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David Halfmann

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  • david from tx
    Hello Doug, we are told by Paul that there are those that can live lawlessly in I Cor 15:2, which states, “By which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain." Notice the "if" in that statement. As for your concern that someone could sin then immediately die, I once shared that concern. The key to overcoming that fear is to TRUST God. He and Christ do the heavy lifting, and as II Cor 1:18-22 shows, "if" we continue on that path, then God has promised His sons and daughters that He WILL carry them through to the end. That hopefully addresses your thrid question as well, Christ does the heavy lifting, but we still have our part to play.
  • david from tx

    Hello Jim. We are not demonizing others. The Scriptures we use are from God, and His commandments on the matter of christmas are clear - "When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it." -
    Deuteronomy 12:29‭-‬32. Notice, "You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way"; this is a Commandment, not a Suggestion. Furthermore, if God is calling someone out of christmas (as He did me) then the truth will not push them away, for God is the One that draws them, and His Word will not return to Him empty-handed.

  • david from tx
    Hello Pat. The answer to your query lies in that very same verse - "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." - Revelation 20:10 KJV. You may notice the word, "are" is italicized in your Bible, meaning it was added. In Koine Greek they would sometimes leave out certain words. The key to determining which tense is intended is by looking at the previous included tense, in this case, "the devil that deceived them WAS" - past tense. Thus the verse should be rendered, "And the devil that deceived them WAS cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet WERE, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (emphasis mine). This shows that the beast and false prophet are not present in the lake of fire at the time the devil is thrown in, because they were incinerated.
  • david from tx
    Hello Norma, it is awesome that you are considering taking this extremely important step. I'm not a minister but can affirm that we do baptism by full submersion. Under the congregation section of the site you can find a congregation near you. It will also have a phone number you can reach the minister of that congregation at. That's the method I used when I decided to be baptized. I hope this is helpful.
  • david from tx
    Great explanation. Really put it into perspective for me.
  • david from tx

    Someone researching a subject does not mean they lack spiritual discernment. God does not "magically" grant understanding of every Scripture simply by reading it. In fact, Acts 17 shows the Bereans praised in God's Word for doing research on a matter. So the Bible disagrees with your position.

  • david from tx

    Dorothy, the article was not exactly "praising" the president. In the beginning it was critical of China and pointed out a mistake of Dr. Fauci (so I can see how one might consider that a political bias), but to say they were nearly praising the president seems to be a little far. Regardless, very little of the article was devoted to that background info and that was clearly not the focus of the article. UCG still encourages members NOT to vote in elections, and thus do not support the current administration or it's opponents.

  • david from tx
    Very well said! Thank you for your input.
  • david from tx
    Thank you very much for this sermon. I especially thank you for doing that research. I can't imagine how hard that must have been - thank you and may God bless and keep you.
  • david from tx
    Hello Leonor. In 1 Cor. 5:8 Paul states that we are to eat unleavened bread during the Feast. The individual behind the Bible study may be mistaken (we are still human after all) or a misunderstanding perhaps. I would advise to consume unleavened bread throughout the DoUB. I hope this helps and may God bless you.
  • david from tx

    Hello wolfman, if you type "hell" in the search bar you will find a lot of good articles on this matter. I also will quote from the article itself on the words translated "hell" in the Bible - "First is the Old Testament Hebrew sheol, which is equivalent to the New Testament Greek term hades. Both these words are used in Scripture in reference to the grave—to burial in the earth. Next is the Greek term tartaroo, which occurs in only one verse (2 Peter 2:4). It refers here to the present condition of demons, rebellious angels, being restrained or imprisoned on the earth. Last is the word gehenna, the New Testament Greek form of the Hebrew Gai Hinnom, the Valley of Hinnom than ran along the west and south sides of Jerusalem. During biblical times of terrible apostasy people were burned here in pagan sacrifice—and it became a place to burn garbage. This term was used by Jesus in reference to future judgment in the lake of fire that will ultimately burn up the wicked. There is no sense here of a fire burning and torturing forever." Above all else, I encourage you to follow the example of the Bereans, praying for God's guidance and searching the Scriptures to verify UCG's teachings.

  • david from tx
    No problem. The times I gave were due to documents I've personally seen. I don't believe links to other sites are allowed but your local UCG minister should be able to help you as well. Britain being identified as Ephraim may go back to the 19th century or earlier. I pray you're research is fruitful. God bless you.
  • david from tx
    Hey 24clorra, to answer your question the Church has taught Britain is Ephraim at least since the early 20th century, though it very well may have been earlier. I also saw you asked about how long we have taught that Britain wouldn't be part of the EU - the answer to that is at least since the UK joined the EEC, though once again it may have been earlier.
  • david from tx

    Well said!

  • david from tx
    Thank you for your very polite response, Michael. But I have to ask then, what about John 1:1-2 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God."? Verse 4 further states, "In Him was life..." - here we see clear statements that Christ is Divine and that He is uncreated, having life within Himself. Thank you for your time.