bible-truths.com/forums
=> Introductions, Announcements, and More of Ray's Teachings => Topic started by: lauriellen on May 25, 2009, 01:55:06 AM
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Hello,
I am a new member. I was raised in the Worldwide Church of God. Was baptised in a Baptist church. I most recently attended a Pentecostal church.
So i have alot of mixed up theology swirling around in my head. I have tried all of my life to live a Godly life, and always came up short. No matter how hard i set my mind to to good, it just wasn't in me. Two months ago, my oldest son was killed in an auto accident on his 20th birthday. A family member basically told me that he probably went to hell. If you think that the thought of your child being tortured in a burning hell for all eternity won't get your attention........well, lets just say i was about to loose my mind. Anyway, i begged God to know the truth, good or bad, about the fate of my son. I believe that finding this site was an answer to my prayer. I am mostly here to listen and learn, and very grateful to have found your site.
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Oh Lauriellen! I am so sorry to hear about your son! Please know that our prayers are with you. God isn't far from you, He is with you and you know that God never changes. It doesn't matter how hard we try in ourselves to be Godly it is God who does all in us. You have not found this place by accident! It will prove to be that answer you are looking for! At least it is a place of safety where you are able to seek your answers.
Kathy :'( :-*
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Lauriellen, So sorry to hear about your son. I did not find this place exactly how you did. But, it is all the act of God. It could not be anything else. I had trouble forgiving someone and ended up doing worse then they did. God, used his spiritual fire on me and brought me to my knees. Then, I began to hate the thought of Hell. I hated it so bad I thought I was done for. I could not get away from the thought of Hell.
That, night God brought me in here. Best night of my life.
I will keep you in my prayers. You will be very blessed here and your grieve for you son will be lightened by the Love that you will see that God has for all his creation. He truly is the God of Love. I had to repent that I did not even know him. May God Bless you here.
In His Love,
Marlene
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dear lauriellen,
i cannot even begin to know the heartache you must have gone through when loosing your son so young. and to have a family member further your pain and sorrow by presuming that your son went to hell is truly the unloving fruit from one who has no clue as to the Love that is our Father. it is statements like that of your family member that can pierce your heart to its' very core. know for a Truth lauriellen that being led to bible-truths IS of God! He willed it for you because He has a higher calling for your life. as hard as it is to understand for what purpose it was that God caused the circumstances to come about that took your son's life, please know that you will see your son again when all judgements are complete on "that day" when through Jesus Christ, all will be in Him. this forum and this website will be your safe haven, along with the Scriptures which He has given to us. there are many writings which ray smith has done, and many emails which address all kinds of topics, from which you can further the knowledge that God is working in you for His glory.
we will be here for you any day, any hour.
love in Christ,
claudia
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Lauriellen,
My condolences to You and Your Family, losing a child is grevious for us Parents. I am glad you made it to this little oasis in the desert, and have learned the Truth about the heresy of hell and everlasting torture.
GOD IS our Refuge And Strength in times of trouble, run to HIM, The LOVE Of GOD And Our Lord And Saviour Jesus Christ is Enough to Pick us up and Sustain us through the time of greiving. Below are some Scriptures that comfort and assure us of GOD'S Promise to HIS Elect first and The Rest of humanity at the consumation of things.
Rest now and when you are ready lets chat for a bit.
Rom 8: 33-39 (ASV)
33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth;
34 who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
george.
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Lauriellen,
Praising God for His mercy and answer to your cries out to Him by sending you here. I am so sorry for your loss but so happy you found the truth that will allow you to have some peace in knowing that your Father truly loves you and your son.
Blessings, Lin
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Hi Lauriellen
I always wondered how people dare to presume who went to ¨hell¨ or not. But definitely no accident you found this site. In my area alone there has been so many youngsters die in auto or bike accidents over the last two years it is frightening.
But realising with time and with Rays site confirming it through the bible I know there is always a reason. And I have mostly stopped trying to wheedle out of the Lord what the reasons are.
May Gods peace enfold you, uplift, strengthen and protect you and yours.
joan
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Hi lauriellen...
I am VERY glad the Lord has led you here. Listen, learn, and please ask questions when you need answers.. by all means. As for that mixed up theology, we've all been there. It'll go away.
I am truly sorry to hear about your son. I pray God brings real healing to you. For sure, you now have a family who will be there for you, as you have probably already noticed. :)
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Thank you so much for all of your kind words. When i found this sight, it was like a ton of bricks being lifted off of my shoulders. (the truth shall set you free?)......Being confident of God's love surely makes all of our trials a little easier to bare.......I read once that sufferring is God's megaphone to get our attention........i have learned this to be true. All of your wordly cares seem to melt away and be of no importance when you keep your eyes on the bigger picture of the purpose God is working out here below. I just don't know why ALL Christians would not be OVERJOYED to learn how merciful God really is. I am looking forward to reading as much info on this site as i can and learning more of the "good news".
your sister in Christ,
lauriellen
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Hi Lauriellen
I'm sorry to hear about your son. I have yet to know and understand the pain you must be going through.
When I lost my brother 2 years ago Rays paper on death gave me sooo much comfort!!
If you haven't already read it, please do!
http://bible-truths.com/death.htm
Praying for strength through this time of yours!
Antaiwan
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Hi Lauriellen,
I'm glad you have joined us :)
I am so sorry for your lost. Having grown children of my own I can certainly sympathize with your distress over not knowing the fate of your son. What a miracle it is to have our eyes opened to the truth.
I hope you will enjoy this fellowship as much as I do. It is a great blessing to have like minded people to study these truths with and share out thoughts with. I look forward to your posts.
Here are a few links to help you find your way around on the forum, these do not include the main boards.
The forum rules, it will help you see how this forum is moderated.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,3.0.html
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,4558.0.html
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,3614.0.html
Forum Indexes & lots of Info.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/board,14.0.html
Ray's Videos
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,8227.0.html
Ray's Audios
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,2641.0.html
Ray's 2008 Audios
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,8256.0.html
Transcripts of Ray's Audios
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/board,12.0.html
Who Am I? (members pics and personal stuff)
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/board,16.0.html
p.s. Here is a link to an ongoing thread about Ray's health. If you scroll down you will find updates http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,9419.0.html
mercy, peace and love
Kat
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Glad or here too. Peace, grace, healing and comfort to you in the name of Jesus, the truth will set you free. I am so sorry to hear about your tragedy, May God bless you and yours.
Roy
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Welcome to the forum Lauriellen.
Your testimony is a powerful example of the freedom that comes from knowing the truth of God's word. I can only imagine the pain you have suffered over the death of your son, but your expression of joy in learning these truths is a beautiful thing to witness. Thank you for sharing.
René
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Lauriellen,Welcome to the forum. I am so sorry to learn of your sons death.Please continue in your Spiritual growth with all the loving and caring people here at BT.My prayer for you is to heal and to be fully nourished of the Spirit. God Bless.
Matt 5 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Cor 2 1, 3 Blessed is God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the mercies, and God of all comfort, 4 who is comforting us in all our tribulation, for our being able to comfort those in any tribulation through the comfort with which we are comforted ourselves by God;
Peace...Mark
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Hello,
I am a new member. I was raised in the Worldwide Church of God. Was baptised in a Baptist church. I most recently attended a Pentecostal church.
So i have alot of mixed up theology swirling around in my head. I have tried all of my life to live a Godly life, and always came up short. No matter how hard i set my mind to to good, it just wasn't in me. Two months ago, my oldest son was killed in an auto accident on his 20th birthday. A family member basically told me that he probably went to hell. If you think that the thought of your child being tortured in a burning hell for all eternity won't get your attention........well, lets just say i was about to loose my mind. Anyway, i begged God to know the truth, good or bad, about the fate of my son. I believe that finding this site was an answer to my prayer. I am mostly here to listen and learn, and very grateful to have found your site.
Welcome Lauriellen,
Glad you have discovered the Truth about " Hell " and sorry to hear about the death of your
oldest Son. It saddens and angers my heart that someone told you your Son probably went to Hell. Now I realize
that they don't know better and they are deceived, but the arrogance of some imperfect sinfull Human claiming
they think your Son went to a place of Eternal Punishment, as if they think they made the decision, I understand
why they say stupid things, but it still aggravates me.
Perhaps, after hearing that comment from the Hell pronouncer, this was the CAUSE leading to
your prayer and finding this Site, after reading your introduction, this sounds like the case.
Kind Regards, Samson.
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Dear lauriellen,
I hate to hear you've lost your son to death, but so very glad that God has shown you He is love and brought you to BT to see His Truth. Now you know your son is at rest,sleeping and one day you will be with him again.
Believe and trust and be at peace, because our God that is Love had never even considered a place that people think of as hell.
I'm happy to meet you and hope to see ya from time to time.
luv & hugs,meee
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Hi Lauriellen,
It certainly is heart wrenching to experience the loss of a loved one, especially so young and so suddenly.
This has been a part of my journey since I was 9 years old, first a sister, then a brother (12 years old), my first girlfriend (who I truly loved) when I was just short of my 17th birthday. These things crushed me and I agonized over what their eternal fate might be, I won't go into the details but I will say it was not a totally positive or humbling time for me. I hated God.
The one thing I have learned through the years of losing other loved ones (my parents, childhood friends, aunts, uncles, cousins) is that the process of dying or death itself is much easier (for us) when our loved one dies a slow death, weeks or months in a hospital or hospice as we can and do prepare ourselves for their ultimate passing. It is not so easy on them.
On the other hand when we lose someone suddenly it totally devastates us, sends us reeling, but they have suffered little or perhaps not at all.
Ray has a beautiful article you might already be familiar with, it amplifies the wonderful Good News (no hell, ultimate redemption for ALL) that is understood by those with eyes to see, yet promised to all His creation, to God's glory!
http://bible-truths.com/death.htm
His Peace to you and yours,
Joe
P.S. I missed Antaiwan's reference to the article on my first read through of this thread, sorry for the redundancy but I hope that it (the article) gives you some comfort.
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I can't add much to what the others have already said except to say that (as you know by now) it's no accident that you have come here and you may find yourself overwhelmed with so much so quickly. It was important to me when I first came here to actually hear Ray's teachings for myself. Sometimes the flavor you get from reading an article isn't nearly as powerful as hearing it delivered. Ray's kind and gentle spirit comes through loudly in the recordings that have been made and found in this forum. Please avail yourself of them and be nurished.
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Hey Lauriellen,
Welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear about the lose of your son.
I know the feeling and my heart goes out to you and your family.
My God comfort you through his word.
Blessings,
Suzie
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Dear Lauriellen, welcome. As a father my heart grieves for you for the loss of your oldest son.
Here you have found kind hearted and loving folks of the same mind. As you read through Ray's writings, I do hope that the many
burdens of life will become a lot lighter for you and many will disappear altogether. I know that has happened for me.
Peace and Love to you,
Ches
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God be with you. The comfort of God is so much greater than the world or the churches can know. How glad we can be to have a God who is working His purpose for all of His creation. The Lamb of God IS worthy to be praised.
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Hi Lauriellen,
I am so sorry about your son and the fear and worry about him going to hell. Why anyone would presume to
tell you that in your grief I do not know.
"When i found this sight, it was like a ton of bricks being lifted off of my shoulders". This happens to so many
of us when we come to this forum. I could never go back to organized churchianity. There is so much to learn here.
Many of us here passed through the Worldwide Church of God. I was messed up big time for years after I left
that church.
Glad to see you here,
fox
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Hello my dear sister in the Lord. Reading these wonderful posts has blessed me indeed. I have had "Jesus bumps" reading all these. But I am truly sorry for your loss. Perhaps...if you feel led.... Could you pray for my friend?
One year ago sunday, her 15 year old daughter was caught upstairs in a house fire and did not get out. My friend grieves as tho it happened yesterday. She has lost her job because of it. She has had suicidal thoughts. But..she will NOT let me talk about God/Jesus/death etc...she just doesn't want to hear it. She is suffering so bad and hurt and guilt and anger...I am at a loss on what to do next.
Perhaps your prayers will help her find/or get dragged to the Lord.
I am so glad the Lord answered your prayers and brought you here. Thank you for sharing your burden w/ us.
your sister,
gena
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i will be glad to pray for your friend. i know from my experience that loosing a child (or any other serious trial i suppose) will either turn you to God, or turn you away from Him. My son's girlfriend was also killed in the same accident, and her mother is very angry with God. I have talked with her quite a bit about it, and she just feels like God betrayed her trust in Him. She just can't understand how a loving God could let this happen if He had the power to stop it. A serious trial will make many people question Gods power or His motives. I am not saying that i understand that any better than she does, but i just don't feel i have the right to question what God is doing (remember Job!). i just feel i have to trust Him, even when it doesn't make sense to me. This site has been such a blessing in helping me understand more the true nature of God in general. i have been comforted to know that God knows my pain, as He did not even spare His own son from a horrible, untimely death, even though He easily could have. i guess my biggest piece of advice to anyone who is sufferring in any trial is to keep focused on the bigger picture of Gods plan, and trust that all of our trials are woven into Gods bigger plan, even though it may not ever be clear to us in this lifetime.
Thank you for replying and i will keep your friend in my prayers.
God bless,
lauri