That I appreciate all of the brothers and sisters on the forum. Everyone has their own gifts, strengths and knowledge bases - it's a nice mix.
Ephesians 4:11-13 "And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelizers, some as shepherds and teachers, with a view to the readjustment of the holy ones, for ministerial work, for the building up of the body of the Christ, until we all attain to the oneness in the faith and in the accurate knowledge of the Son of God, to a full-grown man, to the measure of stature that belongs to the fullness of the Christ."
All forum members, I wanted to say how much I appreciate our gathering together here. We are blessed by Jehovah to have this place to associate even though we are few. Keep in mind that when Christ started his journey he only had 12 with him, and one day or few will number into the millions! I ask everyone here not to forget the importance of our forum in the times ahead. We will have a wonderful work in the Lord, and a responsibility to bring true knowledge to the world! We here are from the four corners of the globe, and represent what is to come, on a global scale! Let us stand now for righteousness and faith for our Lord is coming!
This is why I believe it is a serious thing to be amongst ones that were once of his people and then take another road.....it is also why I wouldn't want to get to know them on a friendly personal level...because I know I would like them...for I believe they are nice people..likeable....and I know my emotions would interfere with my outlook on their new found stand ...I wouldn't view it as serious as Paul does here....I would become dulled ...my emotions would fade these scriptures until they were foggy and hard to read..to comprehend...and in essence I would become blinded to his warning. GALATIONS....MESSAGE BIBLE 6-9 I can’t believe your fickleness—how easily you have turned traitor to him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head. Let me be blunt: If one of us—even if an angel from heaven!—were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed. I said it once; I’ll say it again: If anyone, regardless of reputation or credentials, preaches something other than what you received originally, let him be cursed. 10-12 Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn’t bother being Christ’s slave. Know this—I am most emphatic here, friends—this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism. I didn’t receive it through the traditions, and I wasn’t taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ.