noticibly less money than I... yet they were always financially comfortable, and happy, and definitely living for God. In the little over a year that we lived below them we became good friends and we took advantage of their willingness to watch our children, to repair our vehicle, or to help us out in any way they could. Behind their backs we laughed at their peculiarities, but when we moved on account to be closer to my job in San Francisco, we retained contact.

It was about 2 years later when our marriage was really on the rocks. We were still together only because of the two children, but finally it had reached a point where even that was not enough. We decided to try one more time to take a little trip just the two of us for a weekend and we knew who would watch the kids. You guessed it: the young black couple with four kids of their own. We called them on the phone and the wife didn't even hesitate in agreeing.

On the drive down there, about 60 miles, my wife and I got to talking about that black family and there strange way of life. Suddenly, I suggested to my wife that we ask if their invitation to go to church with them was still open. They had only asked us once. Their attraction was the Spirit, although we really at the time did not understand it for what it was.

At their apartment only the wife was home, but when we asked by attending a chruch service with them, she immediately called her husband at work. Their own home assembly had no service that evening, but he knew where there was one. We all went to church that night and that was a new beginning in God. To this day I have never met a family or an individual where the Light of God was so strong and very evident as in that one. They still live in California and we stay in touch.

This is getting lengthy and I've left out alot of details. I'll continue it here tomorrow.

I'm waiting for the second installment. You know, your life is rich in experience but what distinguishes it is how YOU allow, accept, roll with the punches. You have an enviable core.
thank you
antonio

[Amadeus]

That first UPC (United Pentecostal Church) assembly in El Sobrante, CA was like a dream. I thought that everyone there was nigh onto perfect already, but that was my dream, not God's!

The "perfect" members quickly even to my naive eyes showed their real colors. They were not completely devils, but neither would anyone really describe them as angels.

During the 11 years that we were involved in 'oneness Jesus only' assemblies (UPC and a couple of others) I leaned many things about God and about people. Two outstanding things now come to mind:

First, at the age of 32 years I began for the first time in my life to read and study the Bible.

Second, at the end of my time with these 'oneness' people I knew that in the future I would avoid at all costs immersing myself completely in the doctrines of one person or group or organization, etc. All of these things even when wearing the apparent trappings of Christianity carry with them too much of the ways of man...

In that UPC assembly with my reading and studying and prayer came a multitude of questions. One of those questions I put to the pastor in a small room near the main sanctuary: "Where do you get your authority?"

I was not questioning whether or not he had any authority, because I did not know at the time what authority he had although apparently he had some. I was interested in learning more about it and had asked him privately to explain what the basis for his authority was. I had only been in his congregation for a few weeks at the time. I expected and hoped to receive an answer from scripture. Instead, he, apparently not understanding what it was I wanted, didn't answer me at all and left the room. It was just about time for service to start so I went and rejoined my wife sitting in a pew in the sanctuary.

Shortly after the start of the service the pastor went to the podium and speaking before the entire congregation rebuked me saying that I had questioned his authority. I was completely stunned as was my wife for I had already explained to her what had occurred just few minutes earlier.

Still, I would have thought that the man had simply not understood me. That was not the case as I discovered. He didn't answer questions about doctrine period. He simply expected everyone to listen to him and to obey him and accept anything that he taught without question. I have never been a person easily angered and I did not get angry then, but I cannot say the same for my wife.

That was really the beginning of the end, but I was ignorant in the true meaning of the word and was only interested in getting closer to God. We stayed in that assembly under that pastor for about 4 or 5 years.

Long before I would admit that God wanted us to leave, my wife was pressuring very hard to go elsewhere. She was right.

There are many stories I can tell about our experiences in that assembly especially concerning the pastor. I will relate one more here:

The straw that broke the camel's back turned out to be Christmas. My wife and I had decided that we could no longer have Christmas trees and decorations in our home. Shortly after our decision the assembly decided to sell Christmas trees as a money making project to help out our Christian school. I cannot recall the details now, but our pastor confronted us about it one evening at the place of sales with many members of the assembly being present. He insisted that we would have a tree and if necessary he would pay for it. We declined and proceeded to go home. The pastor had been very angry with us, but this time I led the way that my wife had wanted to go long ago. We left the assembly and soon after became the only white family in an otherwise all black church (oneness, but not UPC) in Vallejo, CA.

[I will continue with this later.]

A, I used to go to UPA church in San francisco for several years, But I left never able to speak in tongues. The reason I left was due to the fact that it was a female pastor of which I later learned was against the word of God. And that they were into making money more than obeying christ. Also breaking other laws of god, marrying and giving in marriage of divorced men and woman.
Fellowship with other members was Ok, but the hirearchy was corrupt. If I had known better, I wold never had attended, But I was down on my luck and went because a UPC friend invited me, All in all, It was like being in captivity as the jews were in babylon. God was good to me and I prospered in my life style, but not due to the UPC.